Umberto LenziFilmography

Cop Target

Crew: Director

Hitcher in the Dark

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Synopsis: Giallo filmmaker Umberto Lenzi directs the exploitative thriller Hitcher in the Dark under the pseudonym of Humphrey Humbert. Mark (Joe Balogh) is a psychopath who is obsessed with his late mother. He drives around Venice Beach, CA, looking for young women to abduct for his fantasies. He picks up Read More

Ghosthouse

Crew: Director

Actors: Lara Wendel, Gregg Scott, Mary Sellers, Kate Silver, Ron Houck

Synopsis: This Italian haunted-house outing begins with strange, paranormal emanations being picked up as radio signals by a group of Boston youths, who trace the signal to an abandoned estate. When they enter to investigate, they are attacked by the malevolent spectre of a young girl and her Read More

Striker

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Frank Zagarino, John Phillip Law, John Steiner

Synopsis: In this actioner, a courageous soldier-of-fortune boldly gets in the midst of the conflict between Sandinistas and Contras in war-torn Nicaragua while trying to save an imperiled American journalist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Bridge to Hell

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Synopsis: This exciting WW II drama is set in Yugoslavia and chronicles the daring exploits of a band of Allied soldiers who escape from their POW camp and head for safety. They are nearly there when they encounter a well-defended bridge; a bridge they have no choice but to somehow cross. ~ Sandra Brennan Read More

Squadra Selvaggia

Crew: Director

La Guerra del Ferro

Crew: Director

Actors: Sam Pasco, Elvire Audray, George Eastman, Pamela Field, Jacques Herlin

Synopsis: George Eastman and Pamela Field star in Ironmaster. Seldom there has then been a more predictable 98 minutes' worth of Sword and Sorcery, but that doesn't mean it isn't enjoyable. Eastman plays a primitive tribesman, exiled by his own people. In disgrace, Eastman is sent to live out his life on a Read More

Fatty Girl Goes to New York

Crew: Director

Actors: Donatella Rettore, Anita Ekberg, Gena Gas, Dario Caporaso, Howard Napper

Synopsis: Prolific Italian horror director Umberto Lenzi takes the helm for this comedy about an overweight Italian girl who travels to New York in order to test a miracle slimming treatment. Miris (Italian pop-star Donatella Rettore) is a cheery yet chubby girl from a small Italian village. Though she Read More

Cannibal Ferox

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Actors: John Morghen, Lorraine de Selle, Bryan Redford, Zora Kerova, Walt Lloyd

Synopsis: Primarily a showcase for the gory special-effects artistry of Gianetto de Rossi, this revolting horror film stars Giovanni Lombardo Radice (also known as "John Morghen") as a drug-dealer who comes to the Amazon jungle from New York looking for a cache of stolen emeralds. He joins some American Read More

Violent Protection

Crew: Director

Synopsis: In this drama, a renegade detective, determined to rid his city of violence, feels no qualms about bending the rules as he searches for two vicious crime lords. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Nightmare City

Crew: Director

Actors: Hugo Stiglitz, Laura Trotter, Francisco Rabal, Maria Rosaria Omaggio, Mel Ferrer

Synopsis: Miller (Hugo Stiglitz) is a reporter on to something when he sees passengers disembark from a plane and start attacking and murdering whomever they come across -- no, they are not upset with their service, they are zombies -- or more accurately ghouls who need human blood to stay alive. While Read More

Eaten Alive

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Actors: Janet Agren, Mel Ferrer, Ivan Rassimov, Paola Senatore

Synopsis: A courageous mercenary journeys to the New Guinea jungle to find a missing young woman. He brings with him an expert on the terrain and with only a rotting, super-8 film to guide them, they try to figure out where she is. As they make the dangerous journey, they must deal with hungry cannibals and Read More

Scusi, Lei è Normale?

