WHY?:

Dario Argento is by far my favourite director the reasons being are that I love the way he shoots his films with the carefully lit buildings, streets and rooms. I love all the attention to detail in every scene of his films, it's been said that he prefers to concentrate on the look of his films as opposed to how they're acted, that much is obvious as the acting and the script is weak in most of his films. The pace he sets his films at are mostly just right, a few of them can drag slightly in parts but the majority of the time he leaves you hanging until he reveals his next surprise. He portrays explicit killings (not as explicit as other horror films especially Italian ones, but explicit enough, and not so many that it becomes a body count film) which for someone who loves plenty of blood in their films is very pleasing, his films have good storylines and his use of camera angles is the work of a true genius. He has never been given huge budgets to make films but he's always been given the freedom to work and make the film HE wants to make. He stands out from other Italian directors because he has his own style of film as opposed to following a specific gothic style. No director has left me feeling so much good feeling after watching their films, they are perfect for me, and judging by his huge fan base I see a lot of people feel the same way. On a final note I'd like to add that I can also relate to him, he likes plenty of solitude and feels uncomfortable in the company of others, I am the same. And contrary to what a lot of people say, his English is good.
In addition to all his films below, he's also directed 3 adverts! Those being: Fiat Croma (1987), Trussardi Action Fashion Show In Milan (1988) and Johnson's "Glade Pyramid" Air Freshener Advert (1992). He has also done the little known mini-series called Gli Incubi Di Dario Argento (1987).

THE MAN, THE LEGEND, THE BEGINNING:

Dario Argento was born in Rome, Italy on September 7th, 1940. He's the son of Italian Producer Salvatore Argento and Brazilian Fashion Model Elda Luxardo. Being in the film industry since as long as he can remember, this gave him the inspiration to follow in his family's footsteps and make his own films. The inspiration for his movies comes from childhood trauma most notably from his grandmother who would consistently tell him frightening bedtime stories, his other inspirations came from the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, The Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Anderson. He started writing for various film journal magazines and then after graduating from Catholic High School he then skipped higher education to pursue a career as a columnist. Later he found work as a screenwriter and then moved into directing. He's since had 2 daughters from long term ex-girlfriend and film regular - Daria Nicolodi, the daughters in question are - Asia Argento and Fiore Argento.

FILMOGRAPHY:

* = made the year before its noted release.
** = made two years before its noted release.

The Bird With The Crystal Plumage/L' Uccello Dalle Piume Di Cristallo (1970)*
The Cat O'Nine Tails/Il Gatto A Nove Code (1971)*
Four Flies On Grey Velvet/4 Mosche Di Velluto Grigio (1971)
The Five Days of Milan/Le Cinque Giornate (1973)
Deep Red/Profondo Rosso (1975)
Suspiria (1977)*
Inferno (1980)*
Tenebrae (1982)
Phenomena (1985)*
Terror At The Opera/Opera (1987)
Two Evil Eyes/Due Occhi Diabolici (1990)*
Trauma (1993)
The Stendhal Syndrome/La Sindrome Di Stendhal (1996)*
The Phantom Of The Opera/Il Fantasma Dell'Opera (1998)
Sleepless/Non Ho Sonno (2001)*
The Card Player/Il Cartaio (2004)*
Mother Of Tears: The Third Mother/La Terza Madre (2007)
Giallo (2009)
Dracula 3D (2012)
Dark Glasses (2022)

ADDITIONAL FILMOGRAPHY:

The Tram/Il Tram (Door Into Darkness, 1973)**
Eye Witness/Testimone Oculare (Door Into Darkness, 1973)**
Do You Like Hitchcock?/Ti Piace Hitchcock? (2005)
Jenifer (Masters Of Horror Series One, 2005)
Pelts (Masters Of Horror, Series Two, 2006)

FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET - A young rock star who has a run in with a guy who keeps following him, accidentally he kills him and so runs away in the hope that he's not been seen. However a masked person was at the scene taking pictures of him and so it all begins. Phone calls and late night visits follow, thus making Roberto seek help from an old friend and a particularly camp private detective.

This film in my view is the best in the 'Animals Trilogy'. While it has a fairly uneven pace it is still slightly better paced than his previous two films, it's probably the most linear of all of Argento's films, it also has a surprise climax. The biggest problem with it is the bad comedy inserts which just don't work, however as far as mood and atmosphere goes it's up there with Argento's best work although as an all round package it's no classic. This is the rarest of Argento's films and it's about time it was given a proper release, although due to highly complicated rights issues then it'll take a long time before it does surface, if it ever does - 3/5.


DEEP RED - Long considered by most fans to be his giallo to end all giallos. Deep Red is all about a guy who witnesses the murder of a psychic, he fails to see the killer and so with the help of a young female journalist he seeks out the identity of the killer; The problem is that the killer knows his next step before it happens, how can it be? Is the killer psychic, is he psychic or are they both? Also what has started the killer off again?

One of Argento's most atmospheric films, the first film he did which had Goblin do the soundtrack (replacing Ennio Morricone), it was also the start of the Dario Argento/Daria Nicolodi relationship. The gore and violence in this film was turned up a few notches from his first three films. This is probably the most violent of all his films, like the rest of his films it's beautifully shot, my favourite scene is the water fountain scene shortly before the first murder is witnessed. It also features Argento's most memorable murder, where you see a shadow on the wall of the killer stabbing a mystery person to death. The only downers are that it drags a little bit in parts and the killer (if you're watching carefully) is revealed early on (although I won't reveal which scene that is) take that how you want. This is where Argento got going properly - 4/5.

SUSPIRIA - An American girl joins a German dance school, she soon starts realising that not is all as it seems and so the nightmare begins. This is the first part in the Three Mothers trilogy.

What can I say about Suspiria that hasn't already been said by other fans? First of all it has the creepiest music I've ever heard in a horror film, thanks to Goblin. It's beautifully and colourfully shot. Direction wise it's Argento's finest work with all his weird and wonderful camera angles and lighting effects. It builds up nicely and has a satisfactory outcome, it's up there with not only the best horror films ever made, but the best films in general. A film everybody must see, simply awesome - 5/5.


INFERNO - This is the second part in the Three Mothers trilogy. A girl staying in a New York apartment learns that it is the lair of one of the three witches, she writes to her brother (who is staying in Rome) and tells him to come down for her as soon as possible. But before he can get there she can't resist following the clues to get to the bottom of what is happening and thus she gets caught and erm killed. Whilst in Rome her brother's friend reads the letter she sent to him and goes looking around in the building of the third of the three mothers, she then gets erm knocked off (yes the story is a bit all over the place). Her brother finally gets to New York, and with the help of his sister's friend he locates the true identity of the second mother. Mario Bava helped him about with this film, he supplied the special effects for the New York nighttime bridge scene and the finale.

As I mentioned above, the story is muddled, it overlaps and is basically a mess and is quite confusing at times for even those who are watching it intensely. The killings in this are also disappointing as the camera seems to move away everytime the knife goes in. However this film is for me the most beautifully shot of all Argento's films, it moves at a fast pace, has a good music score and although the beginning is all over the place it sure is fast and furious for an Argento picture. A flawed masterpiece amongst his work - 4/5.

TENEBRAE - The story of a writer who starts getting phone calls and letters from an obsessed fan who has been going round killing people like the killer does in his book 'Tenebrae'. The book writer, his PA and a Private Detective go in search of the person they're convinced is the killer. However that person gets murdered and the killings continue...

This for me is Argento's best giallo, it's atmospheric, filmed at the right pace, not overlong, well acted and it has the twist of all twists at the end. Argento does something that he's never done before in his giallos and it's all in the twist - 4/5.

TERROR AT THE OPERA - An obsessed fan starts killing off all of his favourite opera singers friends, but the killer makes the mistake of attacking some ravens at the opera and so they later attack him/her for revenge.

I've been viewing this film from another angle and with repeated viewings it actually grows on you, while it still isn't as good as some of his earlier work, it's still a good solid film and is one of the very last great (or almost great) ones he's done. I also appreciate the ending more, it's like a twisted version of The Sound Of Music. One thing that isn't great is that it has annoying Power Metal get played through most murders... Also the killer didn't really bother me that much when he/she was revealed as it came as no great surprise to me, it was pretty obvious throughout. More positives however are, the camera movement is very good by Argento, the best example is at the end where the ravens attack the killer. The idea of putting needles under the girls eyes and making her watch him/her kill off all her friends was interesting, as was the bullet through the eye sequence. My favourite part of the movie is where the singer is hiding from the killer who has entered her apartment, with the help of a young girl she crawls through the ventilation shafts.
What's interesting but tragic about this production is that it marked the end of his affair with Daria Nicolodi and his father passed away, could it have been anything to do with he fact that the stage play was adapting William Shakespeare's Macbeth? Who knows but some go along with that line of thinking.

Not Argento's best work, but fairly decent all the same - 3/5.


TWO EVIL EYES - Made as a two-storied tribute to Edgar Allan Poe, Argento did the second half of this film, his part of the story was The Black Cat taken of course from a Poe story. It's about a man who kills his girlfriend's cat, once he's done that the cat keeps reappearing driving him onto the edge of madness. Originally there were plans to have John Carpenter and Wes Craven come on board to shoot a story each, but both pulled out leaving only Argento and George A. Romero.

Without a shadow of a doubt this is Argento's third weakest film (behind the truly atrocious Phantom Of The Opera and The Stendhal Syndrome). It was his first film done in America (it shows too) and it just doesn't do the things I expect from an Argento film, the flashy lighting and camera movement are non-existent, and it contains very little gore. You'd barely even know it was him directing it if you weren't told. His section is very good though compared to The Strange Facts In The Case Of M. Valdermar half, overall though despite two of the world's most celebrated directors coming together, this isn't the dream project that one would have hoped for, on the whole, quite disappointing - 2/5.


TRAUMA - The story of an anorexic young girl whose parents get killed by the killer they're trying to get in touch with. As the girl and a young American guy investigate the identity of the killer they find that the killer is killing in a pattern of people who once did that person harm, they also find that the young girl is a lot closer to the killer than she and her friend originally thought...

Although this is another one slaughtered by most fans, I actually don't think it's too bad. OK it's not a classic by any stretch of the imagination, but it is quite an enjoyable and modern horror by the maestro. It lacks the atmosphere of his Italian work, it also lacks a lot of cutting edge, especially as far as the killings are concerned, the special effects are quite poor, especially by Tom Savini's usual standards. Although there is some good music in it, some of the music doesn't fit in, like the scenes with the kid for example. My favourite scene in this film is the underwater scene where you see the moon shining onto it with beautiful music playing, definitely more like it from Argento! Overall, not bad but could have been better - 2.5/5.


THE STENDHAL SYNDROME - A female police officer who suffers from Stendhal Syndrome whenever she sees a piece of art goes after a rapist. However the rapist has targeted her as one of his victims and uses her illness against her.

This is one of my least favourite Argento movies. Within about 5 minutes of the film I switched off and only really regained my interest in it during the last 20 minutes when interesting stuff finally started to happen. Although the underwater scene is good I found the special effects to be atrocity after atrocity, they were lazy and unconvincing in my opinion. For Argento, someone who has always been a perfectionist before, to let things like this slip says it all about this film. A lazy and uninteresting film, I'll give it 1.5 marks simply for the last 20 minutes of the film - 1.5/5.


THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - The story of a young opera singer who develops a fan in the shape of a monster brought up by rats. The fan becomes obsessed with her and will harm anyone who comes in the way of him or her, the singer falls in love with the Phantom and things reach their fateful climax.

This is by far the worst film in Argento's filmography. Although his reasons for remaking it are fair enough, I just feel that POTO should be left in the past, as it's such an old fashioned idea that modern film making just can't do it justice, despite anyone's attempts to tweak certain parts of the story. Another film I lost interest in after only a few minutes, it marked the end of a not so memorable decade in Argento's filmmaking - 1/5.

SLEEPLESS - A retired private detective takes it upon himself to investigate murders which have started re-happening from 20 years earlier. The killer is killing to the pattern of a nursery rhyme and it's up to the detective and the son of of one of his/her victims to find out why and locate who it is.

A welcome return to form for Dario Argento. This is an enthralling film from beginning to end, it has Argento's trademark atmosphere (thanks largely to the return of Goblin doing the soundtrack), it has his diverse camera angles, grisly killings, it's absorbing, thoroughly entertaining and it has a nice twist at the end. Star of the show is Max Von Sydow as the retired detective, overall this is a riveting piece of film making. With films like this the future is bright for Argento and his fans - 3/5.


THE CARD PLAYER - A psychopath is sending the police an invite to play him at poker, the stakes are high, if he wins he kills a girl he has kidnapped and has placed on webcam. However if the police win then he let's the hostage go, and so begins a game of cat and mouse...

After the breath of fresh air that was Sleepless, Argento follows it up with a rather mediocre effort, there is no gore, no real suspense, the plot is one of his least interesting, it has a TV movie feel to it and it doesn't really go where I think he wanted it to. Overall it's just a second rate picture, almost like the kind of film fans were used to him making in the 1990s. Another thing I found hard to take was how he shot it, it was the least pretty of all his films, bar maybe Two Evil Eyes, it had none of his diverse camera angles and none of his beautifully and precisely lit sets The positives I can give this film are that it's not the worst of his filmography, I've seen far worse, 2 of which are The Stendhal Syndrome and Phantom Of The Opera, and that although it's not one of his more entertaining pictures, it's not boring either. The verdict - 2/5.

MOTHER OF TEARS: THE THIRD MOTHER - An ancient urn is found in a cemetery and is sent to a local art museum to be investigated. Once opened, it sparks off several different incidents of people suddenly turning violent, abducting and killing babies as well as some vicious killings of other innocent people. With the city in a deep crisis due to the curse of the Mother Of Tears (Mater Lachrymarum) it’s then left up to one person with magic powers of her own to track down and find the lair in which the evil is emanating from…

The final chapter in Dario Argento’s much loved “Three Mothers” trilogy. Suspiria started it all, Inferno continued it and now, 30 years on from when it originally began, Mother Of Tears has concluded it… and very well too I might add.

