RIP Sam Sherman

 

Samuel M. Sherman, Producer of ‘Satan’s Sadists,’ ‘The Naughty Stewardesses’ and Other Exploitation Films, Dies at 85

He and ill-fated director Al Adamson fed drive-ins with these kinds of movies — ‘Dracula vs. Frankenstein’ among them — starting in the late 1960s.

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

September 30, 2025

 

Samuel M. Sherman, the writer, producer and marketing mastermind who partnered with director Al Adamson to squeeze success out of such low-budget films as Satan’s Sadists, Brain of Blood and The Naughty Stewardesses, has died. He was 85.

Sherman died Monday at his home in Freehold, New Jersey, David Sehring, his creative director, business affairs and sales agent since 2015, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Soon after Sherman and Adamson launched the production and distribution company Independent-International Pictures, they supplied drive-ins with such flicks as Satan’s Sadists (1969), Horror of the Blood Monsters (1970), Brain of Blood (1971) and Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971), starring Lon Chaney Jr.

The pair worked not just in horror but in such other areas as biker films (1970’s Hell’s Bloody Devils, 1971’s Angels’ Wild Women), Westerns (1969’s Five Bloody Graves, 1972’s Lash of Lust), sexploitation (1973’s The Naughty Stewardesses), martial arts (1974’s Dynamite Brothers), chase pictures (1974’s I Spit on Your Corpse, also known as Girls for Rent) and blaxploitation (1976’s Black Heat).

Severin Films co-founder David Gregory, who directed the 2019 documentary Blood and Flesh: The Reel Life and Ghastly Death of Al Adamson, noted that Sherman and Adamson were great at “retitling and reselling the same movie over and over [and] at changing a work-in-progress picture to cash in on a recent trend.”

In the 1996 book It Came from Horrorwood, Sherman told author Tom Weaver that most of his films were made for less than $150,000. His company also gave veteran Hollywood actors much-needed work, among them Chaney and John Carradine.

He and Adamson “had a wonderful relationship — like the brother I never had — and we enjoyed being together and working together,” Sherman once said. “Al always said that when we were both together in the same place (New York or L.A.), we always made great things happen.”

Born in New York on April 23, 1940, Sherman attended City College of New York, where he screened Flash Gordon serials and such films as the Boris Karloff-starring The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932) for his fellow students. For a class project, he shot a short film in one day that he called The Weird Stranger.

While in college, Sherman worked as a film editor and as a writer/editor for James Warren, the publisher of such magazines as Famous Monsters, Wildest Westerns and Screen Thrills Illustrated, and said he came up with the idea of showing old Republic Pictures serials in theaters. Those wound up drawing huge audiences — and that, he claimed, led to the 1960s’ Batman show on ABC.

In 1962 on a work assignment for Screen Thrills Illustrated, Sherman visited Hollywood and first met Adamson, introduced to him by Adamson’s father, silent film star-producer Victor Adamson (known by his stage name as Denver Dixon). Two years later, he got into distribution with the elder Adamson to bring The Scarlet Letter (1934) back to theaters.

While working for Hemisphere Pictures in 1965, Sherman tried to secure distribution for Al Adamson’s first film, Echo of Terror. He couldn’t get it in theaters, but footage from that would be used for Blood of Ghastly Horror (1967), also known in various stages of production as Psycho A-Go-Go and The Man With the Synthetic Brain.

Sherman and Adamson realized they needed their own distribution company and in 1968 joined with former theater owner Dan Kennis to start Independent-International Pictures. Satan’s Sadists, about a ruthless motorcycle gang, was their first production, shot in California in 1968.

As was the case with Blood of Ghastly Horror, they often took films that Adamson had already shot, modified them and sold them. Sherman gave them catchy, easy-to-identify titles and marketed them with dynamic, often lurid campaigns.

“It was always my concept that if you have a very small budget, make the film different by very bizarre, crazy, looney elements — and this always worked,” he said.

As might be expected, Adamson and Sherman never won an Academy Award, but they did employ at least one future Oscar winner: cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond (Satan’s Sadists, Five Bloody Graves, Horror of the Blood Monsters).