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Da Dunkerque alla Vittoria

Crew: Director, Producer, Screenwriter

Actors: George Peppard, George Hamilton, Horst Buchholz, Capucine, Anny Duperey, Sam Wanamaker

Synopsis: The internationally produced From Hell to Victory is evocative of the works of Erich Maria Remarque. Several close friends of varying nationalities are separated by WW II. German Jurgen Dietrich (Horst Buchholz) is isolated from his old chums by his loyalty to the Fatherland. Still, he and his Read More

Il Grande Attaco

Crew: Director, Producer

Actors: Helmut Berger, Samantha Eggar, Henry Fonda

Synopsis: The American prints of Battle Force credit the direction to one Humphrey Longan, but in fact the man behind the megaphone of this European war flick was Umberto Lenzi. Orson Welles narrates this crazy-quilt of stock battle footage and hapharzardly staged new scenes. A lot of potent acting talent Read More

Il Cinico, l'Infame, il Violento

Crew: Director

Death Rage

Crew: Producer

Synopsis: In this actioner, a retired assassin straps on his old gun and goes out for vengeance against his brother's killer. The mobsters who hired him send him to Naples where the hapless hit man soon discovers that he has been set up. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Roma a mano armata

Crew: Director

Actors: Maurizio Merli, Tomas Milian, Arthur Kennedy, Maria Rosaria Omaggio

Synopsis: Police Commissioner Tanzi (Marizio Merli) is sick and tired of criminals getting coddled by the Italian justice system and proceeds to do something about it. His co-workers and superior try to rein him in, but there's no stopping him; criminals are made to pay for their crimes by this one-man Read More

Bruce Lee Fights Back From the Grave

Crew: Director

Actors: Bruce Lea

Synopsis: Directed by Umberto Lenzi, Bruce Lee Fights Back From the Grave revolves around Lee's fight for his eternal soul -- the marital arts extraordinaire must face off against the Black Angel of Death in this unique, supernatural kung fu venture. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide Read More

Syndicate Sadists

Crew: Director

Actors: Tomas Milian, Joseph Cotten, Maria Fiore, Luciano Catenacci

Synopsis: Cult filmmaker Umberto Lenzi directed this bloody, gangster-oriented thriller starring Tomas Milian in a rare sympathetic role as Rambo, a principled biker who runs afoul of a blind crimelord (Joseph Cotten). The plot is standard Italian crime fare, but Milian's performance alone makes this gritty Read More

Eyeball

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Actors: John Richardson, Martine Brochard, Ines Pelegrin, Silvia Solar

Synopsis: Although mostly known for his bloody jungle-set cannibal films (Cannibal Ferox; Mangiati Vivi) and the splattery zombie-adventure Incubo sulla Citta Contaminata, Italian filmmaker Umberto Lenzi also made a number of interesting thrillers, including this engagingly incoherent giallo about an Read More

Milano Odia: La Polizia non Può Sparare

Crew: Director

Actors: Tomas Milian, Henry Silva, Anita Strindberg, Raymond Lovelock, Laura Belli

Synopsis: This melodramatic crime film concerns a petty thief named Julio (Tomas Milian) who kidnaps pretty Mary Lou (Laura Belli), the daughter of his girlfriend's rich employer, and holds her for ransom. Much of the film features Julio's hysterical populist rants targeting the wealthy elite, whom he both Read More

Spasmo

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Directed by Umberto Lenzi, Spasmo centers on a discovery made by Christian (Robert Hoffman) and his girlfriend on what was meant to be a romantic stroll. At first, the couple happens on what appears to be a corpse, but upon further inspection, they see that the woman is still alive. As luck would Read More

Milano Rovente

Crew: Director

Synopsis: A violent crime thriller from cult filmmaker Umberto Lenzi, Milano Rovente deals with the rivalry between a pair of kingpins in the Milanese prostitution racket. Sadistic gang warfare ensues as nude hookers are beaten with belts and have their faces slashed with stilettos while men are garotted Read More

The Man from Deep River

Crew: Director

Synopsis: While on an expedition in Thailand, a photographer is taken hostage by cannibals and forced to endure several violent adventures. The film was originally an Italian release, and its even more violent version is rarely seen. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide Read More

Seven Blood Stained Orchids

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Actors: Pier Paolo Capponi, Uschi Glas, Marisa Mell, Antonio Sabato, Franco Fantasia

Synopsis: This uneven thriller directed by Umberto Lenzi was the final Rialto Film Company adaptation of an Edgar Wallace mystery (The Puzzle of the Silver Half-Moons), as tastes were changing and the German "krimi" genre was dying in favor of the sexier, bloodier Italian "giallo." In this awkward Read More

Il Coltello di ghiaccho

Crew: Director

Synopsis: This is yet another giallo thriller from prolific Italian filmmaker Umberto Lenzi and starring Carroll Baker, whom Lenzi had already featured in Paranoia and Orgasmo. Baker, best-known in America for her starring role in the controversial Baby Doll, stars as Martha Cauldwell, who was struck mute Read More

