Dario Argento

  • Dracula 3D (2012)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, February 2022) Dario Argento tries his hand at the classic Dracula mythos in his Dracula 3D, but budgetary limitations obviously hold him back… not to mention a redundant approach that doesn’t provide much satisfaction once the 3D calling card of the film is flattened for TV broadcast. The low-budget is immediately visible from the cut-rate special effects shown on-screen, but it also influences a story that curiously stays in Transylvania throughout the entire plot, never getting to England. Beyond that, however, is a striking lack of style to the result. Some of the sets and costumes are not bad, but the entire film feels like a no-name low-budget horror rather than something from someone of Argento’s stature. It’s striking that the Francis Ford Coppola version of the same story had more eroticism than this one… or that this film does so little with the elements it has. Like many classical adaptations throughout the years, Dracula 3D may serve as an exercise in how to compare and contrast it to other versions, but doesn’t hold much value by itself.

  • Trauma (1993)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, January 2022) There are a few reasons why Trauma feels like an odd duck in the Dario Argento filmography, the biggest being that it’s clearly shot in the United States (Minneapolis, specifically). It also feels curiously restrained by Argento’s standards, the writer-director going for a more suspenseful, less gory approach in his bid to approach the American market. This being said, “Restrained by Argento’s standards” is a very relative thing when the film is a slasher movie with a psychopath running around with a decapitating device. There’s some noteworthiness in having Argento direct daughter Asia Argento in a leading role, although more questions are raised than answered when she (a teenager as of filming) ends up in a topless scene. The rest of Trauma is more annoying than anything else—it’s a slasher without the over-the-top nature of Argento’s best work, the final revelations are preposterous and the film errs into unintentional comedy far too often. Add to that the throwaway nature of slashers and there’s not much left to recommend here. At best, Trauma is a curio featuring the Argentos in America. At worse, it will put you to sleep so thoroughly that you’ll end up watching the ending twice.

  • Tenebre [Tenebrae] (1982)

    Tenebre [Tenebrae] (1982)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, June 2021) While I haven’t seen all of writer-director Dario Argento’s filmography yet, I have a strong preference for his supernatural films over the more “realistic” ones. Tenebre is similar to other Argento films in that it features an American in Rome, getting embroiled in a sordid series of murders and the hunt for the killer. Like other Argento films, it’s also very stylish — colourful, with strong images and deliberate directing choices. There’s not much left to happenstance or merely “ordinary” filmmaking here. With Goblin providing the score and a typically twisted psychology at the root of the film’s premise, the film feels very much of a piece with other parts of his filmography. Structurally, the film is clearly made around its high-strung death sequences, going from one horrifying sequence to another but not forgetting to have a rather sophisticated narrative to wrap it all up. In the grand tradition of giallo, it takes a repulsive kind of serial-killer story and makes it more watchable by sheer injection of style. I’m still not a fan, but as a late-period giallo Tenebre is significantly more watchable than the explosion of slasher movies that took place at the same time in the United States.

  • Inferno (1980)

    Inferno (1980)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, June 2021) As regular readers of these reviews already know, I despite slasher movies — for their creative laziness, for their cheap nihilism, for their low production values. But I’m willing to make exceptions when these movies veer toward the supernatural, when they’re stylishly made, when there’s something in there that goes beyond the obvious. And that does describe Dario Argento’s Inferno rather well. The second of the “Three Mothers” trilogy inaugurated by Suspiria (but articulated here), it’s a horror film that largely (and wisely) confines itself to a New York City apartment building where there are strange things on, in, between and under the floors of the building. Faithful to his mastery of giallo at the time of its release, Argento goes for bright red blood, striking visuals, unsettling mythology and an audacious mid-film protagonist switch. I really liked the sense of increasingly uncanny discoveries within an ordinary-looking apartment building: it takes a demented imagination to mix fire cauldrons and submerged ballrooms in the same location, and that’s what sets Inferno apart from Argento’s later, far more mundane work. The expressionism of his visual style is still a cut above most other horror films, and the entire thing often plays like a nightmare. Inferno is deservedly overshadowed by many of Argento’s work (particularly Suspiria, a comparison made even worse by their belonging to the same rough cycle) but it’s a serviceable horror triller that may convince even those who are dubious about the whole giallo slasher trend.

  • La terza madre [Mother of Tears] (2007)

    La terza madre [Mother of Tears] (2007)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, June 2021) It’s hardly controversial to state that not all of Dario Argento’s films are created equal, and that his early films are better-crafted than the ones made after (roughly) 1990. It does Mother of Tears no favours whatsoever that it sets itself up as the concluding instalment of a series launched by nothing less than Suspiria (a giallo that even a slasher-hater like myself can like) and Inferno — no film could possibly aspire to follow up those two opening films and get good reviews. Indeed, other than a few rare moments and an ambitious apocalyptic plot, there isn’t much in Mother of Tears to impress. The plotting is crazy, but the execution feels far less audacious. Even with Asia Argento in the lead role and Udo Kier hovering menacingly in a supporting role, the film struggles to capitalize on its own potential. It avoids failure with a few flourishes, but again the comparisons to earlier Argento are almost unbearable — what would the younger Argento have been able to do with the budget and digital effects required to do justice to this kind of wide-scale vision of horror? Tough to say, but we’re on somewhat firmer ground in calling Mother of Tears a disappointment made even worse by the unrealistic comparisons that it courts.

  • Il gatto a nove code [Cat O’ Nine Tails] (1971)

    Il gatto a nove code [Cat O’ Nine Tails] (1971)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, November 2020) Once again in a giallo film, we have an innocent man getting drawn into investigating a lurid string of murders, in a film elevating an already-wild screenplay with stylish composition, colour, cinematography and musical choices. That Cat o’ Nine Tails is coming from giallo grandmaster Dario Argento only makes it further essential viewing in its subgenre. Here, the big wrinkle is a blind protagonist, and pseudo-scientific nonsense about the XYY gene turning people into killers or something. Of course, the fun of the film is in the ride more than the destination, with stylistic fillips that feel more modern than its early 1970s era of filmmaking. It’s more interesting than a strictly realistic take on the same topic would have been, although there are clear limits to this kind of material. I’d probably have more to say about Cat O’ Nine Tails if I hadn’t seen something like half a dozen similar movies in the past week (thank a giallo movie marathon for that jadedness), but that’s kind of the point: if you like giallo, it’s a stylistic genre more than a narrative one, so there’s a good chance that you’ll like one more.

  • L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo [The Bird with the Crystal Plumage] (1970)

    L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo [The Bird with the Crystal Plumage] (1970)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, November 2020) I was pretty sure that I didn’t like giallo, but as I made my way through Dario Argento’s debut feature The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, it struck me that I didn’t dislike the genre as much as I thought I did. In fact, giallo looks much better when placed next to the slasher horror that it inspired in the Halloween/Friday-the-13th/Black Christmas tradition. Argento’s debut feature predates all of this, obviously: Working in 1970, Argento was more clearly inspired by classic horror—albeit with more bright-red blood. Where this film does well, as is usually the case with giallo, is presented a much-heightened vision of standard horror thrills. Exuberant with colours, unusual camera angles, subjective viewpoints and an aggressive soundtrack, giallo is usually far more interesting than the stories it portrays—although there too, there are plenty of opportunities for being wilder than more staid thrillers. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage does have a familiar base premise—an innocent man investigating a murder in a foreign location, something that would pop up again later in Argento’s career in films such as Deep Red—but it adds a few striking wrinkles to it. The result is quite watchable: still effective in its stylish excess, and benefiting from a generally solid script. It also unlocked the key to giallo as far as I’m concerned, as a far more interesting stylistic variant on the usually dull slasher films that would follow.

  • Il fantasma dell’opera [The Phantom of the Opera] (1998)

    Il fantasma dell’opera [The Phantom of the Opera] (1998)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, September 2020) I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but—with Dario Argento writing and directing an adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera with Julian Sands and Asia Argento in the lead roles, I expected a lot more. This should be familiar material for Argento, who made the stage a centrepiece of his 1987 film Opera—alas, without much improvement. Argento-the-writer’s decision to change the Phantom from disfigured romantic to rat-friendly misanthrope is a crucial false note, while Argento-the-director to go full-gore on material that doesn’t necessarily call for it is another misfire. Julian Sands disappoints as the Phantom, although Asia Argento more or less performs at her level. Much of the same can be said about Dario Argento himself—if you were expecting much from 1998 Argento, then you hadn’t been paying attention for years at this point: the director was a shadow of his own self by that time in his career, and while fans could hope for 1970s Argento to handle the promising material, what they got instead was 1990s Argento and his substantial limitations. All of this to say that, unfortunately, Argento’s The Phantom of the Opera is closer to comedy than romantic horror: overly gory, not particularly attuned to the possibility of the material and decidedly showcasing the director near his worst, it’s perhaps most entertaining by being ridiculed.

  • Profondo Rosso [Deep Red aka The Hatchet Murders] (1975)

    Profondo Rosso [Deep Red aka The Hatchet Murders] (1975)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (TubiTV Streaming, September 2020) If anyone is looking at Italian giallo films as the logical progenitors of the American slasher genre, Profondo Rosso would be something along the lines of Exhibit A, a year after the Canadian Black Christmas but substantially more impressive in its willingness to go over the top. Writer-director Dario Argento’s work does not deal in subtleties or restraint: it’s about stinging musical cues, brighter-than-real red blood, impressionistic camera angles and characters screaming their heads off. Here, a photographer gets dragged into investigating the murder of a woman (one that’s a telepath, but that odd bit of weirdness could have been removed entirely from the film without making a difference). His investigation takes him to an abandoned house as the bodies pile up, but the details of the rather detailed plot are not as interesting as the way they’re executed—Perhaps taking lessons from contemporary Italian director Sergio Leone, Argento directs in high-impact close-ups, with plenty of blood and music to keep us invested in the action. I don’t normally like slashers or anything feeling like slashers, but Profondo Rosse (especially alongside Suspiria) is something different—cinematically potent enough to be interesting on a strictly stylistic level.

  • Dèmoni 2… l’incubo ritorna [Demons 2] (1986)

    Dèmoni 2… l’incubo ritorna [Demons 2] (1986)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, April 2020) If you haven’t seen the first Dèmoni, don’t worry too much if Dèmoni 2… l’incubo ritorna plays in front of you—the links between the two films are built on atmosphere and plot more than characters or events leading to the sequel. Once again, we are in an enclosed space, as something transforms people into bloodthirsty demons (i.e.: zombies). Except that, rather than being in an old movie theatre, we’re in a big modern high-rise apartment, and instead of a film creating the zombies, it’s a TV broadcast. Also written by Dario Argento and directed by Lamberto Bava, the rest of Demons 2 plays along similar lines: people trying (usually unsuccessfully) to defend themselves, gore effects, shiny-eyed demons, and the like. There is some playfulness in the way some expectations from the first film are overturned, so if you’ve got a mind to talk yourself into a double-bill, that will make it even better. Otherwise, this sequel, which was rushed into production to make it to theatres almost exactly a year after the original, doesn’t benefit from any substantial improvements in budget, scripting or execution: it’s pretty much the same thing with more demons and more people to kill. Great 1980s elements, though. Its too-scattered approach is good for showcasing gory effects and bloody kills, but not so much for plotting or character development. Still, while not quite as fun or focused or enjoyable as the first time around, Dèmoni 2… l’incubo ritorna is clearly in the same vein, and more enjoyable than other giallo or cannibal Italian horror films of the early 1980s.

  • Dèmoni [Demons] (1985)

    Dèmoni [Demons] (1985)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, April 2020) I’m game for any movie talking about movies, even if it’s a schlocky Italian horror movie about unsuspecting patrons being stuck in a movie theatre as they’re changed into demons. Yep, that’s Dèmoni all right—co-scripted by Dario Argento in full supernatural demon fan mode and directed by his protégé Lamberto Bava. The story isn’t complicated: It’s about a bunch of people invited to watch a movie about demons, then dying, one by one, to real demons. Their troubles don’t end once they’re outside the theatre, but that’s a classic horror slingshot coda. Before we get there, however, this hardcore horror film has plenty of black-comedy fun to offer: it doesn’t quite attain its fullest potential, but it’s gory and wild and crazy and nonsensical and subservient to the rule-of-cool and somewhat still unlike most horror movies out there, so that’s a plus. The cultural references are all very mid-1980s too. The lineage between Dèmoni and Argento’s more traditional giallo is obvious, but the result remains a capable mid-1980s horror film, and one of the few Italian horror movies of the decade that I can stomach without too many qualms.

  • Suspiria (1977)

    Suspiria (1977)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (TubiTV Streaming, May 2017) At first glance, there is no way I thought I’d like Suspiria. I abhor most slasher films; my rare contacts with Italian giallo films have been unpleasant; and the thought of another movie with a psycho cutting down young women in garish detail is enough to make me queasy. But after actually watching the film, I’ll concede that Suspiria at least commits to its grand-guignol madness. Long before American Horror started leaning on a self-aware shtick, Dario Argento pushes the limits of his barely coherent premise into showy set-pieces. Colourful to a degree that’s not even close to subtle, Suspiria keeps one-upping its murderous set-pieces to the point of nearly approaching abstract art: The first big horror sequence of the film ends with a body being hung/thrown through a skylight, and another woman being killed by the glass debris. Terrible, but weirdly successful at once. Don’t look for a tightly plotted story—Suspiria is about the atmosphere more than narrative, and that atmosphere starts early on—even a relatively innocuous airport arrival sequence is made instantly dreadful by the use of red lighting and an oppressive synthetic score. Suspiria isn’t the kind of film that you’d show to anyone sane, but it’s weirdly respectable in its own way. It commits to its madness and doesn’t pull punches in the way it follows its set-pieces to the end. The Technicolor visual styling of the film is impressive even forty years later, and the dreadful quality of its nightmarish atmosphere makes it an interesting film even for those who want nothing to do with psycho-slasher horror films.