In the eyes of fandom and critical circles there are established the three great Italian horror directors. Bava/Fulci/Argento roughly in that order and with each director carving their own distinct niche and influencing many. What a coincidence that there's three acknowledged to be masterful Italian Horror directors and three witches in Argento's Suspiria mythology. Power of three.
So -for a change of pace- this isn't to debate the merits among the three but to ask who is the unofficial Fourth Maestro. Is there another filmmaker who has the skills that match up to Bava/Fulci/Argento and have made a consistent number of movies to validate this? This might be a little unfair in comparing another person to another in such a way but it might be fun just the same.
My pick is Michele Soavi. Consistently made great films. Protege of some of the great genre filmmakers up to and including Aristide Massaccesi and Argento. Not to mention acting in some of the classics and being a great filmmaker in general with Arrivererci Amore Ciao.
My backup choice would be Sergio Martino. The giallo's he directed are on par with the Three Maestros and Mountain of the Cannibal God is pretty well done and not far behind Holocaust or Ferox. His only crime being that his genre output dried up not long after the very fun 2019: After the Fall of New York.
So -for a change of pace- this isn't to debate the merits among the three but to ask who is the unofficial Fourth Maestro. Is there another filmmaker who has the skills that match up to Bava/Fulci/Argento and have made a consistent number of movies to validate this? This might be a little unfair in comparing another person to another in such a way but it might be fun just the same.
My pick is Michele Soavi. Consistently made great films. Protege of some of the great genre filmmakers up to and including Aristide Massaccesi and Argento. Not to mention acting in some of the classics and being a great filmmaker in general with Arrivererci Amore Ciao.
My backup choice would be Sergio Martino. The giallo's he directed are on par with the Three Maestros and Mountain of the Cannibal God is pretty well done and not far behind Holocaust or Ferox. His only crime being that his genre output dried up not long after the very fun 2019: After the Fall of New York.
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