With 27 years passing since Inferno was made, Argento was highly unlikely to make the same kind of film. 27 years is a long time and Horror has travelled in many different directions in that time so it’s logical to assume that the Argento of the late ‘70s / early ‘80s would make a different movie. He’s not a robot and with time everyone changes. It’s a fact of life. Since Opera (which many would argue is his last great movie) he has gone elsewhere, why keep churning out the same movie time and time again? While Two Evil Eyes, Trauma and The Card Player aren’t what I’d call “classics” they all have moments in them that elevate them above most other films of the same ilk. A below par Dario Argento movie is a lot better than some filmmakers at their very best in my opinion. Personally speaking I can’t stand The Stendhal Syndrome and Phantom Of The Opera. I’m yet to speak to anyone who likes Phantom but Stendhal has received love or hate feedback from a lot of fanboys. Well those are the two films that I don’t touch with a bargepole and I certainly don’t understand how anyone can defend Stendhal, it was dire! I can respect that he tried to do something different though and personally I don’t begrudge that. He wasn’t and isn’t getting any younger and he’s given a good service to not just Horror films but films in general, so he’s earned the right to try his hand at other things. This now brings me on to La Terza Madre and my God, did he decide to experiment!

First things first, one thing he ain’t given credit for his is comedy approach to films. It’s normally more subtle and is more than likely to go over a lot of people’s heads. In this one though the comedy is very obvious and despite me liking it, it was always going to infuriate the more serious viewer. He might as well have waved a red rag! So in a way he does himself no favours though you can’t please everyone, right? How can anyone not embrace a scene where the film’s main protagonist goes on to tell police inspectors that she was chased at the scene of a murder by a monkey? The reaction of the inspectors said it all and it made me laugh out loud. Comedy brilliance and after the extremely grisly opening murder then why can’t we have a bit of comedy to break up the tension? Most of Horror’s all time greats have a comedy element, it evens out the film though the key is not to overuse it and in this film the balance was just about right.
At times it almost played out as a “Dario Argento’s Greatest Hits” feature. I mean there is an obvious vibe of the flawed but fun Michele Soavi film “The Church”, which was financed by Argento. It had a smaller feel of his second – and to date, final – collaboration with Soavi – The Sect. There were of course a few demons thrown into the mix and we all know he produced the Lamberto Bava directed Demons movies. A nasty lesbian scene that was perhaps a nod to Tenebrae. There is a delightful taxi scene towards the end that looked like an affectionate nod to Suspiria and Inferno. There is a Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni appearance who meets a now trademark grisly end – you will recognise her from Opera and Demons 2. A mother / daughter alliance played by real mother and daughter (Dario’s daughter and ex-girlfriend – Asia Argento and Daria Nicolodi). A few bats and a gunk drenched finale not too dissimilar to Phenomena.

As far as visuals go, this also looks the part and is a welcome return to form in that area. He makes great use of the city of Rome by capturing some stunning shots. The daytime shots are nothing to get excited about but as soon as night falls the lighting is stunning. The shot of the building in which the Third Mother hides is shot so beautifully that you may even feel compelled to skip back, view it again and pause. The ancient run down building in the distance coupled with the beautiful night time sky is an incredible sight. The direction is as slick as ever with plenty of nice camera movement and one apartment scene set in the dark which I think is up there with some of his best work. There is also the issue of CGI which was done so wrong in The Stendhal Syndrome. In this film it’s done a lot better I think and doesn’t become irritable.

The acting ain’t up to much, Asia Argento ain’t too convincing and I struggle to take her seriously though she was tolerable. The delivery of dialogue by some of the actors was very hammy; in particular the group of Goths weren’t what I’d call in the least bit intimidating. And the actress who played the witch certainly won’t be nominated for any Oscars. But in truth the bad acting didn’t bother me, if anything it added to the feel because just like Suspiria and Inferno, this ain’t to be taken all that seriously. It’s a B movie and really given the mishmash of ideas, I think it was treated with the utmost respect.

Now on to the core of the film - the kills! And wow, does that deliver in spades. The first killing was awesome; the grisly carving up was one of the best kills the master has ever filmed and just to top it off the lass even got strangled with her own intestines… fantastic! There was a nasty but extremely fake looking head bashing scene in a train dunney. That cranked up the cheese by a few notches. There was the fantastic and very gratuitous killing of Udo Keir, a man burning alive, a very stretched out impaling scene. A baby doll killing that wouldn’t have looked too far out of place in Zombi Holocaust. And lots more…
Away from the killings we have some random and very gratuitous lesbian sequences, a demon jump scene, a few scenes of a ghost appearing to guide her daughter in the right direction. An hilarious badly done invisibility scene or two, and plenty of big baps on show. Did I miss anything?

