FILMS OF DARIO ARGENTO
One of the most accomplished horror directors ever, few filmmakers can deny an influence from Dario Argento. With a career spanning back since the 1960s, Argento puts to use his past career as a film critic to incorporate a number of interesting stylistic techniques in his unique films. This page is devoted to providing a complete filmography with reviews of Argento’s directorial works.
Reviewed Films:
Deep Red (1975)
Tenebrae (1982)
The Stendhal Syndrome (1997)
The Card Player (2003)
Masters of Horror – Jenifer (2005)
Deep Red (1975)
Dir. Dario Argento. David Hemmings, Daria Nicoladi.
126 mins; M; DVD
Easily Dario Argento’s (and, dare we say, Italy’s) best film, Deep Red (a
ka Profondo Rosso) brought the Italian giallo genre to the Western world. Earning its name from the yellow paperbacks of pulp thrillers, the giallo genre is one that Argento made his specialty – Cat O’Nine Tails, Four Flies on Grey Velvet and Tenebrae are all examples of the director’s best work in this area. When Marc Daly, an American jazz pianist holidaying in Rome, witnesses a brutal murder, he teams up with local journalist Gianna Brezzi (Nicoladi, Argento’s lover at the time) to solve the case. The acting, like all Argento films, leaves much to be desired and the director has frequently been accused of putting too much emphasis on style over substance and performances. Deep Red is indeed very stylish, with some excellent set pieces; the in-credits sequence of the shadow-murder, bloodied knife and melancholy nursery rhyme is definitely one of the coolest scenes in cinema. The murders themselves have a touch of Simpsons slapstick to them – one example of this is when a man is shot at, runs into a moving garbage truck and is snared by a hook hanging from the back, is dragged along the road, hits his head on the curb and, when the truck inexplicably stops at an intersection, his head is run over by a car. Argento house band Goblin scores the film with some very memorable techno-rock tracks. The Australian Umbrella DVD of Deep Red contains over twenty minutes of footage that was either omitted from English-language releases or cut for censorship reasons and is shown with Italian audio and English subtitles. This adds a fair bit of talk to the film, however Deep Red is still one of the best thrillers around and certainly a horror classic. 9/10
Tenebrae (1982)
Dir. Dario Argento. Anthony Franciosa, Daria Nicoladi.
105 mins; R18+; DVD
The year Tenebrae was released, it was automatically banned in Australia; cut by over seven minutes in Britain; re-scored and censored in the United States and released under the insulting title of Unsane. While not one of his best films, Tenebrae contains much of the Argento style that has become the director’s trademark – OTT violence, dizzying tracking shots and murders scored to Goblin’s techno-rock soundtrack. The plot surrounds an American mystery author traveling to Rome where he learns a local psycho is using his novels as a template for their ghastly deeds. Like most Argento films, there is no real plot – the style is what holds the film together and there is style in spades. The outrageous axe murder at the film’s end was the source of most truncation globally and, according to special effects maestro Rob Kurtzman, Quentin Tarantino wanted to ‘top Tenebrae’ in the Sofie Fatale sequence in Kill Bill Volume 1. 8/10
The Stendhal Syndrome (1997)
Dir. Dario Argento. Asia Argento
117 mins; Unrated; DVD
***The review herein refers to the Region 1 Troma Entertainment release
Whenever something is released by Troma, you can be guaranteed its going to be a) trash; b) erotica; c) exploitation or d) a mix of all three. So those going in with big expectations for The Stendhal Syndrome to be a grisly repeat of Tenebrae and Deep Red will be very disappointed. Coupled with the fact that the film is utter crap and you’ve got a turkey. The film is, however, a favourite of Argento’s and explores one of the themes he is fascinated by – the power of art to illicit violent response. The story is one of Argento’s most convoluted, which isn’t saying too much – a young policewoman (Asia Argento, Dario’s daughter) goes to an art gallery and meets a psychopath, who later kidnaps and rapes her repeatedly. She takes revenge but is severely mentally scarred. There is no style, no flair and the acting is typically atrocious; the fact that Troma has released it in murky visuals with hard-to-hear audio makes the experience all the more painful. Ennio Morricone takes over the scoring duties from Goblin. 3/10
The Card Player (2003)
Dir. Dario Argento. Stefania Rocca, Liam Cunningham, Silvio Muccino.