Un posto ideale per uccidere

Crew: Director

Synopsis: A philandering man's wife decides to take matters into her own murderous hands. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide Read More

Paranoia

Crew: Director

Actors: Carroll Baker

Synopsis: The second of two films starring Carroll Baker and directed by Umberto Lenzi, this one was released in Italy as Paranoia, the American title of its 1968 predecessor, Orgasmo. Baker plays Helen, a racecar driver who recovers from a coma and is summoned to the Majorcan villa of her ex-husband Read More

Kiss Me, Kill Me

Crew: Director

Actors: Erika Blanc, Horst Frank, Carroll Baker, Jean-Louis Trintignant

Synopsis: Before making the string of cannibal adventures which made him notorious, Umberto Lenzi directed three kinky giallo thrillers starring Carroll Baker (Baby Doll). This one is a bisexual round-robin, in which chemist Jean (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is married to Danielle (Erika Blanc), a Read More

La Legione dei dannati

Crew: Director

Synopsis: In this exciting war drama, a hard-nosed army colonel helps to prepare French beaches for D-day using a band of convicted criminals. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Orgasmo

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Actors: Carroll Baker, Lou Castel, Colette Descombes, Tino Carraro, Lilla Brignone

Synopsis: One of two thrillers starring Carroll Baker and directed by Umberto Lenzi, this one was released in the United States as Paranoia, the original title of the second one. Katherine West (Baker) is a wealthy alcoholic who travels to her late husband's Italian villa from New York. Soon, a slimy conman Read More

Tutto Per Tutto

Crew: Director

Synopsis: This is a standard Spaghetti Western, an Italian-Spanish co-production about a bounty hunter (John Ireland) hired to find outlaw Mark Damon (who, of course, is really a good guy at heart). There's hidden treasure, a cast full of genre veterans (including Armando Calvo, Monica Randall, and Eduardo Read More

Una Pistola Per Cento Bare

Crew: Director

Actors: Eduardo Fajardo, Peter Lee Lawrence, Piero Lulli, John Ireland

Synopsis: Cult filmmaker Umberto Lenzi directed this peculiar, horror-tinged spaghetti western starring Peter Lee Lawrence as The Kid, who is imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Upon his release, The Kid must attempt to clear his name but is betrayed at every turn by Garff (John Ireland), his former Read More

Desert Commandos

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Synopsis: The Nazis pull out all the stops during their scheme to kill all the Allied leaders with one strike when it seems that the Allies are winning World War II. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Kriminal

Crew: Director

Superseven Chiama Cairo

Crew: Director

Synopsis: In this British adventure, agent Super Seven must bring back the radioactive material that was recently stolen from a lab in Liverpool. The deadly stuff has been concealed in a movie camera bound for Cairo. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Il Ultimo Gladiatore

Crew: Director

Actors: Marilù Tolo, Richard Harrison, Lydia Alfonsi, Lisa Gastoni, Jean Claudio, Philippe Hersent

Synopsis: A slave unites the people of Rome against their emperor, Messalina. The Italian film was dubbed into English. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide Read More

Sandokan, la Tigre di Mompracem

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Actors: Steve Reeves, Jacqueline Sassard, Marie Versini, Alessandra Panaro, Andrea Bosic

Synopsis: In this swashbuckling tale of action and adventure, a dashing, muscle-bound sultan's son struggles to single-handedly stave off Queen Victoria's army of invaders and thereby save his father from kidnappers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Zorro Contro Maciste

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Actors: Pierre Brice, Moira Orfei, Maria Grazia Spina, Andrea Aurelia

Synopsis: In this epic adventure set in the 15th century, King Navarre dies and leaves his two nieces to fight over the throne. Naturally one of the girls is good, and the other evil. The two are at an impasse that can only be broken when one of the women can find the treasure chest containing the king's Read More

L'Invincibile Cavaliere Mascherato

Crew: Director, Producer, Screenwriter

Actors: Pierre Brice, Helene Chanel, Daniele Vargas, Giselle Arden

Synopsis: This is an Italian-French period costume piece retelling the Zorro legend, convincingly set in 1600s Spain. Pierre Brice (Winnetou) stars as Don Diego, who makes daring masked raids on his tyrannical stepfather's troops and incites the locals to stage an uprising. Brice was also in Zorro contra Read More

Detective Malone

Crew: Director

Actors: Fred Williamson