So over the last few weeks I've been trying really hard to 'get into' Dario Argento's movies, which have alluded me over the years.

On numerous occasions I've tried and failed to watch Suspiria, but finally managed to watch it in it's entirety recently, ditto Deep Red.

Buoyed by these breakthroughs I've also managed to watch Inferno, Tenebre and Opera, but it's come to light that I'm just not that big a fan of his work overall.

With the exception of Tenebre, which I loved from beginning to end, I can't help but find myself being hypercritical of the Italian auteur. I'm not sure if my contrary switch flicks on whenever I hear his name mentioned, but his films just don't grab me in the way that they seem to do for other folks.
Perhaps I've simply come to him too late in life, and there's denying he's got an equal amount of baggage that has dogged his career of late.

But I digress, here are my thoughts on the Argento flicks I watched recently:

Suspiria - there's no denying the dream-like qualities of the lighting and use of colours even further heightened by Goblin's chattering and mantra-like score, but Jessica Harper's doll-like performance made the movie drag for me and the finale felt a bit too much like 'oh shit, we need to finish this somehow.' Good, but not great.

Deep Red (director's cut) - I enjoyed this a lot more and the whole affair was enlivened by Daria Nicolodi and David Hemming's performances, which were cleverly comical yet hard to read; distanced perhaps? Goblin's score was solid (I know it's a lot peep's fave), but the section I enjoyed most was the Tubular Bellsesque guitar riffs when Hemmings enters the gorgeous art noveau mansion. There was a lot more attention to plot and the denouement was gripping was suitably chilling.

Inferno - really, really, really disliked. Apart from The Card Player this is the worst Argento that I've seen. Performances so wooden they'd make a forest jealous. An absolute disregard for plot and yet another ending that felt like it was stuck on with blu tac. Emerson's bombastic score was laughable. There are some stunning moments of beauty though (underwater and the labyrinthine corridors - aided by Bava I guess), but I can't forgive a whole film for a few moments of visual flair. I don't buy the 'watch it as a dream' excuse. Bunuel does that, yet still manages to conjure up some metaphors and meaning, this is just the work of a poor director who was very ill and obviously struggling.

Tenebre - completely the other end of the Argento spectrum for me. It's openess, bright/light colours, great acting, sleek and modern aesthetic (the architecture, cars, clothes) and bravura camerwork, and not to forget the incredible electronic score make this the best Argento by a long way. Absolutely loved every element of it.

Opera is probably my second favourite Argento although some of the performances are stilted and the film is about 15 mins too long (very silly ending); the steadicam work, opulent opera sets and some very prescient special effects (inside of a gun firing) and bloody deaths, oh and a great central performance made it a really enjoyable watch. I even liked the juxtaposition of the metal and classical music, obvious, but it worked.

I'm still waiting for Phenomena to arrive in the post, but my hopes aren't too high as I'm not a fan of Jennifer Connelly.

What films have you seen recently?
 

Each to their own Phurios
I'm a big fan of Argento esp. as he's my fave horror director
though TRAUMA, CARD PLAYER and GIALLO are not among his best
my fave is TENEBRE, got all his films and waiting to see DRACULA
I like MOTHER OF TEARS and know a lot of people don't lik ethe film - I do as it was trademark return to his gory films, of which he became really famous as well as the excellent giallo BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE et al

You don't have to force yourself to watch his films!
If you like some and dislike others, then great!

Whoops! I forgot to say that I really love Bird With The Crystal Plumage - a great stylish giallo indeed.

I've heard a lot of (generally negative) stuff about Mother Of Tears, but I'm intrigued especially after meeting Christian Solimeno at Frightfest who said it was a riot working with Argento.

Yeh, I don't feel forced to watch them at all. I love watching anything, but have always felt some kind of inner shame that I don't like Argento as much as other people, but saying that though, with my recent enjoyment of Tenebre and Opera there's hope for me yet ;)

Mother of Tears rocks.:rockon:

Easily Dario's best film since Opera.

As a huge admirer of The Stendhal Syndrome I don't think it's his best since Opera, but it is a fine film. I suspect time will improve its reputation considerably.

just seen Children of the Corn Genesis

this was pretty bad. was kinda like children of the voodoo instead of corn as the kid was telekinetic and there was voodoo dolls about :lol:

there is another COTC movie being made but after the last 2 I seen I dont know if I will bother.

Just saw my dvd of the restored NORTH BY NORTHWEST, OMFG what a great movie(my fave Hitchcock at the mo) considering this is in a 2 for £5 deal in 'The Works' no better way to spend £2.50, fantastic to see Eva Marie Saint being so slutty as the good girl/bad girl role. Just over 2 hours of beautiful restored Hitchcock, you even get a 39min making of doc and a isolated score, this is a 10/5:lol: i.e. it's 100% better than you remember, and if you've never seen it... what are you doing still reading this...coat/door/shop/till, job done.



PS. I would genuinely like to hear anyone post that they don't like it, and their reasons.

Just finished watching Deep Red, for the first time in years and it's still as good now as when I first saw it, not my favourite Argento film(that priviledge goes to Suspiria), but still in my top 5. I started watching Love Goddess of the Cannibals but had to turn it off after about 25 minutes because I was bored out of my skull so I've put on my BD of Texas Chainsaw to watch the extras.

?? hmmm.

anyway...watched The Exterminator, this BD should look lovely still a horrible little film, a lean mean vigilante machine....

Children of the Damned sequel to the original Village, some nice touches here, and Alan Badel's urbane performance really livened this up for me....
Dont Look in the Basement...hmmm was it the most searing indictment of american mental health care since Titticut Follies or a sly dig at liberal policies? regardless this still holds up in my book, i can see why this was banned :rofl::rofl::rofl:

The Silent House
A feature length horror set piece, with a needless ‘one take’ gimmick as the main selling point. While I thought the technique actually detracted from the tension in parts, it scared me more than anything I saw at Fright Fest (that’s not saying much though!). As a simple ghost train ride it works fine, and it had me squirming like a frightened child towards the end (superb scares with a camera flash!). But not a lot else to recommend besides the BOO! factor – might be a decent pick for Halloween viewing.

I thought it was pretty good and well made :)
although not brilliant by any means so cause of that I have yet to buy it.
Will prob grab the blu when its like £5 :lol:
was a cool cinema experience though.

I can imagine it would work a lot better in the cinema. I liked the second half (good ending!), but got a little bored of the real-time lamplit room searching - felt like I was playing a particularly uneventful computer game :pound: . . .

In regards to post Opera Argento, I do (ever-so-slightly) prefer Sleepless to MoT, but I agree on it being a 'good' film.

It's certainly better than Stendhal, The Card Player, and Giallo, plus it doesn't deserve the sometimes harsh criticism it receives in my opinion!

:lol:
yeah that part of the flick did drag a bit.

I thought The Silent House was a neat an extremely effective chiller with some almost unbearable tension and an incredibly well delivered jump at about the halfway point.

I reviewed it some time ago so, if you want, you can read it here:

The Silent House Blu-ray Review

Which one was that? I think the camera flashes in the darkness scene was the scare highlight for me :eek: . . .

I can't really say without spoiling it for those who haven't seen the film yet and I don't quite know how to describe it anyway!

Fair enough! I can't remember any other major scares though. Did like the creepy figure in the headlights though - those half-glimpsed figures at the back of the shot always creep me out :eek:

Regarding the one-take thing, I thought it was obvious at several points where the in-built edits were concealed. I think some sequences would've benifited from traditional editing. Some scenes were hampered slightly by odd movements to make way for the carefully hidden crew . . .

I'd probably need to see it again, but I seem to recall someone touching her on the shoulder along with an extremely loud aural stab, which was the main 'jump' as far as I'm concerned. As you say, the half glimpses and scene with the girl in the road were extremely effective and, though it has been used many times before and since, the scene with the Polaroid flashes was another where the amount of tension and atmosphere skyrocketed.

Oh yes I remember!

Good, so my memory is better than I think it is! That was probably one of those jumps which had the jaded and yawning critics jumping out their seats.