100 mins; MA15+; DVD
One of Argento’s less successful releases, The Card Player tells the story of
a killer (what else?) who traps his victims in a remote location, sending a live web cam feed of his hostages to police. The killer challenges the police to games of video poker on the computer. If the killer wins, the hostage is killed however the victim is released if the police triumph. Pitted against this merciless executioner and expert poker player, they must find someone to match the gaming skills of their opponent. The film is a very taut cat-and-mouse thriller that hardly ever lets up. Argento’s trademark style is prevalent and Goblin resumes their position as music-men. Other crewmembers of note include Sergio Stivaletti, the famed Italian visual effects merchant of Demons fame. While The Card Player isn’t among Argento’s best efforts, it is certainly a far sight more inspired than the glut of sub-par Hollywood thrillers being released. 7/10
Masters of Horror – Jenifer (2005)
Dir. Dario Argento. Steven Weber
58 mins; MA15+; DVD
*** Jenifer is found in the second part of the Season 1 Masters of Horror set, which contains six other films. It can be rented individually.
When Mick Garris created the startlingly brilliant concept of giving famed horror directors one hour to do their thing free of studio interference, the results should have been spectacular. And they were. Every film was unique and, while not as gutsy as a fully-fledged feature, they acted as showcases for each director. Argento’s first episode Jenifer is one of the best in the series and a fine return to form to his early, superior work. To give away too much of the plot will spoil the film; the basic narrative surrounds a policeman (Weber), who shoots a lunatic about to kill a hideously deformed girl, he discovers she is more than meets the eye. The violence in Jenifer is pretty off-the-charts, far surpassing anything Argento has ever done and, one would think, firmly pushing the boundaries of its MA15+ rating. The film is brimming with style and Claudio Simonetti, frontman of Goblin, adds some cool to the grim proceedings. Two scenes, cut for US release, haven’t been restored to the Australian DVD but can be found in one of the DVD extras. 9/10
One of the most accomplished horror directors ever, few filmmakers can deny an influence from Dario Argento. With a career spanning back since the 1960s, Argento puts to use his past career as a film critic to incorporate a number of interesting stylistic techniques in his unique films. This page is devoted to providing a complete filmography with reviews of Argento’s directorial works.
Reviewed Films:
Deep Red (1975)
Tenebrae (1982)
The Stendhal Syndrome (1997)
The Card Player (2003)
Masters of Horror – Jenifer (2005)
Deep Red (1975)
Dir. Dario Argento. David Hemmings, Daria Nicoladi.
126 mins; M; DVD
Easily Dario Argento’s (and, dare we say, Italy’s) best film, Deep Red (a
ka Profondo Rosso) brought the Italian giallo genre to the Western world. Earning its name from the yellow paperbacks of pulp thrillers, the giallo genre is one that Argento made his specialty – Cat O’Nine Tails, Four Flies on Grey Velvet and Tenebrae are all examples of the director’s best work in this area. When Marc Daly, an American jazz pianist holidaying in Rome, witnesses a brutal murder, he teams up with local journalist Gianna Brezzi (Nicoladi, Argento’s lover at the time) to solve the case. The acting, like all Argento films, leaves much to be desired and the director has frequently been accused of putting too much emphasis on style over substance and performances. Deep Red is indeed very stylish, with some excellent set pieces; the in-credits sequence of the shadow-murder, bloodied knife and melancholy nursery rhyme is definitely one of the coolest scenes in cinema. The murders themselves have a touch of Simpsons slapstick to them – one example of this is when a man is shot at, runs into a moving garbage truck and is snared by a hook hanging from the back, is dragged along the road, hits his head on the curb and, when the truck inexplicably stops at an intersection, his head is run over by a car. Argento house band Goblin scores the film with some very memorable techno-rock tracks. The Australian Umbrella DVD of Deep Red contains over twenty minutes of footage that was either omitted from English-language releases or cut for censorship reasons and is shown with Italian audio and English subtitles. This adds a fair bit of talk to the film, however Deep Red is still one of the best thrillers around and certainly a horror classic. 9/10Tenebrae (1982)
Dir. Dario Argento. Anthony Franciosa, Daria Nicoladi.