The only two negatives were the score that wasn’t particularly memorable. Apart from the Inferno-like taxi scene score it all sounded a bit flat. And the ending was a slight anti-climax, I expected a more explosive ending. However, even with those negatives, they aren’t that big a deal.

From Phenomena onwards, Dario Argento flicks have more often than not been greeted with a reception of love or hate. It seems that his films post-Tenebrae either work completely or fall apart at the seams. This isn’t really because these films are aimed at a more cult base of fans or even that they’re particularly bad films, but merely because he has become a victim of his own success.
While his film making period from 1975 – 1982 has put his name down in folklore it has also been a curse at the same time because as soon as he releases a new film people seem to demand he makes a film up to the standard of those he made in his peak.
Could people take a film about a razor wielding chimp, a young girl communicating with insects and sleepwalking into danger seriously? Clearly not in some quarters and in the case of Phenomena some people to this day still laugh it off while others such as myself hold it in very high regard putting it right the way up there with some of the master’s greatest work. It just goes to underline how much our views do differ and what we appreciate and dislike when it comes to how we get our kicks from film watching. This is very fitting for The Third Mother I think. It’s not perfect and like just about any Italian Horror it has its fair share of faults, but is it a fun packed thrill ride that never ever fails to entertain? It most certainly is in my opinion and really that’s all you can ask for. This is what I would call the perfect blend of B movie tongue in cheekiness and straight played film making. It plays out as an affectionate nod to his older work by a director who’s closer to the end of his career than he is the beginning. Made with real love for the genre and if you have a sense of humour, appreciate trash cinema as well as the more mainstream stuff then give this film a good home and don’t like the naysayers put you off. A film that has split people right down the middle, one that will infuriate almost as many as it enthrals and one that I’m fairly sure will be looked at as a genre classic in years to come. It’s a Frankenstein’s monster of a movie and that is most certainly a good thing! - 4/5.

GIALLO - A disfigured man known as 'Yellow' kidnaps pretty young women and finds his own way of taking their beauty away from them. When the sister of one of his victims starts a search for her missing sibling she enlists the help of a New York detective...

After an enjoyable return to form with The Third Mother, Argento sadly slipped back into mediocrity with a movie that was more around the level of The Card Player than Tenebrae. The problem with this movie isn't that it isn't well shot because it is, the Turin shot locations were nice and it always looked polished, but when a movie is just flat out dull then it makes such competency look worthless. There were some good moments in amongst the tedium, the attempted escape and high shot of the isolated area really gave her a helpless feel. Additionally the final 20 minutes really picked up and became half engaging, but the film was far too casual for its own good - 1.5/5.


MY FAVOURITE DARIO ARGENTO FILMS FROM BEST TO WORST:

1) Suspiria
2) Tenebrae
3) Deep Red
4) Phenomena
5) Inferno
6) Mother Of Tears: The Third Mother
7) The Cat O'Nine Tails
8) Sleepless
9) Four Flies On Grey Velvet
10) The Bird With The Crystal Plumage
11) Terror At The Opera
12) Trauma
13) Two Evil Eyes
14) The Card Player
15) Giallo
16) The Stendhal Syndrome
17) The Phantom Of The Opera


FAVOURITE MOMENTS:

1) SUSPIRIA: everyone knows what I'm going to say, the first 15-20 minutes, from the airport to the first killing, so depressing, unnerving but at the same time so fascinating that you can't take your eyes off the screen, could any other film be started better? Check number 2...

2) INFERNO: albeit very different from Suspiria, it has such a mesmerising first 20 minutes or so, though a problem is that it's a tad too fast for its own good, still riveting stuff. Is the underwater sequence the most beautiful sequence ever filmed? From what I've seen so far I'd say it's up there.

3) DEEP RED: when Mr. Hemmings is searching through the old house, don't ask me why, those scenes just really draw me in, the highlight of the film imo. Other than that I've got to say the stabbing sequence at the beginning, with the children's music playing and the lovely snug settings (christmas and all decorated), it was irony in itself.

4) The bedroom sequence with the eye through the keyhole in BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE and Suzy Kendall is trapped with seemingly no way of escape. Brilliant.

5) TENEBRAE: the ending when the twist comes, I never expected that in a million years, and the fact that it was so gory merely served as a bonus, it was incredibly well filmed.

6) In PHENOMENA when Jennifer Connelly escapes from the maggot filled water in the basement and approaches the young boy locked away. Watching that so young it really gave me the shits! It looks tame now but through kid's eyes an all...

7) SLEEPLESS: the train sequence, you knew she was gonna get it but it was still suspenseful, especially when she's hiding near the doors. Gotta love the finger chopping gore too.

8) CAT O'NINE TAILS: the finale. There is something just so sad about the roof ending, how whatever happens no one is going to win and the measures we could resort to to save our loved ones. It also makes me cringe when he's falling too, that horrible grinding sound.

9) OPERA: when she's temporarily got blurred vision and the killer is in the apartment. The escape through the vents was really classic stuff, definitely the highlight of that one for me along with the bullet through the keyhole sequence.

10) FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET: the final scene where his wife has him at gunpoint, there is such a downbeat feel to it all and when she crashes right at the end it has a real poetic feel to it. Then again perhaps the piss poor quality of my disc just made my head feel funny temporarily.


ADDITIONAL FILMOGRAPHY REVIEW - DOOR INTO DARKNESS:

DOOR INTO DARKNESS:

This was made in 1971 and was transmitted on Italian TV in 1973, the series was produced by Argento and his family and the man himself also did prologues to all of the episodes and even made a brief appearance as a hitch-hiker in the first episode - The Neighbour.


EPISODE 1: THE NEIGHBOUR - The Neighbour aka Il Vicino Di Casa is directed by Luigi Cozzi and is all about a guy who is so fed up of his wife's moaning and (I assume) abuse, that he decides to kill her. However as he does that a young couple with a baby arrive and are going to be living next door to him. When a leak of water comes through to their apartment, they then go upstairs to complain and see the man's dead wife. What then follows is a fight for survival as their car is stuck and the killer knows they've seen too much.

What I really like about this episode is the overall atmosphere, from the very beginning when the camera follows the killer and then moves directly outside showing the sea, the beach, the young couple leaving their car and the feeling of imminent doom. The whole feeling of the film is one of tension, especially in the scenes where the couple are wandering around the killer's apartment, I also found the ending to be quite original and satisfactory. The direction is very assured and it's quite clear to see why Argento has always shown so much faith in Luigi Cozzi.

Overall - 4/5.


EPISODE 2: THE TRAM - Was helmed by Argento himself, and anyone familiar with his work will know what to expect. It shows the investigation of a young woman getting killed on a tram (of course), however it was during the night when it was busy and yet nobody claims to have witnessed this murder, how can it be? This was apparently written into the screenplay for The Bird With The Crystal Plumage as an extra murder, but due to budget and timing, Argento scrapped it but kept the story for later use.

Overall I'd say that this is the weakest episode of the lot, perhaps if it was a full length film it would work but as it happens I feel that 55 minutes just doesn't do this type of story justice as the whole episode is spent building up who did it without giving the suspects much screen time and character development and the ending just felt rushed to me. I also feel that out of all the episodes this one suffers most from the strict censorship rules imposed upon Argento and his crew. That said it's quite absorbing in its own way, it has a flashy music score and some of the acting is pretty good.

Overall - 2/5.


EPISODE 3: EYEWITNESS - Was originally given to Roberto Parianti. But due to a strained relationship with Argento and also due to a difference of opinion as to how the film should be made, after around 1/3 of the film was made by Parianti, Argento then fired him and started it all from scratch by himself. The film starts with a woman driving home through the isolated backroads. From out of nowhere a woman jumps out in front of the car and after thinking she's run her over it turns out that the woman has wounds from elsewhere.. From the moment of noticing this, a man armed with a gun appears from out of the trees and so the driver flees to a nearby tavern. After finally convincing the police that she wasn't imagining it all after the body disappeared, the killer decides that she knows too much and so heads to her house that night to kill her. All alone she has to decide how she's going to protect herself...

This is my 2nd favourite episode with The Neighbour just edging it, I view this as classic Argento, despite the violence restrictions he had, instead he concentrated on psychological fear, and it works well. This one will definitely make you feel uneasy at being locked in by yourself at night with all the curtains open. I would also like to point out that the final plot twist although it was half guessed by me, was very satisfying. If Argento could produce little gems like this then with all the restriction he had, then why can't he do it now?

Overall - 3.5/5.


EPISODE 4: THE DOLL - And to wrap things up, the final episode is The Doll aka Il Bambino, directed by Mario Foglietti. This episode was part of the contract with RAI and was one almost solely down to them, Argento himself had very little involvement with it. All about a mental patient who escapes and kills off a girl. Why did he/she do it, what was their motive? Obviously the answer gets revealed at the end, and while I don't doubt that this isn't everyone's bag, I quite enjoyed it, even though for 90% of the film I couldn't quite see where it was trying to go, the ending was quite inventive but a bit silly at the same time.

Overall - 2.5/5.

DOOR INTO DARKNESS: BEST TO WORST:

1) The Neighbour
2) Eyewitness
3) The Doll
4) The Tram

DO YOU LIKE HITCHCOCK? - The feature length pilot episode of a possible 7 part series (depending on ratings) this is the first and only episode to date, and as is made clear by the title, it's a series dedicated to the greatness that was Alfred Hitchcock.
After concentrating on feature films, this is "The Italian Hitchcock's" first TV movie in 34 years after his wonderful short series Door Into Darkness in 1971; it tells the story of a young nerdy film student who has a voyeuristic nature, after a run-in in with a couple of witches in the woods as a child it takes you to the present day where he lives in an apartment overlooking a set of others. He has a strange fixation with his neighbour and after spying on her one too many times he becomes suspicious of a plot between her and a friend to commit murder... a few days later the girl's mother is brutally murdered and so he begins his investigation to see if he was right or whether he's watched one Hitchcock movie too many.

Despite a disappointing ending and a lack of the red stuff (minus the murder of course) this isn't a bad effort at all. Although it isn't up to scratch with his earlier eye candy, visually this shows an improvement over the rather bland and uninspired The Card Player, while the TV budget was limited he was still able to pull a rabbit out of the hat in this area, the use of lighting was reminiscent of Suspiria and the nighttime rainy sequence took me back to Tenebrae and also to Brian De Palma's Dressed To Kill. There were so many nods on offer here, it seemed that Dario was getting sentimental in this with the (intentional or unintentional) nods to his older work and also to the work of Brian De Palma and Hitchcock himself, from the posters in the video shop to the plot twists, to the name dropping film nods to the different scenarios, this had sentiment in abundance. While this isn't classic Argento or even a so-called "return to form" it is still a damn entertaining and highly absorbing picture. Comparing it to his work in the 21st century I'd say it's better than the disappointing Il Cartaio but behind the excellent Non Ho Sonno although I admit it's a bit unfair comparing it to his work away from TV as he had bigger budgets to work with and more freedom. This had some really vintage Argento sequences though with a good level of suspense and that is something that was horribly lacking in The Card Player, it was also quite sexy for a TV movie, that element surprised me a little bit. I always did feel that he would adapt to making films for the small screen because his Door Into DaDarkness episode Eyewitness showed his capabilities, especially with the finale. Another thing worth pointing out re the links to Dressed To Kill is that Pino Donaggio also did a decent score for this film.
It's fitting that someone so often compared to "The Master Of Suspense" Alfred Hitchcock should finally pay his dues to the great man, afterall not only was Hitchcock one of the very best directors of all time in my opinion, he also helped influence Argento's filmmaking and the giallo sub-genre in general.

Overall - 3/5.


JENIFER - A detective finds a man dragging a disfigured woman to a river and shoots him down before he kills her. Out of sympathy he brings her back to his home and despite increasingly strange and violent behaviour by her he stands by her and sees his life spiral out of control by doing so.

A Masters Of Horror entry by the master and a rather forgettable one at that. While I appreciate that it was an attempt at doing something different with its '70s comic book theme, ultimately it felt like a very tired and uninspired hour long movie. The location shots were flat and the score was the kind you would hear in the worst '90s B movies. Topping it off was a storyline that was silly beyond reason, I realise that logic isn't everything in horror movies, but the fact that a police detective would not only allow someone behaving so violently to stay in his house while his family have abandoned him and corpses keep piling up was just too much. The film was riddled with flaws but as a slight positive was at least fairly watchable as a whole though it lacked that spark and magic touch Argento is sometimes capable of producing nowadays.

Overall - 1.5/5.


TV MOVIES: BEST TO WORST:

1) Do You Like Hitchcock?
2) Jenifer


PRODUCED FILMS (FOR OTHER DIRECTORS), FILMOGRAPHY:

Dawn Of The Dead (George A. Romero, 1978)
Demons/Demoni (Lamberto Bava, 1985)
Demons 2/Demoni 2 (Lamberto Bava, 1986)
The Church/La Chiesa (Michele Soavi, 1988)
The Sect/La Setta (Michele Soavi, 1990)
The Wax Mask/M.D.C. - Maschera Di Cera (Sergio Stivaletti, 1997)
Scarlet Diva (Asia Argento, 2000)

PRODUCER:

Having had some of his own films produced for him, largely down to his family, Dario Argento has also produced a number of films, his own films he's produced are - PHENOMENA, TERROR AT THE OPERA, TWO EVIL EYES, TRAUMA, THE STENDHAL SYNDROME, SLEEPLESS, THE CARD PLAYER and THE THIRD MOTHER. Aswell as his 1973 TV series called 'DARIO ARGENTO'S DOOR INTO DARKNESS'.
However Argento has also produced films for Lamberto Bava (DEMONS 1+2), Michele Soavi (THE CHURCH and THE SECT), Sergio Stivaletti (THE WAX MASK) and his daughter, Asia Argento (SCARLET DIVA). And he co-produced DAWN OF THE DEAD for George A. Romero. In addition he also produced some unknown episodes of the 1987-88 Italian TV series called TURNO DI NOTTE which featured Asia Argento and was directed by Luigi Cozzi.

