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The schlockmeistro himself.
Bruno Mattei (1931-2007) was a prolific Italian filmmaker: a screenwriter, director, and editor. He was most prominent in the 1970s and 1980s. Despite the poor critical reception of his films, often criticized for their unoriginality and overall ridiculousness, he has developed a cult following over the years.
Works created by Bruno Mattei include:
- Hell of the Living Dead
- Libidomania
- The Other Hell
- Rats: Night of Terror
- Robowar
- Shocking Dark
- SS Girls
- Strike Commando
- Violence in a Women's Prison
- Women's Prison Massacre
- Women's Camp 119
- Zombi 3
Bruno Mattei provides examples of the following tropes:
- Anvilicious: Hell of the Living Dead on colonialism, and Shocking Dark on pollution and governmental corruption.
- B-Movie
- Bittersweet Ending: Seems to be a fan of this trope, if not full-on Downer Endings at times.
- Bury Your Gays: In Women's Camp 119 (obviously) and also in Violence in a Women's Prison.
- Creator Cameo: Makes one in Zombi 3.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: In Zombi 3, Hell of the Living Dead, and Rats: Night of Terror.
- Cult Soundtrack: Hell of the Living Dead, although arguably some of his other films, such as The Other Hell, qualify as well.
- Dull Surprise: He's not exactly known for casting the best actors.
- Explicit Content: Libidomania, as well as some of his other mondo films, are arguably this. He's also made full-on skin flicks.
- Exploitation Film: His bread and butter.
- Germans Love David Hasselhoff: He's gained quite the cult following in the United States.
- Gorn: A bit with Zombi 3 and Hell of the Living Dead.
- Gory Deadly Overkill Title of Fatal Death: Women's Prison Massacre and Hell of the Living Dead.
- Ham and Cheese: Some of the actors in his films, particularly Gabriele Carrara in SS Girls.
- Keep Circulating the Tapes: A good number of his films, including his mondo entries, among others, such as Strike Commando and Women's Camp 119.
- Male Gaze: Employs this frequently, even in his non-pornographic efforts. One particularly egregious example can be found in Hell of the Living Dead, which features a sudden close-up of a woman exposing her breasts. This leads into a scene with National Geographic Nudity.
- Market-Based Title: Nearly all of his films, particularly infamously so with Shocking Dark, which was released in the United States as Terminator II.
- Mockbuster: On several occasions, such as SS Girls for Salon Kitty, Robowar for Predator, and Shocking Dark for Aliens and The Terminator. The distributors even went so far as to release Shocking Dark in the United States as Terminator II (prior to the release of the actual Terminator 2).
- Mondo: Libidomania, among others.
- Nazisploitation: With SS Girls and Women's Camp 119.
- No Animals Were Harmed: Averted in The Other Hell, in which a chicken gets its head cut off, and in Rats: Night of Terror, in which a rat is knocked off of a table by a glass.
- Old Shame: He's said that he considers all of his films his children . . . and that he'd shoot every one of them, although he believes the best film he made to be Rats: Night of Terror.
- Pen Name: Has used a bunch, including Vincent Dawn, Stefan Oblowsky, and Jordan B. Matthews.
- Production Posse: Frequently with Rossella Drudi as well as her husband, Claudio Fragasso, on screenwriting duties throughout his career. Earlier on in his career, he collaborated several times with director Joe D'Amato, actress Laura Gemser, and her husband, Gabriele Tinti. In the 1980s, he casted Geretta Geretta and Reb Brown in his films a lot.
- Recycled Soundtrack: Known for doing this quite often in his films, notably so in Hell of the Living Dead, in which the theme from Dawn of the Dead was reused, as well as other songs by Goblin. He also reused Goblin music in his film The Other Hell.
- So Bad It's Good
- Stock Footage: Has utilized it on numerous occasions, particularly egregiously in Hell of the Living Dead, which features footage of elephants grazing the savannah in what's supposed to be Papua New Guinea, in addition to a shot in which stock footage is very conspicuously dubbed over with new dialogue.
- World of Ham: Notably in Shocking Dark, Zombi 3, and SS Girls.
- Zombie Apocalypse: In Hell of the Living Dead and Zombi 3.