5. Sergio Martino (1938-)
Sergio Martino is an incredibly talented film director who has worked in Comedy, Westerns and Sci Fi. But it is for his sterling talent as a horror and Giallo director that he earns a place on the list. Born in Rome in 1938, Martino began his cinematic career as an assistant to his writer/producer brother Luciano. He had a small role in the making of Mario Bava's SM horror masterpiece - The Whip and the Flesh. His directorial debut was a then fashionable Mondo movie called Mondo Sex. Whenever the Giallo first came of age, Martino directed several masterpieces that frequently featured the very beautiful Edwige Fenech who was then married to his brother. His Giallo efforts include: The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, The Case of the Scorpion's Tail and perhaps his finest film - Torso (The Bodies Bear Traces of Carnal Violence). Torso is often cited as having an influence on the development of the American slasher film. It was a fantastic achievement for Martino as it works well as a straight horror film and also plays magnificently as one of the most menacing and polished Gialli. Martino worked with many exploitation stars in his hey day - including George Eastman and Ivan Rassimov. He also collaborated with the most important Giallo writer of the age - Ernesto Gastaldi. Another quintessential Martino film is Mountain of the Cannibal God which starred Ursula Andress and Stacy Keach - two very flashy names for a cannibal picture. But it will most likely be his Gialli that Sergio Martino will be remembered for and revered for. At times his talent was close to Bava's and Argento's and whtever the outcome, his films were always interesting.