In the interest of sparking some discussion about some non-mainstream titles, let's hear your thoughts about the "Italian Hitchcock" and his body of work. For completeness' sake, I've included some notable horror TV shows (Door Into Darkness and Masters of Horror) for which he directed 2 episodes each, and also the film Two Evil Eyes which he co-directed with George Romero.
Deep Red is in my all time top 20 The Bird With the Crystal Plumage, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, Suspiria, Tenebre, Opera are all great The Cat O' Nine Tails is OK, Phenomena average, Inferno terrible I haven't seen anything after the eighties and by all accounts I don't need to
I have a weak spot for Inferno due to the participation of Mario Bava and his matte work and special effects. It was right at the end of his life and he was still working his magic behind the camera.
I really gotta go back and re-visit some of these again soon.... I've got them all on DVD*, but it's been years since I've watched any of them! *except The Five Days, which I believe is the only Argento film still unavailable in North America.
Argento's films after Tenebrae and Phenomona took a dramatic downturn in quality. For the most part they were shot well, but the writing was nowhere as good as the earlier films. Perhaps it was absence of Daria Nicolodi.
Love Argento and through him discovered one of my favorite bands Goblin. Claudio Simonetti was a big influence on me as a young musician.
I've always been partial to Phenomena (aka Creepers), probably because it was the first Argento film I saw. ...besides, any movie that randomly inserts Iron Maiden and Motorhead songs is OK by me.
The Bird With The Crystal Plumage. Love the Hitchcock vibe of this film, I actually think Argento does a better job of aping that style than Brian DePalma had. Deep Red and Suspiria out of the popular films. Inferno looks amazing but it's incomprehensible. I also voted for The Stendhal Syndrome, the last film he did that was worth watching.
Suspiria gets most of the attention, and Deep Red is often deemed his best giallo - but I think Tenebre is the most tightly plotted and acted of his films, and it really invites repeat viewings. Anthony Franciosa is probably the most engaging of the Argento leads, and gets some terrific support from John Saxon and John Steiner. Although Deep Red is rightly revered, I also think that Four Flies on Grey Velvet is an interesting exercise in style. And, yes, Phenomena is batsh*t crazy - but damn if it ain't entertaining! Post-1985, Argento's films try to think big but fail in most every aspect (although I give him credit for at least trying to pursue his thematic concerns through Trauma and Stendahl Syndrome). But I do think Argento's fame is misplaced. English language critics elevated him to a position of importance as a result of their limited access to (or outright ignorance of) the many, many gialli that flooded Italy from, say, 1968 to 1973. When seen in context, his early films are striking but hardly a lone (or unique) voice in the wilderness - he was simply one of many.
Phenomena. Jennifer Connelly It's a beautiful film too. Tenebre is a scary film that takes place mostly in Daylight, more a murder mystery than pure horror. Suspiria is beautiful. I still have the Anchor Bay dvd.
I went with Deep Red, Suspiria, Inferno and Tenebre. I really enjoy most of all Argento's work through Opera and then his films take a serious nosedive. Of the more recent films, I enjoy The Stendhal Syndrome and Mother of Tears. I have Dracula on blu-ray, which I have not watched yet and can't seem to work up the desire to do so. I also haven't seen my blu-ray of Four Flies on Grey Velvet; I have the German 3 disc set, which I think is supposed to be the best available option of that title. I grew up on Dario Argento's films and I still love them dearly, but when I discovered Mario Bava-and as Johnny66 rightly points out-other lesser known gialli directors like Martino or Pupi Avati, I was a little less in awe.
Sure. Suspiria used to play the drive-ins here. I'm pretty sure most of the films he did from Deep Red through Phenomena/Creepers did as well.
Have seen just about everything in that list. Voted for Deep Red (I think that is his best film period), Suspiria, and Phenomenon. Phenomenon is utterly ridiculous (a monkey with a razor blade! awesome!) but that is why I love it. Stendahl has some interesting camera effects that I like (the way that Asia enters that painting in the beginning). Most everything after Suspiria seems to get more and more incomprehensible to me though, especially his later works like Mother of Tears or Giallo. I have not seen Dracula yet but fear it is awful.
Deep Red and Tenebrae are my favorites. It's nice to see so many people on a music forum being familiar with his films.
Yup, except The Five Days, every one of the films from his heyday had theatrical dates in the US up to and including Creepers. This is not the case with the films that came after.
