Lamberto Bava was born in Rome, Italy, and was the first of a third
generation of Italian filmmakers. His grandfather,
Eugenio Bava (1886-1966), was a cameraman
and optics effects artist during the early days of Italian silent
cinema. His father, Mario Bava (1914-1980),
was a legendary cinematographer, special effects designer and director.
Lamberto entered the cinema as his father's personal assistant,
starting with
Planet der Vampire (1965).
Bit by bit he gained experience from his father, who made him the
assistant director for most of the rest of his films. He even co-wrote
the screenplay for Schock (1977)
("Shock"), Mario's last theatrical film where. In poor health during
the shoot, Mario often feigned illness so Lamberto could direct a few
scenes, uncredited, to gain further experience.
Both Lamberto and Mario directed the made-for-TV drama
La Venere d'Ille (1979).
Both worked on the Dario Argento horror
flick Feuertanz - Horror Infernal (1980), for which Mario
designed some of the color set pieces, including the underwater
ballroom, and created all the visual special effects, while Lamberto
worked as Argento's assistant director. Late in 1979 Lamberto made his
solo directorial debut with
Macabro - Die Küsse der Jane Baxter (1980), a tense drama-horror
flick loosely based on a 1977 incident in New Orleans about a woman who
keeps her lover's severed head in her freezer. According to Lamberto,
the project started by chance when producer
Pupi Avati approached him to direct as well
as write the screenplay, which took just six weeks to write and direct.
"Macabro" was released in Italy in February 1980 to mixed reviews, but
won him recognition by his father Mario. Just two months later Mario
Bava died, and an era in Italian film making came to a close.
'Macabro" was not the box-office hit and, as a result, Lamberto went
back to assistant directing. He worked with Dario Argento again in 1982
with Tenebrae (1982). In 1983 Lamberto was
offered to direct another film, titled
A Blade in the Dark (1983),
which was a violent mystery thriller shot in only three weeks on a
tight budget and filmed almost entirely in a producer friend's house.
Next he directed the action-flick
Blastfighter - Der Executor (1984), which was
filmed in the state of Georgia, and immediately afterwards directed the
Der weiße Hai (1975)-like thriller
Der Monster-Hai (1984),
which was shot in Florida. On both films Lamberto was purely a director
for hire and had nothing to do with the script or production end. He
used the pseudonym of "John Old Jr." for this film, which was a tribute
to his father Mario, who often used the pseudonym "John M. Old".
He enjoyed his best commercial success to date with
Dämonen 2 (1985) ("Demons"), produced by
Dario Argento, co-written by
Dardano Sacchetti and filmed in West
Berlin, Germany. This films international success allowed him to
co-write, produce and direct a sequel,
Dämonen (1986). Lamberto returned to
"giallo" thrillers with
Das unheimliche Auge (1987).
In the late 1980s the Italian cinema turned moribund. Lamberto, like
most of his colleagues, turned to making films for Italian television.
He also directed a remake of his father's
Die Stunde, wenn Dracula kommt (1960),
which was titled
La máscara del demonio (1989).
Nowadays Lamberto Bava continues to divide his time between TV work and
a few movies, acknowledging his inspiration from his late father,
Mario.
