Lamberto Bava facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lamberto Bava
Lamberto Bava at the 2012 Days of the Dead, Indianapolis, USA.
Born	(1944-04-03) 3 April 1944 (age 81) Rome, Italy
Other names	John Old Jr.
Occupation	Film director
Parent(s)	Mario Bava (father)
Relatives	Eugenio Bava (grandfather)

Lamberto Bava (born April 3, 1944) is an Italian film director. He was born in Rome, Italy. Lamberto started his career working with his father, Mario Bava, who was also a famous director. Lamberto helped his father make movies and later directed his own films.

In 1979, Lamberto worked with his father to direct the TV film La Venere d'Ille. Then, in 1980, he directed his first movie by himself, called Macabre. Throughout the 1980s, Lamberto Bava continued to make films, including some with another well-known director, Dario Argento, like Demons. After 1990, he mostly worked on television shows, such as his popular Fantaghirò series.

Lamberto Bava's Early Life and Career

Lamberto Bava was born in Rome, Italy, on April 3, 1944. His father, Mario Bava, was a famous film director, especially known for making exciting horror movies. Lamberto began his journey in filmmaking in the mid-1960s. He started as an assistant director, helping his father on movies like Planet of the Vampires.

Lamberto worked with his father on many projects. These included films such as Danger: Diabolik (1966), Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971), and Shock (1977). For Shock, Lamberto Bava was also a writer, not just an assistant director. Besides working with his father, Lamberto also helped Italian director Ruggero Deodato on films like Ultimo mondo cannibale (1977) and Cannibal Holocaust (1979). In 1978, Lamberto and Mario directed an episode for an Italian TV series called I giochi del diavolo. This series featured six stories based on old fantastic literature. Their episode was based on a story called La Venere d'Ille.

Directing His Own Films

Lamberto Bava met director Pupi Avati, which led to him directing his first full-length movie, Macabre, in 1980. He wrote this film with Pupi and Antonio Avati. After seeing Macabre, Lamberto's father, Mario, told him he could "die in peace," meaning he was proud of his son's work. Mario Bava passed away later that same year.

After Macabre, Lamberto Bava worked in advertising and kept writing new ideas for movies. He was asked by director Dario Argento to help with his mystery film Tenebre (1982), where Lamberto was an assistant director. In 1983, Lamberto Bava directed his second movie, a mystery film called A Blade in the Dark. This movie was first planned as a low-budget TV film. It tells the story of a music composer named Bruno, who gets caught up in a series of mysterious events while staying at a quiet house.

Lamberto Bava then explored different types of movies. He directed Blastfighter, which was a remake of the Australian film Mad Max. This movie starred Michael Sopkiw as Tiger, a detective who moves to the woods with his daughter after being released from prison. There, they face trouble from a group of bad guys. Lamberto's next film, Monster Shark, was a science fiction movie about a giant mutated shark. Two marine biologists try to find and stop the creature.

Later Films and Television Work

In 1985, Lamberto Bava worked with Dario Argento again on the film Demons. Argento helped write and produce this movie. It's about a group of people watching a horror film in a theater when strange things start to happen. One person gets scratched and turns into a scary creature, spreading a mysterious infection to others. A sequel, Demons 2, followed in 1986, with many of the same actors and crew. In Demons 2, a TV show causes an outbreak of creatures in an apartment building.

Bava also made the television film Midnight Killer in the same year. This film is about a series of murders that are very similar to an old case from 15 years ago, even though the original killer was thought to have died. Lamberto Bava himself has a small role in the film as a photographer. While working on Midnight Killer, Bava started preparing his next film, Delirium (1987). This movie is about a model named Gioia whose co-workers are mysteriously murdered.

Bava returned to television, directing several hour-long films produced by Dario Argento. These included "E ...di Moda la Morte" and "Heavy Metal." In 1986, a company announced new TV films for a series called Brivido giallo, to be directed by Bava. Four films were made for this series, including Graveyard Disturbance (1987) and Until Death (1988). Other films in the series were The Ogre and Dinner with a Vampire.

The Brivido giallo series was not very popular. This led to Bava's next TV films, part of a series called Alta tensione, being released much later. Some of these films, shot between 1988 and 1989, were only released in 1999. One film was even released as late as 2007. Bava also directed a remake of Black Sunday for a European TV series. This remake was called La maschera del demonio and premiered in 1990. In the 1990s, Bava began directing the popular fairy tale series Fantaghirò series and its many sequels.

Recent Works

In 1992, Bava directed the film Body Puzzle. This movie is about a woman who discovers strange things about her late husband, leading to a mystery. Lamberto Bava also continued his work in television. In 1991, he directed Fantaghiro, a TV miniseries inspired by fantasy films like Legend and Willow. This series was made for families and had very little violence. The Fantaghiro series ended in 1997 after eight long episodes.

Before finishing the Fantaghiro series, Bava worked on other TV projects. These included Desideria (1994-1995) and another fantasy series called Sorellina e il Principe del Sogno (1996). In the late 1990s, Bava made another TV film called Caraibi. More recently, Bava's film work includes L'Impero and Ghost Son.

Filmography

Television Work

• Turno di notte (Italian TV series)
• Fantaghirò
• Fantaghirò 2
• Fantaghirò 3
• The Dragon Ring (television film)
• Fantaghirò 4 (television film)
• Princess Alisea (television film)
• Fantaghirò 5 (television film)
• The Princess and the Pauper
• Pirates: Blood Brothers
• Human Currency (television miniseries)
• Visions of Murder (television film)
• Tailor-Made Murder (television film)
• Kammerspiel (television film)

Images for kids

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  Lamberto Bava at the 2012 Days of the Dead, Indianapolis, USA.

See also

In Spanish: Lamberto Bava para niños