I don't anyone who dislikes this Hitchcock classic
got the UK blu ray last year - brillant

Just watched Alfred Hitchcocks Spellbound, really enjoyed it. Had some great camera shots and the Dali created Dream Sequences were fantastic and eerie. I haven't seen many Hitchcock films so I'm trying to grab one every now and then if they're at a good price. There's not a single one I haven't liked yet, can't wait to see many many more.

Watched Fertile Ground and Husk the last few nights. Not great to be honest - quite predictable, films typical of Horror Channel output. Thought the After Dark Originals label might be worth collecting, not really convinced now.

Isn't it just, NORTHWEST is to me now just ahead of PSYCHO and THE BIRDS for a 'must see' Hitchcock, more family friendly as well, kiddies won't get Ms. Saints sexy dialogue like we do.

Or perhaps the not-too-subtle train imagery at the end!

In terms of suspense, action and fun, North by Northwest is probably the most watchable and 'user friendly' of Hitchcock's great films even though it doesn't quite have the class of films like Psycho, Vertigo, Notorious or Spellbound.

I hear ya, I'm probably still in Afterglow, just don't remember it being as good as what I saw, and holy s**t that's what they mean by a good transfer. It might not be perfect but I bet I won't see a better film this year.

VERTIGO is my fave Hitchcock film
this film has been inspired many directors and films
most notably Brian De Palma who is the best at directing his 'versions' brilliantly
BODY DOUBLE, FEMME FATALE, OBSESSION are among his best films with the VERTIGO theme

Vertigo is my favourite film of all time, and Hitchcock is my favourite director, and for me, North by Northwest is in his top 5 along with Psycho, Rear Window and To Catch a Thief.

it's my fave Hitchcock film closely followed by The Birds, Cary Grant is brilliant as is Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, the finale on Mount Rushmore is out of this world and Grant's delivery of the dialogue is second to none, great Saul Bass opening credit's too.

Anywho watched these yesterday....

TALES FROM THE CRYPT PRESENT: DEMON KNIGHT:- really fun horror comedy, not scary in the slightest but has a great comic turn from Billy Zane and a good performance from William Sadler. Good special FX make up too.

TALES FROM THE CRYPT PRESENT: BORDELLO OF BLOOD:- Not as good as Demon Knight but fun none the less with a sarcastic comic turn by Dennis Miller, nice legs on Erika Eleniak, nice boobs on Angie Everheart and Cory Feldman as a vampire makes for fun 90minutes.

BUNRAKU: rather bizarre mixture of Japanese paper theatre, martial arts movie and film noir. Really good cast and some unbelievably good production design. Paper thin plot though. Josh Hartnett, Woody Harrelson, Demi Moore, Japanese rocker Gackt and Ron Perlman star. Won't be everyone's cup of tea but i enjoyed it.

I was fortunate to see North by Northwest at the UCI cinema in Preston several years ago. It was a fantastic experience.

An honour to see an absolute classic on the big screen.

Ghost Story
Bizarre 1974 flick from Stephen Weeks. Not the greatest movie you'll ever see, but it has its moments. Plus it has a fabulous soundtrack. Great package from Nucleus.

A Criterion Collection double bill:

The Night of the Hunter
An absolute masterpiece with an extremely menacing Robert Mitchum and stunning direction by Charles Laughton, making it all the more weird that this was his one and only film. Both the child actors are immense in this, acting with such maturity.

House
Completely barmy and, as the rear cover says, 'like an episode of Scooby Doo directed by Mario Bava'. It has everything and is such a bizarre mixture of fantastical comedy and horror it practically defies explanation.

I'm still yet to pick up the Criterion BD of The Night of the Hunter.

It's near the top of a very long wishlist!

The book upon which the film is based is worth tracking down. I think it's by Davis Grubb, it's a long time since I read it but it impressed me as much as the film.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll add it to the growing list of books I haven't yet read!

Now that really does make me jealous:)

just watched Arrows Obsession blu :)

was a alright flick
not a huge fan of it thought but far from bad :)

just watched TAXI 4, not as good as the previous three due it's lack of car chases but still a genuinely funny film with a great Scarface reference at the end.