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by Mike Baronas
It was the Fall of 2000 when I first spoke with Giovanni Lombardo Radice. You see, there was this book on Italian director Lucio Fulci that I was all gung-ho in doing. My friend Kit Gavin and I spent countless hours researching, writing, traveling and interviewing those associated with the late Maestro’s career as a memorial to his vision that shaped (read: warped) my teen years and, eventually, my career path.
While he had spoken about his horror film career elsewhere (most noteably on the audio commentary for Grindhouse’s Cannibal Ferox DVD), “Naughty Mike Logan”, “Ricky”, “Charlie Bukowski” or, as I fondly remember him, “Bob” was an essential feather in my cap for the tome having been (killed horribly) in more golden-era EuroHorror cult classics than anyone else. And when it came time to visit Rome on behalf of Media Blasters back in September 2001, Lombardo Radice was certainly someone Kit and I had to meet in person.
I recall it being a somewhat chilly evening as we waited on a street corner in Trastevere to meet for dinner, when around the bend sped our friend-to-be on a scooter wearing a slick black skullcap. We ate, chatted up a storm (with Giovanni even giving a strolling minstral 100 lira to leave the sidewalk cafe so we could continue our conversation in peace) and have remained close ever since.
Below is a brief check in with “Italy’s whipping boy” as he’s just launched his official website along with his alter-ego John Morghen. You can also be his friend too on his MySpace page.
GASP: What prompted you to want to create your own website?
Giovanni Lombardo Radice: Well, in the past few years I haven’t been online, but back in 2000-2001 when I started exploring the Web world, I found that there were so many sites talking about me and so many fans eager to write me – to tell me their personal lives or even ask advice about love (God knows I’m not the right one for this!). So now that I am back on the Internet, I thought it would be a good idea to be more visibile and make contacts easier. And then there’s the professional side; perhaps an official personal website will bring home some more jobs.
 GASP: What are contents of the site?
GLR: The homepage is divided in two sections called “The Nice Side” and “The Horror Side”. The Nice Side explores my career in the theatre and in movies not connected with horror or gore, with a photo gallery, and so on. The Horror Side is richer with a page for each of the most important horrors of my past, anecdotes, comments and photos, a section called “Johnny Says” in which I will write about current jobs and new projects and, most important, a “Write Me” button for those who want to correspond personally.
GASP: I know we've discussed it numerous times, but with the launch of this site, do you feel you've finally come to accept and/or appreciate the film roles of your youth?
GLR: In a way you’re right. I am still not fond of horror as a genre – they’re not the kind of movies I will go out and pay for a ticket for – but my opinion has changed, mostly because the recurrent demand for interviews for DVD extras forced me to watch my old movies again. And, yes, I must admit that some of them were better than I remembered and that I’m not bad – sometimes even real good.
You see, after almost thirty years I can watch my job as an actor in these movies as if I was watching someone else, and the young guy I see does have something.
GASP: How did it feel to be on the big screen again in The Omen remake?
GLR: It was good and I had the occasion to discover Prague wich I consider maybe the most beautiful town I ever saw. It was a big production, perfectly organised and everything went smooth and fine. Director John Moore was also a very pleasant thrill; full of energy, very good in directing actors and so kind with me. He even sent me a bottle of wine when I was back in Italy with a note saying how happy he was to have me in the movie. I was really moved.
GASP: How did it feel to be part of a horror film again?
GLR: Well I wasn’t really very involved in the horror part of it. My big scene at the beginning of the movie, crucial for the whole plot, was more psycological in nature and quite delicate. Nobody had to think that there was something wrong in my request to adopt little Damien and yet something vaguely allarming had to be there. Interesting.
And it was good to share the set with Liv Shreiber, even if the poor man was very nervous because he had just quit smoking. I smoke like a chimney, as you know, and had to hide far away as not to tempt him. In my last scene, near the end, the horror was on my face...and horror it was, I swear.
GASP: Yes, tell me about the make-up process you had to undergo?
GLR: Oh God, oh God!! I flew to London for the cast of my head and it was much better than what I remembered from the old days of The Gates Of Hell; lighter stuff in shorter time. Not my idea of how to spend a day in London, but not the sheer torture I had in mind.
But the torture arrived on the set – in the mountains north of Prague – with six hours in the make up chair, the end of which I was trapped without even a space to put a cigarette in my mouth, a “blind effect” contact lens, and iced to my bones. What a day!
GASP: How were you cast for the role of Father Spiletto?
GLR: The most important Italian casting agent for English spoken movies, Sheila Rubin – who unfortunately recently died – sent me to the casting lady of the film who was in Rome, looking for the Italian roles. A very charming lady. I did an audition and she was very impressed. After a while I was called back for a second audition with a few director hints, and got the job.
GASP: For someone who despises organized religion, you sure get cast as a priest quite a bit!
GLR: Oh yes, but I also climbed the hierarchy steps! I have been a cardinal in a very popular TV movie directed by Luigi Magni, and even the Pope in the Padre Pio TV movie. So you see, I’ve made a second carreer!
GASP: What are your thoughts on the finished film?
GLR: I must say I don’t remember the original movie, but this new one was okay. Maybe too much blood and not a psycological thriller, but I might be wrong.
GASP: What are the current state of affairs of the Italian film industry?
GLR: There’s a new wave of directors and some interesting movies, but it’s all very local, very Italia, and I don’t look Italian; never did and never will. I’m not the Italian husband, nor the Italian killer, nor the Italian policeman. So nothing much for me and the same goes for TV stuff.
But last summer I was in the new Pupi Avati movie. It’s called The Hideout and is set in Davenport, Iowa where we shot. It was all in English and quite interesting. A gothic thriller in a way. I think it will be shown in USA, but it’s not ready yet. I haven’t even done the Italian dubbing yet.
 GASP: I'm going to say the names of some of Italy's most notorious directors – all of whom you've worked with – and I'd like you to tell me what the first thing that comes to mind for each is. Okay, first is Ruggero Deodato (1980’s House on the Edge of the Park)?
GLR: Brisk and funny.
GASP: Antonio Margheriti (1980’s Cannibal Apocalypse)?
GLR: Sweet and reliable.
GASP: Lucio Fulci (1980’s City of the Living Dead)?
GLR: Suffering and genial.
GASP: Michele Soavi (1987’s Stagefright)?
GLR: An airy spirit from a different world.
 GASP: Umberto Lenzi (1981‘s Cannibal Ferox)?
GLR: Boring and bombastic.
GASP: And finally, Fabrizio De Angelis (1984’s Deadly Impact)?
GLR: Ill-bred and arrogant.
GASP: What would the Giovanni Lombardo Radice of today say to the John Morghen of the 1980's?
GLR: Think about the future! Don’t be so casual! Plan a career! Go to the parties! Promote yourself! He wouldn’t listen though...as I still don’t, website aside.
"Naughty Mike" & "Goody" Mike Baronas share a "piece"ful moment in Rome, 2002.
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