Riccardo Freda

[R-T-C Tim]

Best known today as the mentor of Mario Bava, Freda is one of the strangest figures of the Euro-cult era. He made his money with a series of costume dramas in the 1950s and won a huge amount betting on the horses, as a result his subsequent films were more as a hobby than for any financial reasons. However, rather than making personal films, he seemed to spend most of his career on rather generic productions and although best remembered for his horror films, he only made three of these and two Gialli.

Unfortunately, only one of his early costume dramas seems to be available on DVD and perhaps his best known horror film L'orribile segreto del Dr. Hichcock remains one of the most long awaited titles on English friendly DVD, but a number of his other films are available.

My reviews of:
Genoveffa di Brabante (1964) - an obscure little Medieval drama made in Spain.
Giants of Thessaly (1960) - a rather generic Peplum
Liz and Helen (1969) - a very clever thriller with Klaus Kinski
Spartaco (1953) - an early costume drama
Lo Spettro (1963) - a masterful period ghost story
Tragic Ceremony (1972) - a rather bizarre modern gothic horror
I Vampiri (1956) - the first real Italian horror movie
White Warrior (1959) - a curious Peplum style adventure set in Russia

To find out more about the director, I have also written up a short biography - Riccardo Freda