“I grew up seeing his exploitation movies and wild and wacky trailer campaigns at my local drive-in the ’60s and ’70s,” said Sehring, a former American Movie Classics exec who helped Sherman’s films find new homes on Blu-ray and elsewhere. “Sam was quite a character — the ‘Broadway Danny Rose’ of the drive-in business.”

Along the way, Sherman amassed an impressive collection of 16mm and 35mm films and saw his memoirs, When Dracula Met Frankenstein: My Years Making Drive-In Movies With Al Adamson, published in 2021.

In 1995, Adamson, then 65, was murdered by his live-in contractor and found beneath his home in Indio, California.

Sherman’s survivors include his daughter, Stephanie. His wife of 52 years, Linda, died in November 2022.

SHERMAN, Sam (Samuel Morris Sherman)

Born: 4/23/1940, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 9/29/2025. Freehold, New Jersey. U.S.A.

 

Sam Sherman’s westerns – wrter, actor:

Five Bloody Graves – 1969

Lash of Lust – 1972 [writer]

Blazing Stewardesses – 1975 (gunfighter)

RIP Renato Casaro

 

fanpage.it

By Daniela Seclì

September 30, 2025

Renato Casaro, the illustrator who painted the cinema had bronchopneumonia, has died: his most iconic posters

Renato Casaro has died, the illustrator was known for his iconic film posters. He passed away at the age of 89, he was hospitalized for bronchopneumonia at the Treviso hospital. Loved internationally, he also had Sergio Leone, Quentin Tarantino and Francis Ford Coppola among his admirers. His posters of cult films such as Dances with Wolves and Once Upon a Time in America.

The Jackal in Rome on the stage of Fanpage.it: between irony and current affairs with Gianluca Fru and Fabio Balsamo. Book your spot!

Renato Casaro, the illustrator was known for his iconic film posters. He died in Treviso, his hometown. He would have celebrated his ninetieth birthday on October 26th. During his long career he has established himself as the most famous Italian poster designer. He was also loved internationally. Among those who appreciated his works were Sergio Leone, Quentin Tarantino and Francis Ford Coppola.

Renato Casaro was hospitalized for bronchopneumonia at the Treviso hospital, as reported by Ansa. For a few days his health conditions had become increasingly worrying, until his death occurred on the night between Monday 29 September and Tuesday 30 September. Casaro had taken the first steps of his career at the age of 17, designing the posters of the Garibaldi cinema in Treviso for free. His immense talent led him from there to the international scene. Casaro, in fact, has collaborated with the biggest production companies in Hollywood. Among his admirers also Franco Zeffirelli and Claude Lelouch.

Renato Casaro's most iconic posters. The illustrator who painted the cinema donated much of his production to the National Museum of the Salce Collection in Treviso, which has set up a permanent room dedicated to him, where it is possible to admire his works. Among the most iconic posters that bear his signature are The Name of the Rose, Once Upon a Time in America, Desert Tea, Papillon, A Bourgeois Little Small, They Call Him Trinity, Amadeus, The Last Emperor and many others. Among the awards received during his career, Il ciak d'oro as best poster for Dario Argento's Opera won in 1988 and for Bernardo Bertolucci's Il tè nel deserto won in 1991. In 1992 he was among the winners of the Jupiter Awards for best poster for Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves.

CASARO, Renato

Born: 10/26/1935, Treviso, Veneto, Italy

Died: 9/30/2025, Treviso, Veneto, Italy

 

Renato Cosaro’s westerns –European poster artist:

