Luigi Batzella
Encyclopedia
Luigi Batzella was an Italian
Z-movie director, writer and former actor who used numerous pseudonyms. Some of them were Paolo Solvay, Ivan Kathansky, A.M. Frank, Gigi Batzella, Paul Hamus, Dean Jones, Paul Selway and several others.
of the time like Richard Harrison
, Gordon Mitchell
, Brad Harris, Rita Calderoni and Mark Damon
. There is some conflicting information on whether his real name was Paolo Solvay or Luigi Batzella. According to the IMDb it's Batzella, according to Gordon Mitchell and Richard Harrison, it's Solvay.
Batzella was essentially a hack-of-all-trades, working in a variety of genres, directing spaghetti western
(A Pistol for Django, 1971), war films (When the Bell Tolls, 1970), erotic horror (Nude for Satan, 1974), and politically very incorrect Nazi-exploitation (Achtung! The Desert Tigers, 1977, and Beast in the Heat, 1977). He became notorious for working with very low budgets, using stock footage
and recycling scenes from one film to another. Both Achtung! The Desert Tigers and Beast in the Heat feature footage from When the Bell Tolls.
Batzella's directing career ranged from the late 60's to the late 70's, after which he seems to have retired from film. Today, he's remembered mostly for the Nazi-exploitation films and being an Italian version of Ed Wood. Despite many of his films being in extremely bad taste, they hold a kind of naive charm similar to Wood.
His films numbered 15, of which he also edited and wrote himself, all of them were very low budget, his first three films were westerns, shot in the same town, featuring scenes from each other inserted into the narrative and stock footage. He produced three war films, several years later, these all contain footage from each other, SS Hell Camp consisting of much stock footage, and shot in a single lab set. The rest of his films, were either shot on preexisting sets or with even more minimal budgets.
However Batzella, still manages to create somewhat enjoyable films, if not for their laughter value than anything else.
Batzella died on the 18th of November 2008, he will be greatly missed by his many cult film fans.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Z-movie director, writer and former actor who used numerous pseudonyms. Some of them were Paolo Solvay, Ivan Kathansky, A.M. Frank, Gigi Batzella, Paul Hamus, Dean Jones, Paul Selway and several others.
Life and career
Although his films were generally inept, Batzella did get to work with a number of established B-actorsB-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
of the time like Richard Harrison
Richard Harrison (actor)
Richard Harrison is an American B-movie actor and occasionally a writer/director/producer.Harrison was very prolific and worked with most of the better-known names in European B-movies during the 1960s and 1970s, branching out to exploitation films shot all over the world in the early 1970s...
, Gordon Mitchell
Gordon Mitchell
Gordon Mitchell was an American actor and bodybuilder.-Biography:Charles Allen Pendleton was born in Denver, Colorado, and began working out in his Denver neighbourhood to deal with his tough companions. During World War II he served in the U.S...
, Brad Harris, Rita Calderoni and Mark Damon
Mark Damon
Mark Damon is an American film actor and producer. He started his career in his native country, appearing in such films as Young and Dangerous and Roger Corman's House of Usher...
. There is some conflicting information on whether his real name was Paolo Solvay or Luigi Batzella. According to the IMDb it's Batzella, according to Gordon Mitchell and Richard Harrison, it's Solvay.
Batzella was essentially a hack-of-all-trades, working in a variety of genres, directing spaghetti western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
(A Pistol for Django, 1971), war films (When the Bell Tolls, 1970), erotic horror (Nude for Satan, 1974), and politically very incorrect Nazi-exploitation (Achtung! The Desert Tigers, 1977, and Beast in the Heat, 1977). He became notorious for working with very low budgets, using stock footage
Stock footage
Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that may or may not be custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is sometimes less expensive than shooting new...
and recycling scenes from one film to another. Both Achtung! The Desert Tigers and Beast in the Heat feature footage from When the Bell Tolls.
Batzella's directing career ranged from the late 60's to the late 70's, after which he seems to have retired from film. Today, he's remembered mostly for the Nazi-exploitation films and being an Italian version of Ed Wood. Despite many of his films being in extremely bad taste, they hold a kind of naive charm similar to Wood.
