Sergio Martino
Encyclopedia
Sergio Martino is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
) is an Italian 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:...
and producer, notable for his contributions to the 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...
genre.
Martino is the brother of producer Luciano Martino. They collaborated frequently in their respective professions. Their grandfather was director Gennaro Righelli
Gennaro Righelli
Gennaro Righelli was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed more than 110 films in Italy and Germany between 1910 and 1947. In 1930, he directed the first Italian sound film, La canzone dell'amore....
.
Martino worked for both the big screen as well as for Italian television (where he does most of his current work).
He often worked with actress Edwige Fenech
Edwige Fenech
Edwige Fenech is a French-born Italian actress and film producer.- Biography :Fenech was born in Bône , in French Algeria to a Maltese father and Sicilian mother. From the late 1960s to early 1980s, Fenech starred in many types of European movies...
who in the 1970s was married to his brother Luciano. He also worked with a lot of genre actors such as George Hilton, Ivan Rassimov
Ivan Rassimov
Ivan Rassimov was an Italian film actor of Serbian origin who appeared in many horror and exploitation films....
and Claudio Cassinelli, as well as famed Italian screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
Ernesto Gastaldi
Ernesto Gastaldi is an Italian screen writer.Born in Graglia, province of Biella, he has written under the pseudonyms Julian Berry, Julyan Perry and Ernst Gasthaus....
.
Martino's pseudonyms include: Julian Barry, Martin Dolman, Serge Martin, Christian Plummer, George Raminto.
Giallo films
- Lo strano vizio della signora Wardh/ The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh (1971) aka Blade of the Killer, aka Next!, aka The Next Victim, starring George Hilton, Edwige Fenech and Ivan Rassimov; written by Ernesto Gastaldi
- La coda dello scorpione/ Tail of the Scorpion (1971) aka The Case of the Scorpion's TailThe Case of the Scorpion's TailThe Case of the Scorpion's Tail is a 1971 thriller film by Italian director Sergio Martino. Its Italian title is La Coda dello scorpione.-Plot:...
, starring George Hilton and Anita StrindbergAnita StrindbergAnita Strindberg is a former Swedish actress who became one of the most well-known stars of the Italian giallo films in the 1970s.Strindberg started her career in "gialli" with Lucio Fulci's Una lucertola con la pelle di donna in 1971 and starred in her first lead role that same year, in Sergio...
; written by Ernesto Gastaldi - Il tuo vizio è una stanza chiusa e solo io ne ho la chiave/ Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the KeyYour Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the KeyYour Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key is a 1972 giallo film directed by Sergio Martino. The picture stars Edwige Fenech, Luigi Pistilli, and Anita Strindberg...
(1972) aka Eye of the Black Cat, aka Gently Before She Dies, aka Excite Me!, starring Edwige Fenech and Ivan Rassimov; written by Ernesto Gastaldi - Tutti i colori del buio/ All the Colors of the Dark (1972) aka They're Coming to Get You, aka Day of the Maniac, starring George Hilton, Ivan Rassimov, Edwige Fenech; written by Ernesto Gastaldi
- I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale/ The Bodies Bear Traces of Carnal Violence (1973) aka TorsoTorso (1973 film)Torso, or I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale is an Italian giallo thriller directed by Sergio Martino. The film was shot on location in Perugia and the Italian countryside in early 1972, and was subsequently released in 1973...
, starring Suzy KendallSuzy KendallSuzy Kendall is a British actress best known for her film roles in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Her blonde attractive looks got her leading roles in some fairly prestigious productions...
; written by Ernesto Gastaldi - Assassinio al cimitero etrusco/ Murder in the Etruscan Cemetery (1982) aka The Scorpion With Two Tails, starring Claudio Cassinelli, Marilù ToloMarilù ToloMarilù Tolo is an Italian film actress. She appeared in 64 films between 1960 and 1985. She was also a fashion model and a close friend of Italian stylist Valentino...
, John SaxonJohn Saxon (actor)John Saxon is an American actor who has worked on over 200 projects during the span of sixty years. Saxon is most known for his work in horror films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street and Black Christmas, both of which feature Saxon as a policeman in search of the killer...
, Van JohnsonVan JohnsonVan Johnson was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during and after World War II....
