Aldo Lado

Directing

Aldo Lado

Born 1934-12-05 · Fiume, Istria, Italy [now Rijeka, Croatia]

Aldo Lado was born in Fiume, Italy (today Rijeka, Croatia) on 5 December 1934. Lado came up through the film industry as an assistant director, notably to Bernardo Bertolucci on The Conformist (1970). After writing the story for the 1971 giallo The Designated Victim, he made his directorial debut later that year with Short Night of Glass Dolls. Lado took the job after two previous directors, Maurizio Lucidi and Antonio Margheriti, fell through. The film was a success, and he followed it with another giallo, Who Saw Her Die?. Lado's subsequent films were in a variety of genres, including drama (Woman Buried Alive, The Cousin), romance (La cosa buffa), and horror (Last Stop on the Night Train). In 1979, he directed the Star Wars cash-in The Humanoid, for which he was credited under the George Lucas-esque pseudonym "George B. Lewis". In 1981, he directed the Alberto Moravia adaptation La disubbidienza. In 2013, after a 20-year hiatus, he directed the film Il Notturno di Chopin. Lado published his first short story in 2016, in the anthology Nuovi delitti di lago. In 2017 he published I film che non vedrete mai ('The films you will never see'), a compilation based on Lado's own unproduced screenplays. Lado died at his home in Rome on the morning of 25 November 2023, at the age of 88.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

The Cousin poster
5.4

Italian coming of age story about two cousins, Enzo and Agata, told in three stages.

The Cousin

1974

Sahara Heat poster
4.4

A photographer and her lover travel to Morocco for photo shoots. While traveling there she has erotic adventures with residents of the area. But she ends up having an affair with someone who ends up betraying her and she murders the man.

Sahara Heat

1987

Sahara Heat poster
4.4

A photographer and her lover travel to Morocco for photo shoots. While traveling there she has erotic adventures with residents of the area. But she ends up having an affair with someone who ends up betraying her and she murders the man.

Sahara Heat

1987

Disobedience poster
4.0

Luca Manzi is a fourteen year old boy when the Northern Italy Republic of Salò is governed by the Fascists. He becomes a partisan but when the war ends he is disappointed because things have not changed as he had hoped they wood, and he decides to let himself die. He is saved by Edith who tries to introduce him to sex. Based on the novel by Alberto Moravia.

Disobedience

1981

Disobedience poster
4.0

Luca Manzi is a fourteen year old boy when the Northern Italy Republic of Salò is governed by the Fascists. He becomes a partisan but when the war ends he is disappointed because things have not changed as he had hoped they wood, and he decides to let himself die. He is saved by Edith who tries to introduce him to sex. Based on the novel by Alberto Moravia.

Disobedience

1981

Il prigioniero poster
7.0

Italian TV movie. Based upon a novel by Anton Chekhov.

Il prigioniero

1978

Late Night Trains poster
6.1

Two young women, Margaret and Lisa, are set to take the overnight train from Munich in Germany to stay with Lisa's parents in Italy for Christmas. Unfortunately a pair of psychotic hoodlums and an equally demented nymphomaniac woman terrorize the pair.

Late Night Trains

1975

Late Night Trains poster
6.1

Two young women, Margaret and Lisa, are set to take the overnight train from Munich in Germany to stay with Lisa's parents in Italy for Christmas. Unfortunately a pair of psychotic hoodlums and an equally demented nymphomaniac woman terrorize the pair.

Late Night Trains

1975

Hollywood Flies poster
4.4

While on a road trip, a man and his sister pick up two hitchhikers (Brad Renfro, Vinnie Jones) on the run for murder and armed robbery.

Hollywood Flies

2005

Who Saw Her Die? poster
6.3

Between a four-year gap in the murder of a young girl, the daughter of a well-known sculptor is discovered dead, and her parents conduct an investigation, only to discover they are in over their heads as the body-count keeps rising.

Who Saw Her Die?