His films numbered 15, of which he also edited and wrote himself, all of them were very low budget, his first three films were westerns, shot in the same town, featuring scenes from each other inserted into the narrative and stock footage. He produced three war films, several years later, these all contain footage from each other, SS Hell Camp consisting of much stock footage, and shot in a single lab set. The rest of his films, were either shot on preexisting sets or with even more minimal budgets.
However Batzella, still manages to create somewhat enjoyable films, if not for their laughter value than anything else.
Batzella died on the 18th of November 2008, he will be greatly missed by his many cult film fans.
Partial filmography
- When the Bell Tolls, aka Quando Suona la Campana (1970)
- A weak WW II film starring Brad HarrisBrad HarrisBradford Harris is an American actor, stuntman, and executive producer. He appeared in a variety of roles in over 50 films, mostly in European productions. He is a member of the Stuntman's Hall of Fame.- Life and career :...
and Brigitte Skay, worth noting mainly for supplying footage for Solvay's later films.
- The Devil's Wedding Night, aka Il Plenilunio delle Vergini (1973)
- An erotic vampire film starring Mark Damon and Rosalba Neri, one of Solvay's better efforts.
- Nude for Satan, aka Nuda per Satana (1974)
- Arguably Solvay's best film, an experimental, erotic horror film starring Rita Calderoni. Although crude, it is strongly atmospheric, a quality lacking from all of his other films.
- Achtung! The Desert Tigers (1977)
- A mixture of a straight war film and sleazy Nazi-exploitation, with recycled scenes from When the Bell Tolls. Starring B-movie veterans Richard HarrisonRichard Harrison (actor)Richard Harrison is an American B-movie actor and occasionally a writer/director/producer.Harrison was very prolific and worked with most of the better-known names in European B-movies during the 1960s and 1970s, branching out to exploitation films shot all over the world in the early 1970s...
and Gordon MitchellGordon MitchellGordon Mitchell was an American actor and bodybuilder.-Biography:Charles Allen Pendleton was born in Denver, Colorado, and began working out in his Denver neighbourhood to deal with his tough companions. During World War II he served in the U.S...
, featuring Mike MontyMike MontyMike Monty was an American character actor, born in 1936 in Chattanooga, Tennessee as Michael O'Donahue but he changed his name to Mike Monty late in life....
in a small role.
- Beast in the HeatLa Bestia in CaloreLa Bestia in Calore is an Italian exploitation film released in 1977. Directed by Luigi Batzella and written by Batzella and Lorenzo Artale, it gained notoriety when it was banned in the UK as a video nasty...
, aka SS Hell Camp, aka La Bestia in Calore (1977)
- A thoroughly depraved Nazi-exploitation vehicle with torture, castration, rape and a simian man-beast (Italian character actor Salvatore Baccaro). An Italian cash-in of Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SSIlsa: She-Wolf of the SSIlsa, She Wolf of the SS is a 1975 Nazi exploitation film produced in the USA. The film was directed by Don Edmonds, produced by David F. Friedman and written by Jonah Royston.- Plot :...
taken one step further, Beast in the Heat is now a celebrated cult filmCult filmA cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
in Z-movie fandom and was recently released on a high quality DVD. Featuring scenes from When the Bell Tolls.
- Black Gold Dossier (1979)
- An ultralow-budget, spy-action film set in an unnamed Middle Eastern country, starring Richard HarrisonRichard Harrison (actor)Richard Harrison is an American B-movie actor and occasionally a writer/director/producer.Harrison was very prolific and worked with most of the better-known names in European B-movies during the 1960s and 1970s, branching out to exploitation films shot all over the world in the early 1970s...
, Gordon MitchellGordon MitchellGordon Mitchell was an American actor and bodybuilder.-Biography:Charles Allen Pendleton was born in Denver, Colorado, and began working out in his Denver neighbourhood to deal with his tough companions. During World War II he served in the U.S...
and Florence Cayrol, who spends most of the film in various stages of undress. Noteworthy for generous use of stock footageStock footageStock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that may or may not be custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is sometimes less expensive than shooting new...
.