Joe D'Amato was born on December 15, 1936 in Rome, Italy. He was the son of a chief photographic technician. D'Amato began his work in film at the age of 14 assisting in the dubbing of Italian film productions. He worked as a still Photographer on the set of the 1952 film production The Golden Coach and eventually moved on to work as a camera operator and Cinematographer. His first film as a Cinematographer was Silvio Amadio's No Man's Island (Italian: L'Isola delle Svedesi). D'Amato's work for the next few years was devoted to cinematography on Italian productions such as Umberto Lenzi's A Quiet Place to Kill, Massimo Dallamano's What Have You Done to Solange? and some of Demofilo Fidani's low-budget spaghetti westerns.

D'Amato took on the role of Director for the first time in 1972. He started out with a number of small western films and decamerotici which he partly directed, partly co-directed before going on to direct the war film Heroes in Hell and the gothic horror film Death Smiles on a Murderer (1973), both starring Klaus Kinski. D'Amato briefly relinquished directing and reverted to cinematography in films such as Luigi Batzella's The Devil's Wedding Night, Steve Carver's The Arena and Alberto De Martino's The Antichrist before he finally returned to directing with the adventure film Red Coats, in which he used the name "Joe D'Amato" for the first time. It turned a good profit, and D'Amato later considered it his best film in this period.

At this time, Producer Bitto Albertini introduced Laura Gemser to D'Amato who would star in a series of six Black Emanuelle films. Although the main character's name alluded to the original French Emmanuelle, it was spelled slightly differently in order to avoid a plagiarism lawsuit. Also, the character itself is different: Black Emanuelle is an international reporter and Photographer who travels to exotic locations. Black Emanuelle (1975), the first film of the series, was directed by Albertini , while the remaining five films were D'Amato's work, who added some violence and horror to the series such as the fake snuff film footage in Emanuelle in America, a gang rape scene in Emanuelle Around the World (1977) , and the cannibal film Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals.

In 1978, D'Amato went to Santo Domingo for the first time to shoot the erotic horror film Papaya, Love Goddess of the Cannibals and the mercenaries at war film Tough to Kill, which was released in 1979.

In 1979 and 1980, D'Amato shot a number of films in Santo Domingo, some of which combined hardcore pornography and horror such as Porno Holocaust and Erotic Nights of the Living Dead.

Although D'Amato's early 1980s films were for the most part either horror or adult films, he occasionally made fantasy and science fiction films as well. The films were often inspired by other productions of the era. Caligula - The Untold Story built on Tinto Brass's Caligula, the first two films of the Ator series (Ator, the Fighting Eagle and Ator 2 - L'invincibile Orion) on Conan the Barbarian, while Endgame and 2020 Texas Gladiators were shot after the success of the first two Mad Max films.

In 1985, D'Amato left hardcore pornography behind and exclusively shot horror and softcore films until his return to hardcore in 1993.

After these films, D'Amato's softcore films were mostly shot in the United States and were predominantly takes on popular American films. First, D'Amato went to New Orleans to shoot two films starring Jessica Moore as the Novelist Sarah Asproon: 11 Days 11 Nights (1987) and Top Model (1988). The first one was inspired by Adrian Lyne's 9½ Weeks and a huge commercial success. In 1989, D'Amato's main Actress was Valentine Demy with whom he made Afternoon and Dirty Love, the latter reminiscent of another of Adrian Lyne's films, Flashdance. After these, D'Amato shot two films with Tara Buckman: Blue Angel Cafe and High Finance Woman.

In between the softcore films, D'Amato produced other directors' films, which included Michele Soavi's Stage Fright and Ghosthouse by Umberto Lenzi.. He also partially directed two horror films he produced, Killing Birds and Deep Blood (1989).

At the beginning of the new decade, D'Amato revisited his Ator series with a concluding entry entitled Quest for the Mighty Sword. Then, he let the character of Sarah Asproon return in 11 Days 11 Nights 2, again set in New Orleans and this time played by Kristine Rose.. With Rose, D'Amato also directed Passion's Flower, a remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice, before shooting two softcore films starring Carmen di Pietro in 1991, both with a more violent angle than the preceding ones: Devil in the Flesh follows a group of mercenaries who encounter a group of Nurses at an isolated hospital, and Dangerous Obsession tells of a woman who turns the tables on her assailant. After these, D'Amato directed Frankenstein 2000 (1992), his last horror film, which combined a modern take on the traditional Frankenstein story with elements of the rape and revenge film.

Later in 1993, D'Amato went back to predominantly producing and directing hardcore pornography. In order to return to adult filmmaking more easily, D'Amato initially teamed up with Luca Damiano with whom he shot roughly 20 films before continuing on his own. Although VHS had become the standard for adult films, D'Amato continued to shoot on 35mm film for a few years before finally transitioning to VHS for his last productions in 1997 and 1998. D'Amato's adult films are very rarely without a plot. Among his best known from this period are his collaborations with Rocco Siffredi (Tarzan X - Shame of Jane, Marco Polo, Marquis de Sade, Torero) and Kelly Trump (Messalina, Kamasutra, Lolita), his pornographic versions of Shakespearean drama (Juliet & Romeo, Anthony and Cleopatra, Othello 2000), westerns (Outlaws, Calamity Jane), swashbucklers (Raiders, Selen the Girl from Treasure Island), the bible (Sodom & Gamorra), Greco-Roman mythology (Olympus, Amor & Psyche, Ulysses, Hercules - A Sex Adventure), Roman emperors (Nero - Orgy of Fire, Caligula - The Deviant Emperor) and other famous people (Robin Hood, Goya, Amadeus Mozart, Thief of Love - Giacomo Casanova, Rudy - Valentino's story, Scarface). In the midst of shooting adult films, D'Amato directed the erotic thriller The Hyena which received a theatrical release and represents a singular and isolated attempt at returning to genre films.

Joe D'Amato died of a heart attack in Rome on January 23, 1999. According to Luigi Cozzi, his death happened unexpectedly while he was busy preparing a new film. His last films were the pirate film I predatori delle Antille (1998) and the adult film Showgirl (1999).