The Magnificent 7 - 1961

Geronimo – 1962

Buffalo Bill Hero of the Far West - 1963

A Fistful of Dollars - 1964

For a Few Dollars More – 1965

The Man Who Came to Kill – 1965

Outlaw of Red River - 1965

The Big Gundown - 1966

Blood at Sundown – 1966

A Few Dollars for Django - 1966

Go with God, Gringo - 1966

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – 1966

The Bandits – 1967

Day of Anger - 1967

Death Sentence - 1967

The Stranger Returns – 1967

$10,000 for a Massacre - 1967

This Man Can’t Die - 1967

Vengeance is Mine – 1967

Bury Them Deep – 1968

If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death - 1968

One More to Hell - 1968

A Bullet for Sandoval – 1969

Five Man Army – 1969

The Price of Power – 1969

Stalking Moon – 1969

Have a Good Funeral… Sartana Will Pay – 1970

Dead Men Ride! - 1971

Hallelujah Returns – 1971

A Town Called Hell - 1971

Trinity is Still My Name – 1971

Bad Man;s River - 1972

My Name is Nobody – 1972

Young Guns - 1988

Dances With Wolves - 1990

RIP Hartmut Bitomsky

 

The DFFB mourns the loss of Hartmut Bitomsky

DFFB

September 25, 2025

 

It is with great sadness that we must say farewell to Hartmut Bitomsky. He was a student of the very first cohort of the DFFB, at first compelled to leave after one year, graduating in 1970 and ultimately returning as director of the DFFB from 2006 to 2009. A documentary filmmaker (“Der VW Komplex”, “Reichsautobahn”, “Highway 40 West”, “Das Kino und der Tod” or “Staub”, to name a few), film theorist and author (“Die Röte des Rots von Technicolor”), and an exceptionally keen observer of the world.

The DFFB owes Hartmut Bitomsky an immense debt of gratitude. Over the years, he shaped and inspired countless students and filmmakers, always approaching their work with openness and curiosity.

Hartmut Bitomsky passed away at the age of 83. Our heartfelt condolences go to his family and all those who shared his journey.

BITOMSKY, Hartmut

Born: 5/10/1942, Bremen, Germany

Died: 9/24/2025, Munich Bavaria, Germany

 

Hartmut Bitomsky’s western – self:

Go West, Young Man! – 2003 [himself]

RIP Claudia Cardinale

 

Claudia Cardinale, Enchantress of Italian Cinema, Dies at 87 

She shuttled between sets in 1963 to make Visconti's 'The Leopard' and Fellini's '8 1/2,' then starred for Leone in 'Once Upon a Time in the West.'

The Hollywood Reporter

By Jordan Mintzer

September 23, 2025

 

Claudia Cardinale, whose performances graced such Italian cinematic masterpieces as Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2, Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard and Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West, has died. She was 87.

Cardinale died Tuesday in Nemours, near Paris, her agent, Laurent Savry, told AFP.

Cardinale erupted onto the international scene in the early ’60s and became, along with Sophia Loren and Anna Magnani, one of the most prominent Italian stars of her epoch.

With more than 130 feature credits and a handful of theatrical roles in her name, she worked steadily from her debut in her early 20s until her death. She won three David di Donatello Awards — Italy’s equivalent of the Oscar — for best actress and received an honorary Golden Lion from the Venice Film Festival in 1993.

“I was a movie star from a very young age. But I don’t deserve any credit for that — it was a question of fate,” Cardinale wrote in her 2005 autobiography, Mes étoiles (My Stars). “There was always a lucky star watching over me.”

Although she always has been associated with Italian cinema, Cardinale was actually born in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, on April 15, 1938. She grew up speaking French, Arabic and the native Sicilian dialect of her emigrant parents, only learning Italian as an adult.

While studying at the Paul Cambon School in Tunis, Cardinale and a few classmates were cast in Frenchman Rene Vautier’s short film, Anneaux d’or, which eventually screened at the 1958 Berlin Film Festival, and she made her feature debut with a small role opposite a young Omar Sharif in Jacques Baratier’s Goha, which made it to Cannes that year.

But it was while attending the Venice festival in 1957 that Cardinale, who had been sent there after being elected the “Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia,” made her first big splash (wearing a bikini on the Lido helped). She received several offers from the Italian film industry and briefly attended the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, but, unhappy with the experience and desirous to become a schoolteacher, soon returned to Tunisia.

