Riccardo Freda
Encyclopedia
Riccardo Freda is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, December 20, 1999) was an Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian-born Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
. Best known for his horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
and thriller movies, Freda had no great love for the horror films he was assigned, but rather favored the epic sword and sandal
Sword and sandal
The Peplum , also known as Sword-and-Sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made Historical or Biblical Epics that dominated the Italian film industry from 1957 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by the "Spaghetti Western"...
pictures. Freda's "Sins of Rome" (1953) was one of the first Italian peplums, predating Steve Reeves
Steve Reeves
Stephen L. Reeves was an American bodybuilder and actor. At the peak of his career, he was the highest-paid actor in Europe.-Childhood:...
's "Hercules" by four years, and his classic "Giants of Thessaly" (1961) was theatrically released one year before Ray Harryhausen's famous "Jason and the Argonauts". He directed Kirk Morris and Gordon Scott
Gordon Scott
Gordon Scott was an American film and television actor known for his portrayal of the fictional character Tarzan in five films of the Tarzan film series from 1955 to 1960.-Early life, education and military service:He was born Gordon Merrill Werschkul in Portland,...
in two classic Maciste films in the sixties, in addition to several spy films, spaghetti westerns, historical dramas and World War II actioners.
He never finished either of the two horror films he was assigned in the Fifties ("I VAMPIRI" and "CALTIKI"), but rather allowed his cinematographer Mario Bava
Mario Bava
Mario Bava was an Italian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer remembered as one of the greatest names from the "golden age" of Italian horror films.-Biography:Mario Bava was born in San Remo, Liguria, Italy...
to complete them. Bava's great effects work on "CALTIKI" in particular launched him on a directing career of his own in 1960. Thus many fans regard Freda as Mario Bava's mentor in the film industry.
Freda's greatest horror films were his two 1960's titles, "THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK" and "THE GHOST", both of which starred Barbara Steele
Barbara Steele
Barbara Steele is an English film actress. She is best known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. Her breakthrough role came in Italian director Mario Bava's Black Sunday , now hailed as a classic.Steele starred in a string of horror films, including The Horrible Dr...
, but he really enjoyed doing the adventure films a lot more. He directed Anton Diffring
Anton Diffring
Anton Diffring , born Alfred Pollack, was a German actor.-Biography:Diffring was born in Koblenz...
and the legendary Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski , was a German actor. He appeared in more than 130 films, and is perhaps best-remembered as a leading role actor in Werner Herzog films: Aguirre, the Wrath of God , Nosferatu the Vampyre , Woyzeck , Fitzcarraldo and Cobra Verde .-Early...
in giallo
Giallo
Giallo is an Italian 20th century genre of literature and film, which in Italian indicates crime fiction and mystery. In the English language it refers to a genre similar to the French fantastique genre and includes elements of horror fiction and eroticism...
s later in the decade, and then slowed down in the early Seventies, inexplicably emerging from his retirement at 72 to direct one last slasher film ("Murder Obsession"). He died in 1999 of natural causes (at age 90).
Selected filmography
- Tutta la città cantaTutta la città cantaTutta la città canta is a 1945 Italian comedy film directed by Riccardo Freda. It was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.-Cast:* Nino Taranto - Il maestro elementare...
(1945) - Les MisérablesLes Misérables (1948 film)Les Misérables is a 1948 Italian drama film directed by Riccardo Freda. It is based on the Victor Hugo novel of the same name.-Cast:* Gino Cervi – Jean Valjean* Valentina Cortese – Fantina / Cosetta* Hans Hinrich – Javert...
(1948) - Spartaco (Spartacus)(1953) aka "Sins of Rome"
- Theodora, Slave EmpressTheodora, Slave EmpressTheodora, Slave Empress is a 1954 film about Theodora, a former slave who married Justinian I, emperor of Byzantium in AD 527-565. It was directed by Riccardo Freda.-Cast:*Gianna Maria Canale as "Theodora"*Georges Marchal as "Justinian I"...
(1954) starring Gianna Maria Canale - I VampiriI VampiriI Vampiri is a 1956 Italian horror film loosely based on the story of Elizabeth Báthory. Directed by Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava, the film stars Gianna Maria Canale as Giselle du Grand, Carlo D'Angelo as Inspector Chantal and Dario Michaelis as Pierre Lantin.I Vampiri was the first sound era...
(The Vampires) (1957) aka "The Devil's Commandment" - Caltiki - il mostro immortale (1959)Caltiki - il mostro immortale (1959)Caltiki - The Immortal Monster is a 1959 Italian horror film directed by Riccardo Freda. The plot concerns a team of archaeologists investigating Mayan ruins who come across a blob-like monster. They manage to destroy it with fire while keeping a sample of the monster...
aka "Caltiki, The Immortal Monster" - The White Warrior (1959) starring Steve Reeves
- The Giants Of Thessaly (1961) featuring Jason and the Argonauts
- The Mongols (1961) starring Jack Palance & Anita Ekberg
- Samson and the Seven Miracles of the World (1961) starring Gordon Scott as Maciste
- The Witch's Curse (1961) aka "Maciste in Hell", starring Kirk Morris as Maciste
- Seven Swords for the King (1962) starring Brett Halsey
- L' Orribile Segreto del Dr. Hichcock (The Horrible Dr. HichcockThe Horrible Dr. HichcockThe Horrible Dr. Hichcock is a 1962 Italian horror film directed by Riccardo Freda and written by Ernesto Gastaldi. The film stars Barbara Steele and Robert Flemyng....
) (1962) starring Barbara Steele & Robert Flemyng - Lo SpettroLo SpettroThe Ghost is a 1963 Italian horror film directed by Riccardo Freda, using the pseudonym "Robert Hampton". The film stars Barbara Steele and Peter Baldwin. Other titles for the film include The Spectre and Lo Spettro del Dr. Hichcock.- Cast :*Barbara Steele — Margaret Hichcock*Peter Baldwin - Dr....
(The Ghost) (1963) starring Barbara Steele - The Magnificent Adventurer (1965)
- Two Francis CoplanFrancis CoplanFrancis Coplan is the fictional secret agent created by Paul Kenny, the nom de plume of Belgian authors Gaston Van den Panhuyse and Jean Libert . Francis Coplan was an electronics engineer recruited by the SDECE...
Eurospy films Coplan FX 18 casse tout/FX 18 Superspy (1965) & Coplan ouvre le feu a Mexico/Mexican Slayride (1967) - Death Doesn't Count the Dollars (1967) Spaghetti WesternSpaghetti WesternSpaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
starring Mark DamonMark DamonMark Damon is an American film actor and producer. He started his career in his native country, appearing in such films as Young and Dangerous and Roger Corman's House of Usher... - A Doppia Faccia (Double FaceDouble FaceDouble Face is a 1969 Italian thriller film directed by Riccardo Freda and starring Klaus Kinski. -Cast:* Klaus Kinski - John Alexander* Christiane Krüger - Christine* Günther Stoll - Inspector Stevens* Annabella Incontrera - Liz* Sydney Chaplin - Mr...
) (1969) Edgar WallaceEdgar WallaceRichard Horatio Edgar Wallace was an English crime writer, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright, who wrote 175 novels, 24 plays, and numerous articles in newspapers and journals....
mystery starring Klaus KinskiKlaus KinskiKlaus Kinski, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski , was a German actor. He appeared in more than 130 films, and is perhaps best-remembered as a leading role actor in Werner Herzog films: Aguirre, the Wrath of God , Nosferatu the Vampyre , Woyzeck , Fitzcarraldo and Cobra Verde .-Early... - L' Iguana dalla lingua di fuoco (Iguana With The Tongue of Fire) (1971) Giallo starring Anton Diffring
- Tragic Ceremony at Alexander Villa (1972) horror film about a Satanic Cult
- Murder Obsession (Follia omicida) (1981) aka "The Murder Syndrome", aka "Fear", aka "The Wailing"