Inferno Rosso: Joe D'Amato on the Road of Excess

Who was Aristide Massaccesi, aka Joe D’Amato? In America a genius of the horror movie, in France a master of eroticism, in Italy the king of porn. A man with a thousand pseudonyms who was able to make over two hundred films, covering simultaneously the roles of producer, director, writer, cinematographer and even cameraman. An artisan of the cinema, as he liked to describe himself, capable of moving freely between all the cinematic genres. From spaghetti western to post-apocalyptic, from decamerotic to glossy softcore, from porn blockbuster to gory horror. Guided by the aesthetic of extremes and sustained by an undeniable technical ability, Aristide Massaccesi pushed himself and the viewer beyond any limit, following, with dedication, three strict dictates that became his stylistic code: Surprise, Shock, Scandalise. One, none and a hundred genres comprised in a single author. And this film tells the story of a courageous, madcap and reckless life, devoted to just one irrepressible and catastrophic obsession: the movie set. (Venice International Film Festival)