Sergio Garrone(1925-2023)

Writer/director Sergio Garrone was born in 1925 in Rome, Italy. He serves as a classic example of a journeyman Italian exploitation filmmaker who happily capitalized on whatever cinematic trend was hot at the moment. Garrone began his movie career as a screenwriter and assistant director before making his solo directorial debut with the spaghetti Western If You Want to Live... Shoot! (1968). Sergio went on to helm several other spaghetti Westerns that include Three Crosses Not to Die (1968), Django the Bastard (1969), and Quel maledetto giorno della resa dei conti (1971). In 1974 Garrone directed the horror features Lover of the Monster (1974) and The Hand That Feeds the Dead (1974), both of which starred Klaus Kinski. Sergio achieved his greatest notoriety with the nasty Nazisploitation outings SS Experiment Love Camp (1976) and SS Lager 5: L'inferno delle donne (1977). These pictures were shot back-to-back using several of the same cast and crew members. As a freelance screenwriter Garrone penned scripts for everything from lowbrow sex comedies (La clinica dell'amore (1976), ...And Give Us Our Daily Sex (1979)) to various spaghetti Westerns (Degueyo (1966), Killer Kid (1967)) to even mystery thrillers (The Blonde Connection (1969)). After writing the lackluster women-in-prison potboilers Hell Behind the Bars (1984) and Detenute violente (1984), Sergio Garrone retired from the film business and reportedly went on to run his own restaurant in Rome, Italy.