Michele Soavi

Spaghetti westerns, giallo, mondo... are the legacy of a golden age in Italian genre filmmaking, which began in the sixties and came to an end in the eighties, but not without leaving behind a few final masterpieces. This film explores, a few decades later, what became of those filmmakers and their films. A number of the most famous survivors of Italian horror movies will help to shed light on what happened.

Who was Joe D’amato- Aristide Massaccesi under his civil status? A genius of horror in the USA, a master of eroticism in France, the king of porn in Italy. A man with a thousand pseudonyms capable of making over 200 films while simultaneously holding the roles of producer, director, author, director of photography and even camera operator. An artisan of cinema as he liked to call himself, capable of working on all film genres. From spaghetti western to post-atomic, decamerotic to glossy eroticism, and blockbuster porn to bloody horror. Guided by the aesthetics of extremes and supported by an undeniable technical ability, Joe D’Amato pushed himself, and the viewer, beyond all limits following with dedication three rigid principles that have become his stylistic code: Amaze, Shock, Scandalize.

«Fulci for Fake» is the first biopic on Lucio Fulci. Lucio Fulci is an enigma. The mystery that surrounds Fulci is linked in part to his personal life. The director only rarely spoke about himself in interviews. But he did let his experience be reflected in his films. The setting of the film sees Nicola, a successful actor, agree to play the part of Lucio Fulci in a biopic on the director. Nicola will ask himself probing questions about the real nature of a man who, in his own lifetime, had already rewritten his biography.

When six elementary school students suspect their missing teacher is Befana, a Christmas witch who delivers presents to good children, they set off on a magical journey to save her.

Inspired by one of the most savage and violent crimes committed in Rome in the 1980s, "Rabbia Furiosa" is the story of Fabio, a small-time neighborhood crook, known as “Er Canaro” (the Dog Man) who suffers years of abuse and mistreatment from Claudio, a local boss of the criminal underworld. When he is driven to desperation and the brink of madness, he will carry out a terrible and bloody act of vengeance...

The last years of Italian judge Rocco Chinnici — who was instrumental in the battle against Cosa Nostra, laying the basis for the famous Antimafia Pool — before his assassination, as seen through the eyes of his daughter Caterina.

Delves into the career of the notorious Italian filmmaker, Aristide Massaccesi aka Joe D'Amato, the infamous director behind the legendary Video Nasties Anthropophagus: The Beast and Absurd.

A feature-length documentary about the life and career of Italian director Luigi Cozzi and his obsession with Science Fiction and Fantasy.

In post–WWII Italy, inspired industrialist Adriano Olivetti oversees the creation of the first all-Italian electronic calculator while theorizing a revolutionary business model based on the idea that profit should be reinvested for the benefits of the whole society. An utopian vision that catches the attention of powerful interests...

In post–WWII Italy, inspired industrialist Adriano Olivetti oversees the creation of the first all-Italian electronic calculator while theorizing a revolutionary business model based on the idea that profit should be reinvested for the benefits of the whole society. An utopian vision that catches the attention of powerful interests...

This documentary examines the life and legacy of controversial Italian filmmaker Lucio Fulci through interviews with his colleagues, each of whom answers the question, "What is your fondest memory of Lucio Fulci?". The responses are as varied as the people who knew the late writer-director, providing a nuanced look at the man behind such gory grindhouse classics as City of the Living Dead and The House by the Cemetery.

The return of the Red Brigade in Italy, after 11 years of silence from this terrorist organization, was a traumatic event for the entire country. Especially for the families of the victims killed: professors D'Antona and Biagi, and subsequently the police superintendent Petri.

A brief overview of the inspiration and process behind making Cemetery Man.

Leftist radical-turned-terrorist Giorgio—who fled to Latin America in the '70s to escape justice—decides to surrender after hearing about the fall of the Berlin Wall. Determined to lead a comfortable, bourgeois life in his native Italy, he cuts a deal with a shady police chief, getting his sentence reduced in exchange for ratting out former comrades. Once released, Giorgio obsessively pursues his dream of becoming a "respectable" citizen, even if the way is paved with larceny, pimping, drug-dealing, rape, heist, and murder...

