Guido Zurli, Jan. 9, 1929 – Oct. 23, 2009, director of spaghetti westerns, horror flicks, porn, operas, documentaries and television series, has passed away at the age of 80.
Guido Zurli was a prolific director of Italian b-movies with a career that went on for more than 50 years. In 1973, he went to Turkey with Alan Steel and filmed “Kucuk Kovboy” a spaghetti western. It was this film and other numerous works in Turkey that gave rise to Zurli’s popularity within the Islamic world
Zurli would go on to direct a series of thrillers and crime movie co-productions between Italy and Turkey such as “Little Eye-Witness” in 1972, “Face of a Thief” in 1977 and “Target” in 1979. But his most well-known film would have to be “The Mad Butcher,” which was picked up for US distribution by Harry H. Novak. It was Novak who came up with the title - the original English title was “Meat is Meat,” a title that was still used for the DVD.
One film critic described ‘Butcher’ this way:
Zurli has managed to create a small gem that is clearly in bad taste but ultimately rather harmless and fun. The text at the end of the film reads “Buono appetit” and is a perfect illustration of the spirit in which the film is made.
