In an eclectic career spanning four decades, Italian director Riccardo Freda (1909-1999) produced films of remarkable technical skill and powerful visual style, including the swashbuckler Black Eagle (1946), an adaptation of Les Miserables (1947), the peplum Theodora, Slave Empress (1954) and a number of cult-favorite Gothic and horror films such as I Vampiri (1957), The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962) and The Ghost (1963). Freda was first championed in the 1960s by French critics who labeled him "the European Raoul Walsh," and enjoyed growing critical esteem over the years. This book covers his life and career for the first time in English, with detailed analyses of his films and exclusive interviews with his collaborators and family.

There is no cinema with such effect as that of the hallucinatory Italian horror film. From Riccardo Freda's I Vampiri in 1956 to Il Cartaio in 2004, this work recounts the origins of the genre, celebrates at length ten of its auteurs, and discusses the noteworthy films of many others associated with the genre. The directors discussed in detail are Dario Argento, Lamberto Bava, Mario Bava, Ruggero Deodato, Lucio Fulci, Umberto Lenzi, Antonio Margheriti, Aristide Massaccesi, Bruno Mattei, and Michele Soavi. Each chapter includes a biography, a detailed career account, discussion of influences both literary and cinematic, commentary on the films, with plots and production details, and an exhaustive filmography. A second section contains short discussions and selected filmographies of other important horror directors. The work concludes with a chapter on the future of Italian horror and an appendix of important horror films by directors other than the 50 profiled. Stills, posters, and behind-the-scenes shots illustrate the book.

The Italian Gothic horror genre underwent many changes in the 1980s, with masters such as Mario Bava and Riccardo Freda dying or retiring and young filmmakers such as Lamberto Bava (Macabro, Demons) and Michele Soavi (The Church) surfacing. Horror films proved commercially successful in the first half of the decade thanks to Dario Argento (both as director and producer) and Lucio Fulci, but the rise of made-for-TV products has resulted in the gradual disappearance of genre products from the big screen. This book examines all the Italian Gothic films of the 1980s. It includes previously unpublished trivia and production data taken from official archive papers, original scripts and interviews with filmmakers, actors and scriptwriters. The entries include a complete cast and crew list, plot summary, production history and analysis. Two appendices list direct-to-video releases and made-for-TV films.

The history of cinema, and notably that of post-war Italian cinema, can only be understood adequately in the context of other contiguous cultural disciplines. World literature, including that of France, Germany, and Russia, played a key role in the development of post-war Italian film and the cinematic technique it has come to embody. Moving away from the usual modes of defining this period—a trajectory that begins with neorealism and ends with Bertolucci—author Carlo Testa offers proof that coming to terms with literary texts is an essential step toward understanding the motion pictures they influenced. The means of recreating literature for the screen has changed drastically over the last half-century, as has the impact of different national traditions on Italian cinema. Testa's work is the first to explicitly and deliberately link postwar Italian cinema to general intellectual concerns such as the relationship between literary authors and cinematic auteurs. Moreover, his analysis of the impact of French, German, and Russian cultures on Italy brings forth a new reading of Italian cinema, a new paradigm for exploring complex issues of authorship, culture, and art.

This book explores the birth, life and afterlife of the story of Romeo and Juliet, by looking at Italian translations/rewritings for page, stage and screen. Through its analysis of published translations, theatre performances and film adaptations, the volume offers a thorough investigation of the ways in which Romeo and Juliet is handled by translators, as well as theatre and cinema practitioners. By tracing the journey of the “star-crossed lovers” from the Italian novelle to Shakespeare and back to Italy, the book provides a fascinating account of the transformations of the tale through time, cultures, languages and media, enabling a deeper understanding of the ongoing fortune of the play and exploring the role and meaning of translation. Due to its interdisciplinarity, the book will appeal to anyone interested in translation studies, theatre studies, adaptation studies, Shakespeare films and Shakespeare in performance. Moreover, it will be a useful resource for both lecturers and students.

The first systematic study of classical literature and arts to explain their close affinities with modern visual technologies and media.

The "Gothic" style was a key trend in Italian cinema of the 1950s and 1960s because of its peculiar, often strikingly original approach to the horror genre. These films portrayed Gothic staples in a stylish and idiosyncratic way, and took a daring approach to the supernatural and to eroticism, with the presence of menacing yet seductive female witches, vampires and ghosts. Thanks to such filmmakers as Mario Bava (Black Sunday), Riccardo Freda (The Horrible Dr. Hichcock), and Antonio Margheriti (Castle of Blood), as well the iconic presence of actress Barbara Steele, Italian Gothic horror went overseas and reached cult status. The book examines the Italian Gothic horror of the period, with an abundance of previously unpublished production information drawn from official papers and original scripts. Entries include a complete cast and crew list, home video releases, plot summary and the author's analysis. Excerpts from interviews with filmmakers, scriptwriters and actors are included. The foreword is by film director and scriptwriter Ernesto Gastaldi.

A comprehensive guide to all the movie directors you should know before it is too late.