Umberto Lenzi was born on August 6, 1931, in Massa Marittima, Italy. He developed a passion for films at a young age and founded film fan clubs while studying law. Lenzi worked as a journalist and film critic before pursuing a career in filmmaking.
After graduating from the Centro Sperimentale de Cinematografia, Lenzi started his directorial career with Queen of the Seas in 1961. He went on to direct a series of pirate and sword films, including I pirati della Malesia in 1964. Lenzi then turned to the giallo genre with Paranoia in 1969, which was the first of his thrillers and one of his personal favorites.
During the 1970s, Lenzi directed a number of giallo thrillers, including So Sweet... So Perverse, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, and Eyeball. He then shifted his focus to police thrillers, which became his most popular and brutal films. Lenzi also directed Sacrifice! in 1972, which started the Italian cannibal sub-genre.
In the 1980s, Lenzi directed a number of films, including Eaten Alive! and Cannibal Ferox, which attempted to outdo the earlier cannibal films. He also directed Nightmare City, a zombie film with fast-moving, weapon-toting zombies.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, Lenzi turned his attention to other genres, including action-adventure, war films, and made-for-TV dramas. He also directed the occasional thriller, including Ghosthouse in 1988.
As his budgets and financing for his films dwindled, Lenzi's output decreased. He directed a number of TV productions that were never broadcast, and eventually retired from film directing. Lenzi left his mark as one of the most creative and inexhaustible cult film directors of Italy.
Umberto Lenzi died on October 19, 2017, at the age of 86.