105 mins; R18+; DVD
The year Tenebrae was released, it was automatically banned in Australia; cut by over seven minutes in Britain; re-scored and censored in the United States and released under the insulting title of Unsane. While not one of his best films, Tenebrae contains much of the Argento style that has become the director’s trademark – OTT violence, dizzying tracking shots and murders scored to Goblin’s techno-rock soundtrack. The plot surrounds an American mystery author traveling to Rome where he learns a local psycho is using his novels as a template for their ghastly deeds. Like most Argento films, there is no real plot – the style is what holds the film together and there is style in spades. The outrageous axe murder at the film’s end was the source of most truncation globally and, according to special effects maestro Rob Kurtzman, Quentin Tarantino wanted to ‘top Tenebrae’ in the Sofie Fatale sequence in Kill Bill Volume 1. 8/10The Stendhal Syndrome (1997)
Dir. Dario Argento. Asia Argento
117 mins; Unrated; DVD
***The review herein refers to the Region 1 Troma Entertainment release
Whenever something is released by Troma, you can be guaranteed its going to be a) trash; b) erotica; c) exploitation or d) a mix of all three. So those going in with big expectations for The Stendhal Syndrome to be a grisly repeat of Tenebrae and Deep Red will be very disappointed. Coupled with the fact that the film is utter crap and you’ve got a turkey. The film is, however, a favourite of Argento’s and explores one of the themes he is fascinated by – the power of art to illicit violent response. The story is one of Argento’s most convoluted, which isn’t saying too much – a young policewoman (Asia Argento, Dario’s daughter) goes to an art gallery and meets a psychopath, who later kidnaps and rapes her repeatedly. She takes revenge but is severely mentally scarred. There is no style, no flair and the acting is typically atrocious; the fact that Troma has released it in murky visuals with hard-to-hear audio makes the experience all the more painful. Ennio Morricone takes over the scoring duties from Goblin. 3/10
The Card Player (2003)
Dir. Dario Argento. Stefania Rocca, Liam Cunningham, Silvio Muccino.
100 mins; MA15+; DVD
One of Argento’s less successful releases, The Card Player tells the story of
a killer (what else?) who traps his victims in a remote location, sending a live web cam feed of his hostages to police. The killer challenges the police to games of video poker on the computer. If the killer wins, the hostage is killed however the victim is released if the police triumph. Pitted against this merciless executioner and expert poker player, they must find someone to match the gaming skills of their opponent. The film is a very taut cat-and-mouse thriller that hardly ever lets up. Argento’s trademark style is prevalent and Goblin resumes their position as music-men. Other crewmembers of note include Sergio Stivaletti, the famed Italian visual effects merchant of Demons fame. While The Card Player isn’t among Argento’s best efforts, it is certainly a far sight more inspired than the glut of sub-par Hollywood thrillers being released. 7/10Masters of Horror – Jenifer (2005)
Dir. Dario Argento. Steven Weber
58 mins; MA15+; DVD
*** Jenifer is found in the second part of the Season 1 Masters of Horror set, which contains six other films. It can be rented individually.
When Mick Garris created the startlingly brilliant concept of giving famed horror directors one hour to do their thing free of studio interference, the results should have been spectacular. And they were. Every film was unique and, while not as gutsy as a fully-fledged feature, they acted as showcases for each director. Argento’s first episode Jenifer is one of the best in the series and a fine return to form to his early, superior work. To give away too much of the plot will spoil the film; the basic narrative surrounds a policeman (Weber), who shoots a lunatic about to kill a hideously deformed girl, he discovers she is more than meets the eye. The violence in Jenifer is pretty off-the-charts, far surpassing anything Argento has ever done and, one would think, firmly pushing the boundaries of its MA15+ rating. The film is brimming with style and Claudio Simonetti, frontman of Goblin, adds some cool to the grim proceedings. Two scenes, cut for US release, haven’t been restored to the Australian DVD but can be found in one of the DVD extras. 9/10
***More Argento reviews to come.
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