Ruggero Deodato, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter
Ruggero Deodato (born 7 May 1939) is an Italian film director, and has also performed as both a screenwriter, and more recently an actor in both his own and other projects.
His career has spanned a wide-range of genres including peplum, comedy, drama, poliziottesco and science fiction, yet he is perhaps best known for directing violent and gory horror films with strong elements of realism. His most notable film is Cannibal Holocaust, considered one of the most controversial and brutal in the history of cinema, which was seized, banned or heavily censored in many countries, and which contained special effects so realistic that they led to Deodato being arrested on suspicion of murder. It is also cited as a precursor of found footage films such as The Blair Witch Project and The Last Broadcast. The film strengthened Deodato's fame as an "extreme" director and earned him the nickname "Monsieur Cannibal" in France.Deodato has been an influence on film directors like Oliver Stone, Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth.