Riccardo Freda (24 February 1909 – 20 December 1999) was an Italian film director. He worked in a variety of genres, including
sword-and-sandal
Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (: pepla), is a subgenre of largely Italy, 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 ...
,
horror, ''
giallo
In Italian cinema, (; : ; from , ) is a genre that often contains Slasher film, slasher, thriller (genre), thriller, psychological horror, psychological thriller, Sexploitation film, sexploitation, and, less frequently, supernatural, supernat ...
'' and
spy film
The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a film genre, genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many Jame ...
s.
Freda began directing ''
I Vampiri'' in 1956.
The film became the first Italian
sound
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...
horror film production.
Biography
Riccardo Freda was born in 1909 in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
, Egypt to Italian parents.
Freda attended school in
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
where he took art classes at the
Centro Sperimantale.
After school he took on work as a sculptor and art critic.
Film career
Freda first began working in the film industry in 1937 and directed his first film ''
Don Cesare di Bazan'' in 1942.
Freda began directing ''
I Vampiri''. ''I Vampiri'' was the first Italian horror film of the sound era, following the lone silent horror film ''
Il mostro di Frankenstein'' (1920)
A wave of Italian horror productions did not follow until
Mario Bava
Mario Bava (; 31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter. His low-budget genre films, known for their distinctive visual flair and stylish ...
's film ''
Black Sunday'' was released internationally.
Freda died on 20 December 1999 in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
.
Filmography
Notes
*
a Freda has denied having taken part in writing the script for this film, despite being credited.
*
b Freda was originally to direct the film but stated that he walked off the set on the first day of shooting.
*
c Freda name is not in the credits but some sources state he directed several battles scenes in the film, which Freda denies.
*
d Freda name is not in the credits but some sources state he edited the naval battle scenes in the film, which Freda denies.
*
e Freda has claimed to have shot the entire film.
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Freda, Riccardo
1909 births
1999 deaths
Giallo film directors
Italian horror film directors
Italian male screenwriters
20th-century Italian screenwriters
Mass media people from Alexandria
20th-century Italian male writers