Exploitation and Sci-Fi Works
- Mille peccati... nessuna virtù (1969) (released as Mondo Sex) narrated by Edmund PurdomEdmund PurdomEdmund Anthony Cutlar Purdom was a British actor.-Early life:Purdom was born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England and educated at St. Augustine's Abbey School, Ramsgate, then by the Jesuits at St. Ignatius Grammar School and Welwyn Garden City Grammar School...
- La montagna del dio cannibaleThe Mountain of the Cannibal GodThe Mountain of the Cannibal God is an Italian cult movie starring Ursula Andress and Stacy Keach with English dialogue that was filmed in Sri Lanka. The film was also widely released as Slave of the Cannibal God and released in the UK as Prisoner of the Cannibal God...
/ The Mountain of the Cannibal God (1978) aka Slave of the Cannibal God, aka Primitive Desires, with Ursula AndressUrsula AndressUrsula Andress is a Swiss actress and a sex symbol of the 1960s. She is known for her roles as Bond girl Honey Ryder in Dr...
and Stacy KeachStacy KeachStacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical...
(featured real animal mutilation) - L'isola degli uomini pesce/ Island of the Fishmen (1979) starring Barbara BachBarbara BachBarbara Bach is an American actress and model known as the Bond girl from the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me . She is married to former Beatle Ringo Starr.-Early life:...
, Claudio Cassinelli and Richard JohnsonRichard Johnson (actor)Richard Johnson is an English actor, writer and producer, who starred in several British films of the 1960s and has also had a distinguished stage career. He most recently appeared in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.-Life and career:...
; U.S. prints were retitled Something Waits in the Dark or Screamers) and were heavily cut with added American footage - Il fiume del grande caimano/ River of the Great Alligator (1979) starring Barbara Bach and Mel FerrerMel FerrerMel Ferrer was an American actor, film director and film producer.-Early life:Ferrer was born Melchor Gastón Ferrer in Elberon, New Jersey, of Catalan and Irish descent. His father, Dr. José María Ferrer , was born in Cuba, was an authority on pneumonia and served as chief of staff of St....
- 2019—Dopo la caduta di New York2019, After the Fall of New York2019, After the Fall of New York is a 1983 Italian science fiction film directed by Sergio Martino in both English and Italian. It is of the post-apocalyptic Italian genre similar to the films 1990 The Bronx Warriors, Blastfighter, and Endgame. It is set in 2019, after a nuclear apocalypse, and...
/ 2019: After the Fall of New York (1983) starring Michael SopkiwMichael SopkiwMichael Sopkiw is a B-movie American actor who has starred in only four Italian movies in two years. He was born in 1954 in Connecticut. Following a navigation career, he was arrested and imprisoned by the DEA for shipping marijuana....
and Luigi Montefiore - Vendetta dal futuroVendetta dal futuroVendetta dal futuro is a 1986 Italian science fiction film starring Daniel Greene, Luigi Montefiore, John Saxon and Claudio Cassinelli and directed by Sergio Martino. Actor Claudio Cassinelli was killed in a helicopter crash during the making of this film....
/ Vendetta From the Future (1986) aka Hands of Steel, aka Fists of Steel, aka Atomic Cyborg, starring Luigi Montefiore, John Saxon and Claudio Cassinelli. (*Note: Claudio Cassinelli was killed in a helicopter crash during the making of this film.) - La regina degli uomini pesce/ Queen of the Fish Men (1995) made for Italian TV; never shown in the USA
Crime dramas
- Milano trema—La polizia vuole giustiziaMilano trema—La polizia vuole giustiziaThe Violent Professionals is a 1973 Italian Poliziotteschi gangster film directed by Sergio Martino...
(1973) (aka The Violent Professionals) starring Luc MerendaLuc MerendaLuc Merenda is a French film actor.He was one of the most prominent actors of the Italian poliziotteschi genre, working several times with Sergio Martino.-Selected filmography:* OSS 117 prend des vacances...
and Richard ConteRichard ConteRichard Conte was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films from the 1940s through 1970s, including I'll Cry Tomorrow and The Godfather.-Life and career:...
External links
- Sergio Martino - Italy's Unsung Exploitation King an article on the director's varied genre work.
- http://www.santoandfriends.com (website for Mexican horror films)