Ernesto Gastaldi (born 10 September 1934) is an Italian
screenwriter
A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based.
...
. Film historian and critic
Tim Lucas described Gastaldi as the first Italian screenwriter to specialize in horror and thriller films. Gastaldi worked within several popular genres including ''
pepla
Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (pepla plural), is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or Biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget ...
'',
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
and
spy films
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
.
Biography
Ernesto Gastaldi was born on 10 September 1934 in
Graglia
Graglia ( pms, Graja) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Biella in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about southwest of Biella
Biella (; pms, Biela; la, Bugella) is a city and '' comune'' in th ...
in the province of
Province of Biella
The Province of Biella ( it, Provincia di Biella, Piedmontese: ''Provincia ëd Biela'') is a province of Italy located in Piedmont. It was created in 1992 and its capital is the city of Biella.
It has an area of , and a total population of 17 ...
,
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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. Gastaldi left his job as a clerk at the Sella bank in Biella to move to Rome where he was admitted into
Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia
The Centro sperimentale di cinematografia (Experimental Film Centre or Italian National film school) was established in 1935 in Italy and aims to promote the art and technique of cinematography and film.
The centre is the oldest film school in ...
. After graduating, Gastaldi had trouble finding work. In 1957, Gastaldi wrote his first science fiction novel which the publishers requested an English-language name for the cover. Gastaldi was sharing an apartment at the time with an Anglo-Italian man named Julian Birri, who he adapted his name for his alias Julian Berry. Gastaldi would write more crime and science fiction novels during this period such as ''Sangue intasca'' (1957) as James Duffy, ''Brivido sulla schiena'' (1957) as Freddy Foster and ''Tempo zero'' (1960) as Berry.
Gastaldi's debut as a screenwriter and assistant director was with the film ''
The Vampire and the Ballerina
''The Vampire and the Ballerina'' ( it, L'amante del vampiro) is a 1960 Italian horror film directed and co-written by Renato Polselli.
Cast
* Hélène Rémy as Luisa
* Walter Brandi as Herman
* Maria Luisa Rolando as Countess Alda
* Pie ...
'' by
Renato Polselli
Renato Polselli (1922–2006) was an Italian film director and writer. Born in Arce, Lazio on 26 February 1922, Polselli began directing films in Italy in the early 1950s. He is best known for directing and writing the film '' The Vampire and th ...
. Gastaldi reflected on writing the film by stating that his working hours were from 8 in the morning until midnight, stating that "if someone had told me I was making a Gothic film I would have laughed." Other works in gothic horror included Gastaldi writing for ''
Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory
''Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory'' ( it, Lycanthropus) is a 1961 Italian horror film directed by Paolo Heusch.
Plot
Wolves have been roaming around a girls' reformatory. When the girls begin to get murdered, suspicion focuses on both the wolves ...
'', ''
The Horrible Dr. Hichcock'' and ''
The Whip and the Body
''The Whip and the Body'' ( it, La frusta e il corpo) is a 1963 gothic horror film directed by Mario Bava under the alias "John M. Old". The film is about Kurt Menliff (Christopher Lee) who is ostracized by his father for his relationship with a ...
''. Following his gothic works, was his work in
giallo film
In Italian cinema, ''Giallo'' (; plural ''gialli'', from ''giallo'', Italian for yellow) is a genre of mystery fiction and thrillers that often contains slasher, crime fiction, psychological thriller, psychological horror, sexploitation, and, ...
, where Gastaldi directed films such as ''
Libido
Libido (; colloquial: sex drive) is a person's overall sexual drive or desire for sexual activity. Libido is influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors. Biologically, the sex hormones and associated neurotransmitters that act u ...
'', which was released in 1965.
Selected filmography
Footnotes
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gastaldi, Ernesto
1934 births
Living people
People from Graglia
Italian male screenwriters
Italian screenwriters
Giallo film directors
Italian film directors