Umberto Lenzi

Directing

Umberto Lenzi

Born — Died

1931-08-06 — 2017-10-19

Place of birth

Massa Marittima, Grosseto, Italy

Known for

Directing

Credits

58 titles

Umberto Lenzi (August 6, 1931—October 19, 2017) was an Italian film director who was very active in low budget crime films, peplums, Eurospy films, spaghetti westerns, Macaroni Combat movies, cannibal films and giallo murder mysteries (in addition to writing many of the screenplays himself).

Known for

Film credits

2010s · 10 titles

All the Colors of Giallo poster
6.7

'Giallo' is Italian for 'yellow', the color of the lurid pulp novels that inspired one of the most intense, extreme and influential genres in movie history. In this unprecedented collection, experience the full chronological evolution of giallo with more than 100 rare and classic trailers from such masters as Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Sergio Martino, Antonio Margheriti, Umberto Lenzi and many more. Then slip on black leather gloves and set the mood with a Bonus CD of legendary soundtrack music from composers that include Ennio Morricone, Riz Ortolani, Bruno Nicolai, Stelvio Cipriani and others, along with all-new featurettes that thrust even deeper into the genre. "But be warned," says Gizmodo.com, "Once you start going down the blood- slicked giallo rabbit hole, you may become dangerously obsessed."

All the Colors of Giallo

2019

Eaten Alive! The Rise and Fall of the Italian Cannibal Film poster
7.6

Documentary on the short-lived craze of Italian cannibal films in the '70s and '80s, featuring interviews with Umberto Lenzi, Ruggero Deodato, Sergio Martino, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, and Robert Kerman.

Eaten Alive! The Rise and Fall of the Italian Cannibal Film

2015

Banned Alive! The Rise and Fall of Italian Cannibal Movies poster
3.3

2 1/2 hour-documentary on the rise and fall of one of the most controversial Italian genres every created. Starting with Deep River Savages arriving to the infamous Cannibal Ferox.

Banned Alive! The Rise and Fall of Italian Cannibal Movies

2016

German Grusel poster
6.0

Documentary examines the extraordinary success of the Edgar Wallace series in Germany: the British writer who provided the inspiration for the films was actually out of fashion worldwide in the 1950s - too old-fashioned, too dignified, too boring. Only in Germany was it different, because there was a need to catch up after the end of the Second World War. The National Socialists had banned crime thrillers in general and Edgar Wallace in particular. With a few exceptions, the Edgar Wallace films were therefore the first since the expressionist films...

German Grusel

2012

Yellow Fever: The Rise and Fall of the Giallo poster
6.6

Feature-length in-depth documentary by High Rising Productions chronicling the Giallo film genre from its beginnings as early 20th century crime fiction, to its later influences on the modern slasher film genre. Featuring interviews with Dario Argento, Umberto Lenzi, Luigi Cozzi, Richard Stanley, and more.

Yellow Fever: The Rise and Fall of the Giallo

2016

I Tarantiniani poster
NR

Tarantino reveres them, and for good reason. Welcome to the world of the kings of the Italian B-Movie.

I Tarantiniani

2013

All Eyes on Lenzi: The Life and Times of the Italian Exploitation Titan poster
6.0

A look back at the storied career of the late, great exploitation director Umberto Lenzi - as told through the director, in one of his last substantial sit-down interviews, colleagues and critics.

All Eyes on Lenzi: The Life and Times of the Italian Exploitation Titan

2018

Meet the Maker: Umberto Lenzi on Almost Human poster
NR

An interview of Umberto Lenzi discussing the making of his film Almost Human.

Meet the Maker: Umberto Lenzi on Almost Human

2017

No artwork available
NR

An interview with legendary Italian director Umberto Lenzi regarding his cult film The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist.

Armed to the Teeth... Again

2016

No artwork available
NR

Documentary about the making of Man From Deep River.

Mondo Cannibale

2016

Behind the camera

Eaten Alive! poster
5.2

A woman's search for her missing sister leads her to the jungles of New Guinea, where she and an expatriate guide encounter a cult leader and flesh-hungry natives.

Eaten Alive!

1980

Eaten Alive! poster
5.2

A woman's search for her missing sister leads her to the jungles of New Guinea, where she and an expatriate guide encounter a cult leader and flesh-hungry natives.

Eaten Alive!

1980

Cannibal Ferox poster
5.3

Three friends out to disprove cannibalism meet two men on the run who tortured and enslaved a cannibal tribe to find emeralds, and now the tribe is out for revenge.

Cannibal Ferox

1981

Cannibal Ferox poster
5.3

Three friends out to disprove cannibalism meet two men on the run who tortured and enslaved a cannibal tribe to find emeralds, and now the tribe is out for revenge.

Cannibal Ferox

1981

A Quiet Place to Kill poster
6.5

A race-car driver who's down on her luck is invited by her ex-husband's wife to stay at their plush villa. The two women form a bond, and it's not long before their mutual dislike for the husband culminates into a plan to kill him. As it turns out, though, they're not alone in plotting murder.

