Bruno Mattei (30 July 1931 – 21 May 2007) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and editor who gained a cult following for a wide variety of exploitation films that covered many genres, ranging from women in prison (WIP) to zombie films. He used many pseudonyms, predominantly Vincent Dawn (choosing that surname as a nod to George Romero's Dawn of the Dead).

Biography

Mattei got his start in Italian cinema by editing more than 100 films between the 1960s to the early 1970s. In 1974, he earned his first directorial credit, directing 20 minutes of additional hardcore footage for the French release of Jesus Franco's 1969 film 99 Women. He had earlier edited Jesus Franco's "Count Dracula" (1969), and in early 1975, he wrote the screenplay for the Joe D'Amato film Demon Rage and edited Joe D'Amato's Black Eva. Mattei became a full-time director in 1977 when he made several erotic Nazi death camp films, which he followed up with some porno documentaries like Sexy Night Report, and The True Story of the Nun of Monza. Next, he directed two of his most infamous horror shockers, The Other Hell and Virus: Hell of the Living Dead.



After directing two Caligula-inspired rip-offs and two Emanuelle women-in-prison films starring Laura Gemser, he made the delirious Rats: Night of Terror (a low budget science fiction film of which he was very proud), and the ultra-gory Zombie 3 (which he completed for director Lucio Fulci in the Philippines, after Fulci took ill). Mattei was also an assistant director on Lamberto Bava's film "Monster Shark" (1984).

He didn't turn out much work in the 1990s (although during this period he directed the infamous made-for-TV film Cruel Jaws, a rip-off of Steven Spielberg's Jaws). Later in 2001, Mattei returned to filmmaking, this time for the direct to video market. He directed several erotic thrillers before returning once more to the Philippines, where he shot two more cannibal films, another women-in-prison film and two final zombie movies.

He made around 45 films all told, many of which were very low budget. His work has attracted a significant cult following. His films tend to be appreciated for their unique dialogue, terrible dubbing, very low budgets and gory special effects. He is sometimes referred to as the "Ed Wood of Italian filmmaking". Although Hollywood film critics undoubtedly regard him as a hack, it should be remembered that Mattei worked with many well-known cult filmmakers like Jesus Franco, Joe D'Amato, Lucio Fulci and Claudio Fragasso, and got to direct such well-known stars as Lou Ferrigno, Reb Brown, Bo Svenson, Donald Pleasence and Richard Harris. On an interview segment contained on Anchor Bay's DVD release for Hell of the Living Dead and Rats: Night of Terror, Mattei claimed that he would like to reshoot all of his films, as he finds them "ugly".