Leftist radical-turned-terrorist Giorgio—who fled to Latin America in the '70s to escape justice—decides to surrender after hearing about the fall of the Berlin Wall. Determined to lead a comfortable, bourgeois life in his native Italy, he cuts a deal with a shady police chief, getting his sentence reduced in exchange for ratting out former comrades. Once released, Giorgio obsessively pursues his dream of becoming a "respectable" citizen, even if the way is paved with larceny, pimping, drug-dealing, rape, heist, and murder...

Leftist radical-turned-terrorist Giorgio—who fled to Latin America in the '70s to escape justice—decides to surrender after hearing about the fall of the Berlin Wall. Determined to lead a comfortable, bourgeois life in his native Italy, he cuts a deal with a shady police chief, getting his sentence reduced in exchange for ratting out former comrades. Once released, Giorgio obsessively pursues his dream of becoming a "respectable" citizen, even if the way is paved with larceny, pimping, drug-dealing, rape, heist, and murder...

Folklore collectors and con artists, Jake and Will Grimm, travel from village to village pretending to protect townsfolk from enchanted creatures and performing exorcisms. However, they are put to the test when they encounter a real magical curse in a haunted forest with real magical beings, requiring genuine courage.

Based on the case of the serial killer Donato Bilancia, who murdered 17 people between 1998 and 2000 in Genova.

Italian thriller

Italian thriller

Rimini, 1991. For more than a year, the uno bianca gang - they always use a white Fiat Uno - has plagued the area. Their crimes are violent, sometimes killing carabineri, and there's no particular pattern: a bank one day, a petrol station the next, extortion of a small business the next. Are they terrorists? A foreign gang? Tied to the Mafia? After a particularly bloody shootout, two detectives are assigned to start fresh: they go through the notebooks of previous investigators and they interview a few witnesses again. They find a pattern in the crimes and predict the next assault, but the special task force in Bologna is dismissive. Can they carry on alone; how far will they get?

A cemetery man has the unusual problem of the dead rising from the grave. Himself and his assistant must end these creatures' lives again after they are reborn. Everything is going well until "She" comes along and stirs things up a bit.

A cemetery man has the unusual problem of the dead rising from the grave. Himself and his assistant must end these creatures' lives again after they are reborn. Everything is going well until "She" comes along and stirs things up a bit.

A cemetery man has the unusual problem of the dead rising from the grave. Himself and his assistant must end these creatures' lives again after they are reborn. Everything is going well until "She" comes along and stirs things up a bit.

This stylishly photographed horror movie centers upon a beautiful, good-hearted schoolteacher whose life becomes a living hell after she is chosen to bear the son of Satan. Her horrible ordeal begins when an ancient enigmatic traveller places an ancient, supposedly extinct, insect up her nose. It crawls into her brain. She soon begins having terrifying dreams and more. When she learns the awful truth about her relationship with the Dark Master things get even worse. Still the baby is born and the poor woman faces a terrible and, genre-wise, surprising choice.

This stylishly photographed horror movie centers upon a beautiful, good-hearted schoolteacher whose life becomes a living hell after she is chosen to bear the son of Satan. Her horrible ordeal begins when an ancient enigmatic traveller places an ancient, supposedly extinct, insect up her nose. It crawls into her brain. She soon begins having terrifying dreams and more. When she learns the awful truth about her relationship with the Dark Master things get even worse. Still the baby is born and the poor woman faces a terrible and, genre-wise, surprising choice.

This stylishly photographed horror movie centers upon a beautiful, good-hearted schoolteacher whose life becomes a living hell after she is chosen to bear the son of Satan. Her horrible ordeal begins when an ancient enigmatic traveller places an ancient, supposedly extinct, insect up her nose. It crawls into her brain. She soon begins having terrifying dreams and more. When she learns the awful truth about her relationship with the Dark Master things get even worse. Still the baby is born and the poor woman faces a terrible and, genre-wise, surprising choice.

When a woman is beaten into a coma and saved from being raped by her handyman (Donald O'Brien), the local security force does a cover-up to save the town's reputation and frames the saviour. After he hangs himself, the woman's strange comatose psi-powers revive him from the dead to exact revenge.