A Quiet Place to Kill

1970

Nightmare Beach poster
5.5

In Miami, Florida, biker gang leader Edward "Diablo" Santer is about to be executed for murder when he proclaims his innocence and vows revenge from the grave. When a mysterious biker comes to town during Spring Break festivities, leaving several teenagers electrocuted to death, some begin to suspect that Santer has made good on his promise.

Nightmare Beach

1989

Nightmare Beach poster
5.5

In Miami, Florida, biker gang leader Edward "Diablo" Santer is about to be executed for murder when he proclaims his innocence and vows revenge from the grave. When a mysterious biker comes to town during Spring Break festivities, leaving several teenagers electrocuted to death, some begin to suspect that Santer has made good on his promise.

Nightmare Beach

1989

Nightmare City poster
5.7

A reporter and his doctor wife try to escape from the hordes of bloodthirsty, undead people exposed to nuclear radioactivity as military leaders fight a losing war of attrition against the relentless attacks.

Nightmare City

1980

Rome, Armed to the Teeth poster
6.6

A tough, violent cop who doesn't mind bending the law goes after a machine-gun-carrying, hunchbacked psychotic killer.

Rome, Armed to the Teeth

1976

Daughter of the Jungle poster
3.5

Two college students decide to take a vacation to the Amazon. While in a small village getting supplies, they provoke the anger of a local scoundrel, whose ruffians beat them up. After renting a boat and sailing down the river in search of some good scenery, the two kids become lost and are forced to jump in the water to avoid a cascade. Now totally lost, they enter a small village, where the natives eye them mysteriously. It is here that they meet a bizarre jungle female, who happens to be the last survivor of a helicopter crash that occurred years ago. She soon develops a bond with the two adventurers...

Daughter of the Jungle

1982

Oasis of Fear poster
5.6

Two young sexually free hippies, Dick and Ingrid, finance their travels by selling naked snaps of Ingrid until their plan is brought to an abrupt end by the Police. Forced on the run the two seek refuge at a seemingly empty isolated large villa. As it turns out the house is inhabited by the middle-aged Barbara who invites them in for some potential three-way hanky-panky that soon locks them into something far more twisted and chilling!

Oasis of Fear

1971

Oasis of Fear poster
5.6

Two young sexually free hippies, Dick and Ingrid, finance their travels by selling naked snaps of Ingrid until their plan is brought to an abrupt end by the Police. Forced on the run the two seek refuge at a seemingly empty isolated large villa. As it turns out the house is inhabited by the middle-aged Barbara who invites them in for some potential three-way hanky-panky that soon locks them into something far more twisted and chilling!

Oasis of Fear

1971

Man from Deep River poster
5.6

A photographer in the rain forest is captured by wild natives, and after months of living with them, he marries the chief's daughter and helps protect the village from a vicious cannibal tribe.

Man from Deep River

1972

Death Rage poster
5.4

A professional killer is lured into a deadly double-cross when he agrees to assassinate a Mafia kingpin.

Death Rage

1976

From Hell to Victory poster
6.3

In 1939, at a Paris café, six friends of various nationalities vow to meet again at the same spot after the end of WW2.

From Hell to Victory

1979

So Sweet... So Perverse poster
5.6

An industrialist's affair with a troubled woman entangles him in a dangerous situation with her abusive boyfriend. His glamorous life spirals into unexpected peril.

So Sweet... So Perverse

1969

Syndicate Sadists poster
6.0

A biker's brother is killed while investigating the kidnapping of a young boy, the byproduct of a war between two crime families. The biker vows to get revenge by finding the kidnapped boy and destroying the two families.

Syndicate Sadists

1975

Three Sergeants of Bengal poster
7.0

This action-packed adventure/jungle film starts out when three British soldiers stationed in Malaysia are sent to Fort Madras to help the commandant fight off an elusive bandit who is terrorizing the countryside.

Three Sergeants of Bengal

1964

The Biggest Battle poster
4.7

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.

The Biggest Battle

1978

The Biggest Battle poster
4.7

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.

The Biggest Battle

1978

Seven Blood-Stained Orchids poster
6.2

A maniac on the loose is committing savage acts of slaughter, and one survivor may be the only key to unmasking the serial slayer known as the Half-Moon Killer. The mysterious half-moon lockets he leaves with his victims could be the only key to unraveling his sinister motives, but will that be enough before he completes his ice-cold plot to claim his intended seven victims?

Seven Blood-Stained Orchids

1972

Seven Blood-Stained Orchids poster
6.2

A maniac on the loose is committing savage acts of slaughter, and one survivor may be the only key to unmasking the serial slayer known as the Half-Moon Killer. The mysterious half-moon lockets he leaves with his victims could be the only key to unraveling his sinister motives, but will that be enough before he completes his ice-cold plot to claim his intended seven victims?

Seven Blood-Stained Orchids

1972

Eyeball poster
5.7

A group of American tourists is traveling through Spain when two of them are murdered by a mysterious serial killer who removes an eyeball from every one of its victims. The tour presses on as the murders continue, with the travelers and the police trying to deduce which one of them is the killer.