1972

Who Saw Her Die? poster
6.3

Between a four-year gap in the murder of a young girl, the daughter of a well-known sculptor is discovered dead, and her parents conduct an investigation, only to discover they are in over their heads as the body-count keeps rising.

Who Saw Her Die?

1972

The Humanoid poster
3.7

Hoping to overthrow his brother as ruler of the planet Metropolis, the evil Graal enlists the help of the insane Dr. Kraspin, who has invented a chemical capable of turning an ordinary person into a perfect soldier. They test this chemical on the pilot Golob, turning the unsuspecting victim into a mindless but indestructible automaton possessing superhuman strength. The people of Metropolis must somehow outwit Graal before he can create an army of these soldiers, or their planet will be destroyed.

The Humanoid

1979

The Humanoid poster
3.7

Hoping to overthrow his brother as ruler of the planet Metropolis, the evil Graal enlists the help of the insane Dr. Kraspin, who has invented a chemical capable of turning an ordinary person into a perfect soldier. They test this chemical on the pilot Golob, turning the unsuspecting victim into a mindless but indestructible automaton possessing superhuman strength. The people of Metropolis must somehow outwit Graal before he can create an army of these soldiers, or their planet will be destroyed.

The Humanoid

1979

Short Night of Glass Dolls poster
6.6

An American journalist in Prague searches for his girlfriend who has suddenly disappeared.

Short Night of Glass Dolls

1971

Short Night of Glass Dolls poster
6.6

An American journalist in Prague searches for his girlfriend who has suddenly disappeared.

Short Night of Glass Dolls

1971

Power and Lovers poster
8.0

Two brothers start to bicker and battle when Nick, an aggressive businessman, finds himself thwarted by a group of scientists, headed by his brother Tony. Seems the scientists stand in the way of big profits for Nick. It's a dramatic duel between two opposite siblings who have more in common than they think -- including the sexy, strong women in their lives.

Power and Lovers

1994

Power and Lovers poster
8.0

Two brothers start to bicker and battle when Nick, an aggressive businessman, finds himself thwarted by a group of scientists, headed by his brother Tony. Seems the scientists stand in the way of big profits for Nick. It's a dramatic duel between two opposite siblings who have more in common than they think -- including the sexy, strong women in their lives.

Power and Lovers

1994

Ritual of Love poster
6.0

This movie is based on the true story that made headlines all over the world: the story of a relationship gone sour between a Japanese man very much in love with a French model. Some time later, it was discovered that the woman was turned into "sushi." At that time the man had already eaten a few body parts. To the arresting officers in Paris, he justified his acts as a proof of profound passion. In the late 80's many books and films find inspiration by the sinister love story.

Ritual of Love

1990

Ritual of Love poster
6.0

This movie is based on the true story that made headlines all over the world: the story of a relationship gone sour between a Japanese man very much in love with a French model. Some time later, it was discovered that the woman was turned into "sushi." At that time the man had already eaten a few body parts. To the arresting officers in Paris, he justified his acts as a proof of profound passion. In the late 80's many books and films find inspiration by the sinister love story.

Ritual of Love

1990

Day of the Cobra poster
6.1

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

Day of the Cobra

1980

Woman Buried Alive poster
3.5

Duke Philippe marries Cristina, the daughter of a fisherman. But his brothers, seeing that they would be cut from the family inheritance set to go to Cristina, decide to get rid of her by imprisoning her in a tower and making the duke believe she died.

Woman Buried Alive

1973

Woman Buried Alive poster
3.5

Duke Philippe marries Cristina, the daughter of a fisherman. But his brothers, seeing that they would be cut from the family inheritance set to go to Cristina, decide to get rid of her by imprisoning her in a tower and making the duke believe she died.

Woman Buried Alive

1973

La cosa buffa poster
4.8

A young elementary school teacher falls in love with a Venetian woman who is the daughter of a wealthy industrialist.

La cosa buffa

1972

La cosa buffa poster
4.8

A young elementary school teacher falls in love with a Venetian woman who is the daughter of a wealthy industrialist.

La cosa buffa

1972