A documentary about the films of Italian horror director Dario Argento. Included are clips from many of his films and interviews with friends, actors and colleagues.

Mark Ravenna, a famous Italian horror film director, sets out to script his latest film entitled 'Suspiria : De Profundis'. His film is based on Dario Argento's 'Suspiria' and 'Inferno' and deals with the story of Levana, Queen of all Witches. Levana is the eldest of the three mistresses of darkness, mother of madness, most powerful of all evil. Ravenna is warned not to make his film in fear of actually summoning Levana to the present day. He does not heed these warnings and casts his wife Anne to play the lead role of Levana. Anne reads the script and is then haunted and terrorized by the evil witch who tells her she will suffer terrible tortures if she continues, and that everyone involved with the production will suffer dire consequences.

In a Gothic cathedral built on the mass grave of a Teutonic purge, an ancient discovery by the new librarian will release an unholy maelstrom of madness, violence and demonic vengeance.

In a Gothic cathedral built on the mass grave of a Teutonic purge, an ancient discovery by the new librarian will release an unholy maelstrom of madness, violence and demonic vengeance.

In a Gothic cathedral built on the mass grave of a Teutonic purge, an ancient discovery by the new librarian will release an unholy maelstrom of madness, violence and demonic vengeance.

In this loose remake of Black Sunday (1960), a group of skiers in Northern Italy land in a huge crevasse where they find the body of a long dead girl covered by a mask. Out of curiosity and nothing better to do they remove the mask and start playing games with it. Turns out this dead girl is the witch Anibas who had been condemned to die by burning and the mask put on her face to prevent her return.

A young opera singer is stalked by a deranged fan bent on killing the people associated with her to claim her for himself.

A young opera singer is stalked by a deranged fan bent on killing the people associated with her to claim her for himself.

A troupe of struggling stage actors rehearsing for a small-town production of a play panic after finding out they are locked in the theater with a killer wearing an owl mask.

A troupe of struggling stage actors rehearsing for a small-town production of a play panic after finding out they are locked in the theater with a killer wearing an owl mask.

A group of people are trapped in a West Berlin movie theater infested with ravenous demons who proceed to kill and possess the humans one-by-one, thereby multiplying their numbers.

A group of people are trapped in a West Berlin movie theater infested with ravenous demons who proceed to kill and possess the humans one-by-one, thereby multiplying their numbers.

Promotional music video of Bill Wyman's instrumental song "Valley" for Dario Argento's film "Phenomena".

A young girl, with an amazing ability to communicate with insects, is transferred to an exclusive Swiss boarding school, where her unusual capability might help solve a string of murders.

A young girl, with an amazing ability to communicate with insects, is transferred to an exclusive Swiss boarding school, where her unusual capability might help solve a string of murders.

Documentary on horror/mystery filmmaker Dario Argento. Features an in-depth interview with Argento and covers his work from 1969 to 1985.

Documentary on horror/mystery filmmaker Dario Argento. Features an in-depth interview with Argento and covers his work from 1969 to 1985.

Former cop Jake 'Tiger' Sharp returns to his old hometown after having been in prison for the murder of his wife's killer. Illegal hunting seems to be widespread and inbred rednecks control the city with an iron fist. Jake manages to make himself an enemy to hillbillies and he and his newly found daughter had to flee for their lives. Fortunately, Jake a GAT that can shoot grenades and rockets ...

A team of scientists working to raise a sunken Russian nuclear submarine on an ocean platform off the coast of Miami, Florida, unearth an ancient Atlantean relic from the sea floor and bring in an expert to make some sense of it. But while attempting to raise the sub, radioactive leakage from its missles triggers the re-emergence of Atlantis, and the resulting tidal wave destroys the platform and leaves only a small group of survivors. Rescued by two Vietnamvets-turned-heavies who are out relaxing after their latest job, their boat eventually runs aground on a Carribean island nearby where, upon going ashore, it is discovered that everything has been destroyed and everybody killed. The culprits, a vicious group of well-armed raiders, and their leader, Crystal Skull, are descendants of Atlantis' original race who set about reclaiming the world and adding the survivors to the list of victims as they struggle to stay alive and defeat the raiders and send Atlantis back to the ocean floor.

