Sergio Martino

Talented, prolific and versatile writer/director Sergio Martino has made a vast array of often solid and enjoyable films in such diverse genres as horror, comedy, Western and science-fiction in a career that spans over 40 years.Martino was born on July 19, 1938, in Rome, Italy. His grandfather was noted director Gennaro Righelli. Sergio began his cinematic career in his early 20s as an assistant to his writer/producer brother Luciano Martino and handled second unit director chores on Mario Bava's La frusta e il corpo (1963), and made his directorial debut in 1969 with the mondo documentary Mille peccati... nessuna virtù (1971). He really hit his stride in the early 1970s with several superior giallo murder mystery thrillers that usually starred popular actress Edwige Fenech (who was married to Martino's brother Luciano at the time): Lo strano vizio della Signora Wardh (1971), Tutti i colori del buio (1972), La coda dello scorpione (1971) and Il tuo vizio è una stanza chiusa e solo io ne ho la chiave (1972). Martino subsequently collaborated with Fenech on a handful of other projects, including the bubbly sex comedies 40 gradi all'ombra del lenzuolo (1976) and Cornetti alla crema (1981). Other people Sergio has frequently worked with are actors George Hilton, Ivan Rassimov and Claudio Cassinelli and screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi. Sergio's other worthwhile movies are the gritty spaghetti western Arizona si scatenò... e li fece fuori tutti! (1970), the terrifically trashy I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale (1973), the rousing crime thriller Milano trema: la polizia vuole giustizia (1973), the entertaining action/adventure romp La montagna del dio cannibale (1978), the fun "The Island of Dr. Moreau" rip-off L'isola degli uomini pesce (1979) and the funky post-nuke sci-fi/action opus 2019 - Dopo la caduta di New York (1983). He has also directed various made-for-TV features and episodes of TV shows for Italian television. Show less «