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Joe D'Amato's signature of "exquisite, erotic quality has been emblazonedon each of his recent productions with the confidence of a true pornomaster. In Gangland Bangers, D'Amato tells a lavish action-packed saga of Depression-era bootleggers, punctuated by bright, original performances and sexual encounters that successfully run the gamut from romantic to absolutely rambunctious." (AVN 5/96 p.70)

AVN reports that Italian director Joe D'Amato died Saturday night (1/23/99) of a heart attack. The 62-year old felt bad on his plane trip from Los Angeles to Rome, and upon arrival in Italy, he checked into a hospital where he died. His American movies are usually distributed by Moonlight and Xcel.

Max Hardcore remembers the late director: "Joe D’Amato was a friend of ours. His real name was Aristide Massaccesi, and he came from Italy.

"We’ve known him since 1992, when we had the pleasure of meeting him and his friendly wife in Cannes. He was a funny kind of guy, and he seemed kind of lost. But at the same time he also seemed to know what was happening. He was looking for some girls, and had big ideas to make a "really sexy movie."

"He had a knack of inspiring those around him to do better, and do more. We called him the "human tripod," because of the way he walked, and because he always kept his big old heavy Arriflex on the sticks. With a big old bic pen sticking out the side that controlled the zoom lever. Yeah, he always shot on film. And he always cared about what he was doing.

"I had the pleasure of working for him once, and so did my friend Barbie Angel. There was nothing we wouldn’t do for him. He only had to ask in his special soft Italian way.

"Aristide Massaccesi shot at my villa for the last time on January 13,
1999. We’re going to miss you, Joe. Goodbye. You got the best camera angle of them all."

Bushmiller was disturbed by D'Amato's horror films: "Cannibal films. Perhaps he didn't have anything to do with the animal mutilations (2nd unit, I hope) but, honestly, it made watching his porn difficult for me. I kept waiting for someone's entrails to be pulled out. Hey, he could have had a future in Japan." (RAME)

Rocco Siffredi and Max Hardcore star in D'Amato's Rocky 2. Max plays a crime boss who makes a behind-the-scenes deal to lure retired boxer Rocco back into the ring. "Joe comes from the 'Old School' of filmmaking," says Max. "He doesn't give a lot of direction. He uses this big, old ArriFlex 35mm camera, and he never takes the thing off the sticks."

D'Amato directed Paprika - The Last Italian Whore - period piece set in a1930s Italian brothel. "The sage focuses on the talents of buxom brunette Erika Bella, who anally satisfies all comers until she falls in love with one of her many backdoor partners. The finale in the luxurious house salon packs a wallop, as one lucky bordello customer pokes each one of the prostitutes in the ass." (AVN 97)

Joe teamed up with Cameron Grant to make Passion in Venice. "Juli Ashton, as an executive in town to bid for a huge contract, projects an era of innocence in the lush settings..." (AVN 97)

Primal Instinct. "Looking for a vanished coworker, Detective Bobby Vitale's attention centers on Sindee Coxx, who isn't wearing any panties during his interrogation interview with her in a scenario that recalls'93's hit Basic Instinct. Vitale gets two back-to-back scenes with Kaitlyn Ashley, but that's only a lead-in to this tape's best offering, with Coxx recalling her hot love affair with college professor Nick East." (AVN 97)

Robin, Thief of Wives. "Medieval sex madness boasts a clever story and attractive women, all tied together with a flawless thread of contemporary eroticism. Black hammer Sean Michaels plays the king's prime harem stud, and after fulfilling the enviable job of unlocking each lades' chastity belt, joins the King in balling the virgins." (AVN 97)

D'Amato has churned out sex films for a quarter century. He made the 1978softcore film Emmanuelle in America.

AVN 3/97 reports that Joe's Operation Sex is like all his other films -well-photographed ass-banging and facials, and "gorgeous nymphs with too many vowels in their names.... But why the gratuitous Nazi internment camp setting, where the female prisoners are all too eager to frolic with their S.S. tormentors?"

Joe D'Amato, according to the internet movie database (IMDB) uses the following psuedonyms:

Sarah Asproon, Steve Benson, John Bird, Alexandre Borski, James Burke, Lee Castle, O.J. Clarke, Hugo Clevers, Dario Donati, Raf Donato, Richard Haller, David Hills, Kevin Mancuso, Aristide Massaccesi, J. Metheus, Peter Newton, Tom Salina, John Shadow, Federico Slonisco, Frédéric Slonisco, Federico Slonisko, Federiko Slonisko, Frederic Slonisko, Frederiko Slonisko, Chana Lee Sun, Robert Vip, Michael Wotruba.

From: http://www.projecta.net/amato.htm:

Joe d'Amato, splattermeister extraordinaire, king of the italian b-movie, one of the most infamous names in film. He is the prime example of an exploitation filmmaker, a man who has worked in every genre imaginable, right down to hard core porn. He has mastered the art of making a quick buck with inferior, but highly enjoyable variations on films as diverse as Emmanuelle, Conan, Mad Max and Caligula.

I still fondly remember the early days of commercial television in Holland, when late night screenings of Joe d'Amato (real name: Aristide Massaccesi) films were common. The Black Emanuelle series, starring dutch model-turned-softcore actress Laura Gemser. The Ator movies, imitations of Conan, for which he created a prehistoric world just a few miles outside busy, modern-day Rome. I enjoyed Joe d'Amato's films tremendously back then in my early teens, and now, with my fascination for cinematic zombies and cannibals, I've sort of rediscovered him. So when the Rotterdam Film Festival invited him to my home town, of course I was the first in line to interview him.