The director, artist and musician explores his relationship with horror cinema and its music.

What is fear? A feeling to flee from, gasping in the dark like the heroines in 1970s horror films, or one to welcome and exorcise. For Tommaso Ottomano, a director, musician, and artist born in 1990, fear is above all a source of inspiration.

His works, which range from experimental short films to music videos and fashion films — including prestigious collaborations with fashion houses like Cavalli and artists like Maneskin and Lucio Corsi — draw on an iconographic and technical repertoire that will undoubtedly be familiar to lovers of certain Italian cinema from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Among these are the two short films La vergine della fontana and La notte di Evelyn, both belonging to the PAURA series, openly inspired by the horror collection of the same name by CAM Sugar and soundtracked with music from the label’s horror repertoire.

We met with Ottomano to discuss his relationship with Italian horror cinema, its music and fear. What better occasion to do so than the spookiest season of the year?

CAM Sugar Journal: In your art, how do you relate to the concept of fear?

Tommaso Ottomano: For me, fear is a bit like death and terror: concepts and feelings that must be exorcised, and which should not be taken too seriously. Usually we tend to avoid fear, but I like to welcome it and let myself be inspired.

CSJ: Italian horror has given life to an iconographic corollary that is as precise as it is unique in its genre. How did these elements influence your short film series PAURA?

TO: The short films I made are tributes [to Italian horror], they are totally mannerist and aesthetic. They do not focus on narrative, but on the study of the techniques and solutions that were used at the time, in the 1970s. Both are shot on 16mm film with all the gimmicks of the time, exactly in the same way as the lights, editing, music and timing were managed. Italian horror, in particular, inspired me and with it all its stereotypes: the chase, the weapons, the black-gloved hand holding the knife. Things, if you like, even banal but visually stimulating.

CSJ: Is there a director that you consider essential when it comes to horror?

TO: Not just one director, but three: Mario Bava, Dario Argento and John Carpenter.

CSJ: The music is equally quintessential to the Italian horror genre. Do you have any composers or soundtracks that you are particularly fond of in their ability to weave sound into the narrative structure of films? 

TO: When selecting the tracks [for the shorts] I consulted the entire CAM archive, willingly without reading the composers so as not to be influenced in advance. In PAURA I also chose tracks by lesser-known composers, such as Luigi Ceccarelli. Morricone, Cipriani, Ortolani and Nicolai were, however, remain the major reference.

CSJ: Over the years you have operated in multiple worlds and industries, from fashion to pop music, always maintaining a well-recognisable identity. What are the stylistic and attitudinal cornerstones that guide your cinematographic art?

TO: I don’t like to pinpoint myself as a director, or rather, exclusively as a director. I prefer to identify myself as an all-round artist. I have always tried to follow instinct, the visions developed since I was a child and, above all, a recognisable style which is the fundamental thing, beyond the technical aspects. I seek the same approach on a musical level. The fact that I am also a musician has had a huge impact on my language; that’s why I continue to work on music videos in addition to experimental short films, fashion films and advertisements. I always like to experiment with audio and video, crossing multiple worlds.

CSJ: If you found yourself working on a feature film and had the chance to collaborate with a historic composer from the CAM universe, who would you choose and why?

TO: I may be obvious, but I would say Ennio Morricone. He had understood how to transform something visual into music, which seems like a banal concept, but it isn’t at all. Many have composed beautiful music, but when you see it edited on images they don’t have the same impact [as Morricone’s]. Returning to the concept of recognisability, he was able to create a genre of his own, which you recognize as soon as you listen to it.

Opening image: Ottaviano Blitch in La notte di Evelyn (2022), Tommaso Ottomano. Frame from the film.