Her plans were derailed when, at 19, she was raped, became pregnant and decided to keep the child, giving birth to a boy she named Patrick. To ensure the child’s future and avoid the scandals involved with having a baby out of wedlock, she signed with Italian producer Franco Cristaldi, who told her to pretend Patrick was her little brother.

Cardinale remained under contract with Cristaldi for the next 18 years, marrying the producer in 1966. Under his guidance, she did much of her best work, beginning with a role opposite Vittorio Gassman and Renato Salvatori in Mario Monicelli’s classic heist comedy, Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958).

In 1960, she was cast as Marcello Mastroianni’s lover in Mauro Bolognini’s Il bell’Antonio. The drama took home the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival and began a long collaboration between the actress and director, who worked together four more times. That year, Cardinale also co-starred in Luchino Visconti’s Milan-set epic Rocco and His Brothers, playing opposite Salvatori, Alain Delon and Annie Girardot.

The next year, she headlined Valerio Zurlini’s neorealist romance Girl With a Suitcase, playing a poor woman from the provinces in love with an earnest boy from the upper classes. The film, which premiered in competition in Cannes, earned Cardinale international renown as well as her first di Donatello award.

The year 1963 proved to be a watershed one for Cardinale, with the actress starring in three bona fide classics: The Leopard, 8 1/2 and Blake Edwards’ The Pink Panther, which would be her breakthrough role in Hollywood.

In The Leopard, she played Angelica Sedara, a beautiful Sicilian who falls in love with Delon’s progressive aristocrat, Tancrede Falconeri, as the country is engulfed in political turmoil during the 1860s. The film won the Palme d’or in Cannes and is widely considered to be Visconti’s masterpiece. (It returned to the Croisette in 2010 for the premiere of its 4K restoration, with the screening attended by Cardinale and Delon.)

While shooting The Leopard, Cardinale also starred in Fellini’s autobiographical epic 8 1/2, playing Claudia, the muse of Mastrioanni’s existentially challenged director, Guido. After premiering out-of-competition in Cannes, it won Academy Awards for foreign-language film and black-and-white costume design and in 2019 was ranked No. 10 on Sight & Sound‘s list of the 50 greatest films of all time.

In a 2017 interview with Le Monde, Cardinale recalled what it was like shooting back-to-back movies with Visconti and Fellini, often shuttling between the two sets:

“Visconti was precise and meticulous, spoke to me in French and wanted me to have long brown hair,” she said. “Fellini was chaotic and didn’t have a script; he spoke Italian to me, cut my hair short and dyed it blond. Those were the two most important films of my life.”

In The Pink Panther, Cardinale starred as the wealthy Princess Dala, whose priceless diamond becomes the target of an aristocratic jewel thief played by David Niven. Although her husky voice was dubbed for the role, Cardinale was praised for her work on the film, with Niven apparently telling her, “After spaghetti, you’re Italy’s greatest invention.”

Cardinale temporarily relocated to Hollywood and made several movies there, including Henry Hathaway’s Circus World (1964), in which she played the daughter of John Wayne and Rita Hayworth; Richard Brooks’ Western The Professionals (1966), also starring Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin and Robert Ryan; Alexander Mackendrick’s surfer comedy Don’t Make Waves (1967), starring Tony Curtis; and Joseph Sargent’s postwar thriller The Hell With Heroes (1968), with Rod Taylor.

Cardinale’s most memorable English-language role, however, came in a film directed by a fellow Italian: Playing a former prostitute and frontier widow who fights to protect her land against a ruthless railroad company in the epic spaghetti Western Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), Cardinale gave a fiery performance for Leone that included a sadistic love scene with Henry Fonda.

“His wife stood behind the camera like a vulture, which completely paralyzed me,” Cardinale told Le Monde about shooting that sequence.

Indeed, Cardinale was rumored to be romantically linked with a number of leading men throughout her early career, including Delon, Mastroianni, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Steve McQueen. Yet she rarely spoke about her love life in public, only claiming in a late interview that she was “stupid” for having rejected the advances of Marlon Brando. “I never wanted to mix my private and public lives,” she said. “No flirting. No flings.”