A telepathic mutant recruits a post World War III TV game show warrior to lead her band of mutants to safety.

A telepathic mutant recruits a post World War III TV game show warrior to lead her band of mutants to safety.

A killer stalks a composer staying at a posh Tuscany villa while writing the score to a horror film which has an incriminating clue to the killer's identity.

A killer stalks a composer staying at a posh Tuscany villa while writing the score to a horror film which has an incriminating clue to the killer's identity.

In a post-apocalyptic Texas, a band of warriors fight against a fascist regime that is trying to take control of all surviving population.

A razor-wielding serial killer is on the loose, murdering those around Peter Neal, an American mystery author in Italy to promote his newest novel.

A razor-wielding serial killer is on the loose, murdering those around Peter Neal, an American mystery author in Italy to promote his newest novel.

A burned-out New York police detective teams up with a college psychoanalyst to track down a vicious serial killer randomly stalking and killing various young women around the city.

The deranged Roman emperor Gainus 'Caligula' (Little Boots) Caesar (12-41 A.D.) rules Rome with an iron fist and has anyone tortured and exectued for even the slightest insubordination. Mostly set during his last year of his reign, as Caligula loses support due to his brutal and crazed excess, a young Moor woman, named Miriam, becomes his lover while ploting to kill him to avenge the murder of a friend which Caligula was responsible for. But Miriam is torn between her personal vandeda against Caligula and her own personal feelings towards him despite his madness and debauched lifestyle of orgies and bloody torture murders.

The deranged Roman emperor Gainus 'Caligula' (Little Boots) Caesar (12-41 A.D.) rules Rome with an iron fist and has anyone tortured and exectued for even the slightest insubordination. Mostly set during his last year of his reign, as Caligula loses support due to his brutal and crazed excess, a young Moor woman, named Miriam, becomes his lover while ploting to kill him to avenge the murder of a friend which Caligula was responsible for. But Miriam is torn between her personal vandeda against Caligula and her own personal feelings towards him despite his madness and debauched lifestyle of orgies and bloody torture murders.

A priest-doctor chasing a man with supernatural regenerative abilities, who has recently escaped from a medical lab, reaches a small town where the mutant goes on a killing spree.

A priest-doctor chasing a man with supernatural regenerative abilities, who has recently escaped from a medical lab, reaches a small town where the mutant goes on a killing spree.

In Milan, in the winter of 1944, the ruthless Cane Nero leads the fascists against the partisans. Enne 2, one of the leading figures of the C.N.L., meets Berta, whom he loved three years ago, but Berta refuses to leave her husband for him. Enne 2 is pursued by the fascists of Cane Nero and, instead of running away to Turin, waits for Berta to rejoin him

An American narcotics agent is murdered in Italy. The head of the department decides to hire Larry Stanziani, 'The Cobra'. Larry, a former agent and now a third-rate private detective, uses the opportunity to get even with an old enemy, but soon he finds out he's facing a relentless organization

A psychic participates in a séance where she sees a vision of a Dunwich priest hanging himself in a church cemetery, causing her to die of fright. New York City reporter Peter Bell investigates the séance and learns that the priest's suicide has somehow opened a portal to Hell and must be sealed by All Saints Day, or else the dead will overtake humanity.

A group of cave explorers are confronted in an underground cavern by a mysterious living rock. Little do they know that it bears home to deadly, flesh-eating creatures, intent on wiping out the entire human population. An ultra low-budget, unofficial and unauthorized sequel to the 1979 film Alien, although the plot has little connection to the original film.

A writer returns home to his estate after service in World War I. He has developed a very bad case of depression due to a war wound concerning his genitalia. He contemplates suicide, but recovers after becoming interested in his caretaker's 12 year-old war orphan niece, who now lives in the manor.

A story of how World War II affected the lives of a German family and an American family, both of whom had sons and fathers fighting in the war.

Edwige Fenech plays the sexy private teacher of Franco (Alfredo Pea) who immediately falls madly in love with her. Franco tries and tries to seduce her by faking his own suicide.