Eyeball

1975

Eyeball poster
5.7

A group of American tourists is traveling through Spain when two of them are murdered by a mysterious serial killer who removes an eyeball from every one of its victims. The tour presses on as the murders continue, with the travelers and the police trying to deduce which one of them is the killer.

Eyeball

1975

The House of Witchcraft poster
5.9

A man discharged from the hospital after suffering a nervous breakdown is taken to a remote Italian villa by his strangely-behaving wife. But he has strong premonitions that the house is possessed by some force of witchcraft, which he has been experiencing in his recurring nightmare.

The House of Witchcraft

1989

The House of Witchcraft poster
5.9

A man discharged from the hospital after suffering a nervous breakdown is taken to a remote Italian villa by his strangely-behaving wife. But he has strong premonitions that the house is possessed by some force of witchcraft, which he has been experiencing in his recurring nightmare.

The House of Witchcraft

1989

Messalina Against the Son of Hercules poster
6.2

While fighting in Britain, Roman forces commanded by Caligula capture the noble warrior, Glaucus. Seeing in him gladiator material, Caligula takes Glaucus back to Rome along with other hostages including Glaucus's girlfriend, Ena. A man seeking to restore the Roman Republic then assassinates Caligula after which Claudius is proclaimed emperor. Messalina -- Claudius's beautiful but evil wife -- then maneuvers to replace Claudius with her lover, Silio. She forces Glaucus to help her in this quest by threatening to harm the enslaved Ena. Written by dinky-4 of Minneapolis

Messalina Against the Son of Hercules

1964

Spasmo poster
6.1

While walking along the beach, Christian and his girlfriend discover a mysterious woman washed ashore. The following day, Christian meets the woman again at a yacht party and soon finds himself entangled in a web of lust, intrigue and murder.

Spasmo

1974

Spasmo poster
6.1

While walking along the beach, Christian and his girlfriend discover a mysterious woman washed ashore. The following day, Christian meets the woman again at a yacht party and soon finds himself entangled in a web of lust, intrigue and murder.

Spasmo

1974

Slave Girls of Sheba poster
10.0

Saracen pirates aboard the "Black Eagle" attack Christians strongholds along the coast of Spain. When they stop off in Sheba to re-supply, they also buy female slaves and end up fighting over them.

Slave Girls of Sheba

1963

Battle of the Commandos poster
5.9

A British Colonel is angry with his superiors after his entire platoon is slaughtered by the Germans in what he saw as a suicide mission. So for his next mission, he takes along a platoon a convicted criminals - to prepare the Normandy beaches for the D-Day landings.

Battle of the Commandos

1969

Primal Rage poster
5.3

A scientist at a Florida university inadvertently creates a "rage virus" while performing experiments intended to restore dead brain tissue in baboons. When a journalist for the college paper breaks into the campus lab, he's bitten by one of the infected baboons; the virus soon spreads to a trio of rapists and a valley girl, all of whom go on killing sprees.

Primal Rage

1988

The Killer Must Kill Again poster
6.3

Giorgio is a greedy adulterer who makes a deal with a serial killer to dispose of his wealthy wife, Nora. Unfortunately, a thrill-seeking young couple steal the killer's car with Nora's corpse in the trunk, ending up at a run-down seaside villa.

The Killer Must Kill Again

1975

The Cynic, the Rat & the Fist poster
6.6

A vengeful criminal targets the inspector who put him away, but the inspector survives and fakes his death. Ignoring orders to flee, he sets out to bring the fugitive back to justice.

The Cynic, the Rat & the Fist

1977

The Cynic, the Rat & the Fist poster
6.6

A vengeful criminal targets the inspector who put him away, but the inspector survives and fakes his death. Ignoring orders to flee, he sets out to bring the fugitive back to justice.

The Cynic, the Rat & the Fist

1977

Gang War in Milan poster
6.6

A Milan pimp faces off against a ruthless and greedy French gangster whom wants to unite organized crime in Italy.

Gang War in Milan

1973

Gang War in Milan poster
6.6

A Milan pimp faces off against a ruthless and greedy French gangster whom wants to unite organized crime in Italy.

Gang War in Milan

1973

Free Hand for a Tough Cop poster
6.8

A cop recruits a criminal and his cohorts to help track down a violent crime lord who has kidnapped the ill daughter of a rich family.

Free Hand for a Tough Cop

1976

Free Hand for a Tough Cop poster
6.8

A cop recruits a criminal and his cohorts to help track down a violent crime lord who has kidnapped the ill daughter of a rich family.

Free Hand for a Tough Cop

1976

Black Demons poster
4.1

Three American college students, Dick, his sister Jessica, and her British boyfriend Kevin, are traveling through Brazil on vacation when Dick, after attending a bizarre voodoo ceremony, develops strange powers. When their jeep breaks down near a small plantation in the jungle outside Rio, the site of a former slave rebellion 150 years ago, Dick uses his powers to raise the dead of six executed Negro slaves whom target the college kids and the residents of the plantation to seek revenge for their deaths

Black Demons

1991