After divorcing Cristaldi in 1975, Claudia began living with Neapolitan director Pasquale Squitieri, with whom she remained until his death in 2017. The two had a daughter, also named Claudia, and collaborated on a number of features, including I guappi (1974), Corleone (1977), Claretta (1984) and Atto di dolore (1990).

Cardinale worked steadily from the 1970s onward, nabbing another di Donatello prize for Luigi Zampa’s comedy A Girl in Australia (1971) and Italian Golden Globes for her leading roles in Claretta and Atto di dolore.

Highlights of the second half of her career included Marco Ferreri’s satirical Vatican-set drama, L’udienza (1972); Visconti’s English-language drama Conversation Piece (1974), in which she reteamed with the director and Lancaster; Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo (1982), in which she played a mistress brought into the jungle by her lover (Klaus Kinski in the title role); and Marco Bellocchio’s Henry IV (1984) as she teamed again with Mastroianni.

Alongside her prolific work onscreen, Cardinale starred in stage productions of plays by Luigi Pirandello (How You Love Me), Tennessee Williams (Sweet Bird of Youth, The Glass Menagerie) and Neil Simon (The Odd Couple), with Squitieri often directing.

She also had a brief career as a disco singer in the 1970s, releasing such tracks as “Love Affair” and “Sun … I Love You,” which were minor hits in Europe and Japan.

Cardinale appeared on the inside foldout of early releases of Bob Dylan’s legendary 1966 Blonde on Blonde album (he was an admirer) and caused a stir when she wore a miniskirt to a meeting with the pope in 1967.

In 2008, Cardinale was awarded a Legion of Honor in her adopted home of France, where she resided in the final decades of her life. In 2017, her dancing image — from a photo taken on a Rome rooftop in 1959 — graced the official poster of the 70th Cannes Film Festival.

Reflecting on her impressive career on the occasion of the poster’s release, Cardinale offered advice for the young actresses who followed in her wake: “Never take on a role that will hurt you or make you sell out,” she warned. “And refuse to accept the awful caprices of certain directors or any form of professional blackmail. Yes, you need to fight!”

CARDINALE, Claudia (Claude Joséphine Rose Cardinale)

Born: 4/15/1938, Tunis, French Protectorate Tunisia

Died: 9/23/2025, Nemours, Seine-et-Marne, France

 

Claudia Cardinale’s westerns – actress:

The Professionals – 1966 (Maria)

Once Upon a Time in the West – 1968 (Jill McBain)

The Legend of Frenchie Kin – 1971 (Marie Sarrazin)

Twice Upon a Time in the West – 2015 (Claudia)

RIP Andre Landzaat

 

Amsterdam, Netherlands Arts Community Mourning The Passing Of Andre Landzaat

Ping Desk

September 21, 2025

 

Amsterdam, Netherlands Arts Community Mourning The Passing Of Andre Landzaat

We are deeply saddened to share the heartbreaking news of the passing of Andre Landzaat, a cherished figure in the Amsterdam arts community. Andre peacefully left this world today in the hospital, with his beloved partner Ed by his side. His departure leaves a void that will be felt by all who knew him, especially his students, colleagues, and friends.

Andre Landzaat was more than just a teacher; he was a guiding light for many aspiring actors and artists in Amsterdam and beyond. His dedication to his craft and his genuine care for each student set him apart. Over the years, Andre’s mentorship helped shape countless careers, inspiring a new generation to pursue their passions with confidence and integrity. His warm presence, insightful guidance, and unwavering support created a nurturing environment where creativity could flourish.

Throughout his life, Andre exemplified kindness, humility, and a profound love for the arts. His teachings went beyond technique; he emphasized the importance of authenticity, emotional truth, and compassion in acting. Many who studied under him speak of his ability to see potential and to bring out the best in everyone he mentored. His impact transcended the stage he touched lives and inspired change through his unwavering belief in human connection and expression.