WRITER:

Dario Argento has also written all of his films apart from SUSPIRIA which was co-written with DARIA NICOLODI, he also wrote both THE TRAM and EYEWITNESS for DOOR INTO DARKNESS, and co-wrote THE NEIGHBOUR for it too.
The other writing credits he has are as followers: EXCUSE ME, ARE YOU FOR OR AGAINST? (1967), CUALCUNO HA TRADITO (1967), HEROES NEVER DIE (1968), OGGI A ME... DOMANI A TE! (1968), THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION (1968), CEMETERY WITHOUT CROSSES (1968), SEASON OF THE SENSES (1968), PROBABILITY ZERO (1968), TODAY WE KILL, TOMORROW WE DIE! (1968), LES HÉROS NE MEURENT JEMAIS (1968), COMMANDOS (1968), COMMANDAMENTI PER UN GANGSTER (1968), ONE NIGHT AT DINNER (1969), ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1969), THE FIVE MAN ARMY (1969), LEGION OF THE DAMNED (1969), COSÍ SIA (1972), DEMONS (1985), DEMONS 2 (1986), THE CHURCH (1988), THE SECT (1990), THE WAX MASK (1997) and the forthcoming remakes of SUSPIRIA (2013) and DEEP RED (2011).

COMPOSER:

He has composed both DAWN OF THE DEAD and SUSPIRIA. His alternate cut of DAWN OF THE DEAD is available now on DVD.

ACTOR:

He has appeared in - EXCUSE ME, ARE YOU FOR OR AGAINST? (1967), INNOCENT BLOOD (1992), BITS AND PIECES (1995) and the Quando Due Si Lasciano episode of Tutti Pazzi Per Amore (2010). He's also done prologues for each episode of DOOR INTO DARKNESS, aswell as appearing as a hitch-hiker in the episode - THE NEIGHBOUR. As well as that he's done narration and minor appearances in the following - THE FIVE DAYS OF MILAN, SUSPIRIA, INFERNO, TENEBRAE, PHENOMENA and OPERA. Also he has appeared as the gloved killer in nearly all of his films prior to SLEEPLESS although he did do the honours in his 2005 TV movie - DO YOU LIKE HITCHCOCK? Aside from that he's also appeared as himself for his documentaries and interviews.

EDITOR:

TRAUMA.

PSEUDONYM:

Sirio Bernadotte.

AWARDS:

WON (5):

Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival - Medalla Sitges En Oro De Ley: Best Director For, Profondo Rosso/Deep Red (1976)

Fantafestival - Special Award FantaItaly (1985)

Sitges - Catalonion International Film Festival - Time Machine Honorary Award (1999)

Cinequest San Jose Film Festival - Maverick Tribute Award (2000)

Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival - Lifetime Achievement Award (2001)

NOMINATED (3):

Edgar Allan Poe Awards - Edgar Award For: Best Motion Picture, L' Uccello Dalle Piume Di Cristallo/The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1971)

Fantasporto - International Fantasy Film Award For: Best Motion Picture, Phenomena (1986)

Fantasporto - International Fantasy Film Award For: Best Motion Picture, Opera (1990)

ARGENTO ON BLU-RAY/DVD/VHS:

The DVDs and VHS' I have of Dario Argento's films (directed & produced) are as follows:

UHD:

The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (Arrow Films LE)
The Cat O'Nine Tails (Arrow Films LE)
Deep Red (Arrow Films LE)
Tenebrae (Arrow Films LE)

Dawn of the Dead (Second Sight LE)
Demons 1 & 2 (Synapse Films LE)

BLU-RAY:

Four Flies On Grey Velvet (Shameless Screen Entertainment)
Suspiria (Synapse Films steelbook)
Inferno (Arrow Films LE | w/ An Eye For Horror)
Phenomena (Arrow Films LE)
Opera (CultFilm LE)
Two Evil Eyes (Blue Underground LE)
Trauma (Vinegar Syndrome)
The Stendhal Syndrome (Blue Underground LE)

The Church (Scorpion Releasing)
The Sect (Scorpion Releasing)
The Wax Mask (Severin Films LE)

DVD:

Dario Argento's Door Into Darkness (Dragon Films)
Jenifer & Pelts (Masters of Horror / Anchor Bay)

DVD:

Phantom of The Opera: Ardustry
Sleepless: MIA & Arrow Films
The Card Player: Arrow Films
Do You Like Hitchcock?: Anchor Bay USA
Mother Of Tears: The Third Mother: Optimum Releasing
Giallo: Lionsgate

Scarlet Diva: MIA

DVD-R:

The Five Days Of Milan
Trussardi Action

VHS:

Dario Argento's World Of Horror: Art House Pictures
George Romero, Document Of The Dead / Dario Argento, Master Of Horror: 4Front Video