Educated in Milan, he became a sculptor, then a newspaper art critic.
Riccardo Freda was born in Alexandria, Egypt, of Italian parents.
Educated in Milan, he became a sculptor, then a newspaper art critic.
He began a career in film in 1937 as a screenwriter and production
supervisor. He moved into directing in 1942, beginning a career that
lasted some 40 years. Resisting the strong neo-realism trend in postwar
Italy, Freda (with
Vittorio Cottafavi) continued to make
"historical spectacles", at which he became somewhat of a master. He
was a pioneer in Italy of horror-fantasy films, especially with
Lust of the Vampire (1957) and
The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962).
From there he went to melodrama and spy films, and even made one
western.