 

LANDZAAT, Andre

Born: 4/7/1944, The Haag, The Netherlands

Died: 9/22/2025, The Netherlands

 

Andre Landzaat’s western – actor:

The Yellow Rose – 1984 (Klaus)

RIP Elaine Merk

 

Elaine Merk Binder, One of the Last Surviving Munchkins from ‘The Wizard of Oz’, Dies at 94 

Variety

By Jack Dunn

September 21, 2025

 

Elaine Merk Binder, one of the last surviving actors who played a Munchkin in the 1939 classic “The Wizard of Oz,” has died, according to her daughter Annette Phillips. She was 94.

Binder auditioned for “The Wizard of Oz” in 1938 and was selected as one of the eight children who would dance and sing as part of the Munchkin ensemble.

“I tried out for the ‘Wizard of Oz’ Munchkins. For me it was scary. It was my first big call for girls from a major studio,” Binder recalled of the experience. “I was relieved when Bud told the dance director, ‘She’s O.K.’ I did not have to perform like the others did. And they selected me as one of the eight who would both dance and sing. We learned later that they had added girls to the Little People because they had the mistaken impression that the Little People were not athletic.”

During the song “Come Out, Come Out,” Binder was staged in the second little house up the steps. Just before they go into “Off to See the Wizard,” Binder can be seen as one of the eight dancers in a pavilion at the rear, wearing a dark green dress and hat. She was just 8 years old while filming on the MGM lot.

Before “The Wizard of Oz,” she performed in the “Our Gang” shorts.

The 2024 documentary “Mysteries of Oz” featured an interview with Binder about her memories of filming the historic movie.

Binder’s last film was “Nothing Sacred” with Carole Lombard and Frederic March. Although Paramount would later offer her a contract as a teen, she declined and went to study at Occidental College. She graduated in 1951 and later completed her master’s at Cal State Los Angeles in 1953 with degrees in music and education. She went on to study computer science and theology, and worked as a computer consultant for USC and First Interstate Bank.

MERK, Elaine (Elaine V. Merk)

Born: 12/19/1930, Colorado, U.S.A.

Died: 9/21/2025, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Elaine Merk’s western – actress:

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer – 1938 (schoolgirl)

RIP Sergio Salvati

THE OBITUARY OF THE RIGHTEOUS - SERGIO SALVATI, 91 YEARS OLD, VERY ROMAN, GREAT DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY WHO WAS ONE OF THE OPERATORS OF "THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY" AND HISTORICAL COLLABORATOR OF LUCIO FULCI - A GREAT PROFESSIONAL, IN THE LAST TWENTY YEARS HE HAD BECOME THE HISTORICAL MEMORY OF ITALIAN CINEMA AND OF A PROFESSION, THE DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY, FUNDAMENTAL FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A FILM - HE HAS ALWAYS TRIED TO HELP ME AND ALL KINDS OF FANS IN THE WORK OF RESEARCHING STORIES AND CHARACTERS OF OUR GENRE CINEMA – VIDEO

Dagospia

Marco Giusti for Dagospia

September 18, 2025

Sergio Salvati, 91 years old, very Roman, great director of photography who, thanks to his experience as an operator and assistant in genre cinema of the 1960s, was one of the operators of "The Good the Bad the Ugly" by Sergio Leone, knew everything about the famous scene of the bridge that exploded before the start, as well as director of the second unit of "My Name is Nobody" by Tonino Valerii,

He specialized in horror and fantasy, first linking up with a director like Lucio Fulci, for whom he will shoot all his most famous films, "And you will live in darkness. The after life", "Zombi 2", "That villa next to the cemetery", "Fear in the city of the dead", and then to the international directors who tried to carry on the genre in the 1980s, giving life to titles such as "Ghoulies II" by Albert Band, "Ork" by John Charles Buechler, "Catacombs" by David Schoeller, "Transformations" by Jay Kamen, "Puppet Master" by David Scholler.

But he was also very active in advertising, he shot hundreds of carousels in the early 1970s, becoming the right-hand man of the English director Richard Lester for sensational series, Agip with Raffaella Carrà, Simmenthal with Tommy Tune, Oransoda, Cinzano, Mentafredda and Paolo Bianchini, which he will also follow in the cinema. A great professional, a security on the set, in the early 1990s he worked in the comedy produced by Aurelio De Laurentiis, "Christmas Holidays 90", "Christmas Holidays 93", "90s", all directed by Enrico Oldoini, but also in the films as a director of Christian De Sica, "Faccione" "Count Max", "Ricky and Barabbas".

In the last twenty years he had become a great historical memory of Italian cinema and of a profession, the director of photography, absolutely fundamental for the construction of a film. With the international rediscovery of Lucio Fulci's horror cinema, the name of Sergio Salvati had become absolutely cult among fans. Also because, with great kindness and competence, Sergio had been able to tell everyone the secrets of their cinema.

Born in Rome in 1934, the son of a film engineer, Adolfo Salvati, and a fashion designer, Carolina Pastori, he entered the world of cinema at the age of twenty. We find him in the early 1960s as a photography assistant on "Apocalypse on the Yellow River", operator on "The Road of the Giants" by Guido Malatesta, "The Loves of Hercules", "The Steppe" by Alberto Lattuada, "The Woman of the Lake", "The Sweet Ladies" by Luigi Zampa. The set of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" by Sergio Leone, with the direction of photography by Tonino Delli Colli, was the real professional turning point.

On "Medea" by Pier Paolo Pasolini he moved to the hand-held camera, for "My Name is Nobody" produced by Leone and directed by Tonino Valerii he is responsible for the photography of the second unit. The first film he signed as director of photography was the adventurous "Desert of Fire" by Renzo Merusi in 1971, followed by "Piange... the Telephone" by Lucio De Caro. In 1974 he met Lucio Fulci for "Il ritrono di Zanna Bianca", where he directed the photography of the shots of dogs and animals, and for the more authorial and crazy "The Four of the Apocalypse", a very successful horror western.

He will never leave him, becoming his eye. Despite Fulci's temper, he will shoot with him all his subsequent films, "Dracula in Brianza", "7 Notes in Black", "Silver Saddle", "Zombi 2", "Luca the Smuggler", Fear in the City of the Living Gead", "Black Cat", "And You Will Live in Terror - The Afterlife", "The House Next to the Cemetery", giving life to an absolutely original type of Italian horror that will have an immediate success with the public and will become an international cult in the following decades.

We also find him director of photography of "Ciao nì" by Paolo Poeti, the only film with Renato Zero, and of "Deep Sex", a soft (and hard) porn mess born on the set of "Zombi 2" at the behest of the producer, Fabrizio De Angelis, then moved to Rome to the direction of Marino Girolami and here and there completed by Salvati himself with Al Cliver, Venantino Venantini, Marcella Petrelli. He continued to work in what remains of Italian genre cinema in the 1980s, "1990. The Bronx Warriors" by Enzo G. Castellari, "Thunder", "Cobra Mission", and is recovered by small American horror productions for its great expertise in the genre.

He thus signs the photography of "Ghoulies II", "Ork", "Catacombs", "Puppet Master". The last horror he will shoot is "MDC – La maschera di cera", conceived by Lucio Fulci for Dario Argento producer and then shot, after Fulci's death, by Sergio Stivaletti. As long as he could, he always worked very hard. Also for TV series, such as "The Seventh Papyrus", produced by Ciro Ippolito, "Incantesimo", for short films of any kind. And he has always tried to help me and all kinds of fans in the work of researching stories and characters of our genre cinema, but not only, to bring to light skills and values.

SALVATI, Sergio

Born: 6/16/1934, Trastevere, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Died: 9/17/2025, Rome, Lazio, Italy

 

Sergio Salvati’s westerns – cinematographer:

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – 1966

Three Silver Dollars - 1968

My Name is Nobody – 1973

Challenge to White Fang - 1974

4 of the Apocalypse… - 1974

Silver Saddle – 1978

Thunder Warrior – 1983 (co)