DARIO ARGENTO'S DEEP RED (1975): MURDER, MUSIC, MADNESS, AND MIRRORS!!

DEEP RED (aka PROFONDO ROSSO) (1975) d. Dario Argento (Italy)

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David Hemmings plays a English jazz pianist in Italy, who after a late-night set, witnesses a brutal murder and feels compelled to unravel the mystery. Considered by many to be the apex of the giallo subgenre, this is Argento in his 1970s prime, with dazzling, dizzying camerawork capturing beautifully violent - if occasionally nonsensical - set-pieces, all couched within the driving rhythms of prog-rock band Goblin (their first of numerous sonic collaborations).

TENEBRAE (1982) UHD Blu-ray review

TENEBRAE (1982) d. Dario Argento (Italy)

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Welcome to Episode #2 of THE STACK!

One of the 39 official Video Nasties prosecuted by the BFCC, this stellar updating of the classic giallo formula for the slasher-soaked early 1980s sees Argento at the height of his technical and storytelling powers. Dwelling in the shadows of his earlier critical and commercial successes (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Deep Red, Suspiria) and perhaps hindered by its unwieldy title (“Darkness” in Italian) and the subsequent retitled and re-edited U.S. release (the equally clunky Unsane, shorn of nearly 10 minutes), Tenebrae never seemed to find the audience it deserved and has labored for recognition ever since.

PHENOMENA (aka CREEPERS) (1985) UHD BLU-RAY REVIEW

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Perhaps the only “insect detective” movie out there on the shelves, featuring a very young Jennifer Connelly (released one year before Labyrinth) as the daughter of a famous American movie star sent away to study at an exclusive Swiss girl’s academy, whose students just happen to be falling victim to a homicidal killer. But as this is an Argento movie, things are hardly what they seem.

MOTHER OF TEARS: THE THIRD MOTHER (2007) DVD Review

SCARE-A-THON Totals to Date:

Total Movies Watched: 8
Total First Time Views: 5
Amount raised for BOXVILLE: $512.16

Mother of Tears: The Third Mother (2007) d. Dario Argento (Italy) (102 min) (3rd viewing)

When an ancient urn is unearthed in Viterbo Cemetery outside Rome, the contents are shipped to prestigious artifact gatherer Michael (Adam James); in his absence, team members Sarah (Asia Argento) and Giselle (Coralina Cataldi-Tessi) open the contents to discover a trio of primitive statuettes, a crafted dagger, a red tunic, and… a whole passel of trouble. After Giselle is gruesomely (and graphically) murdered, Sarah and Michael find themselves on the run as a series of violent incidents are triggered throughout the city, with hordes of cackling eyeliner-loving females, misshapen demons, and random screeching monkeys sweeping the land.

TENEBRAE (1982) Blu-ray Review

Tenebrae (1982) d. Dario Argento (Italy) (101 min)

American mystery author Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa) arrives in Rome to promote his newest novel, Tenebrae. Unfortunately, a serial killer is on the loose, taunting Neal and murdering those around him in gruesome fashion via straight razors and hatchets… just like the character in his novel. As the mystery surrounding the killings spirals out of control, Neal investigates the crimes on his own, with fiction and reality blurring as fear and madness take hold.

ALL THE COLORS OF GIALLO (2018) Blu-ray review

All the Colors of Giallo (2018) d. Federico Caddeo (USA) (89 min)

Direct from Severin Films comes this loving examination of the evolution of Giallo, Italian for ‘yellow,’ the color of the lurid pulp novels that inspired one of the most intense, extreme and influential genres in cinema. Brimming with exclusive interviews with directors Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Sergio Martino, Antonio Margheriti, and Umberto Lenzi, screenwriters Ernesto Gastaldi, Dardano Sarchetti, and Luciano Ercoli, and actors George Hilton, Daria Nicolodi, Barbara Bouchet, Edwige Fenech, and Nieves Navarro (aka Susan Scott), alongside all-new featurettes that take us even deeper into the genre’s origins, including that of the German “krimi,” the suspense films that predated and inspired their Italian successors.

PHENOMENA (1985) Blu-ray review

Phenomena (1985) d. Dario Argento (Italy) (116 min)

Perhaps the only “insect detective” movie out there on the shelves, featuring a very young Jennifer Connelly (released one year before Labyrinth) as the daughter of a famous American movie star sent away to study at an exclusive Swiss girl’s academy, whose students just happen to be falling victim to a homicidal killer. But as this is an Argento movie, things are hardly what they seem.

DEEP RED (1975) Blu-ray review

Deep Red (aka Profondo Rosso) (1975) d. Dario Argento (Italy)

David Hemmings plays a English jazz pianist in Italy, who after a late-night set, witnesses a brutal murder and feels compelled to unravel the mystery. Considered by many to be the apex of the giallo subgenre, this is Argento in his ’70s prime, with dazzling, dizzying camerawork capturing beautifully violent - if occasionally nonsensical - set-pieces, all couched within the driving rhythms of prog-rock band Goblin (their first of numerous sonic collaborations).

SUSPIRIA (1977) movie review - Cinepocalypse 2017

Suspiria (1977) d. Argento, Dario (Italy) (4th viewing)

Considered by many to be Il Maestro’s masterwork, this fiercely original tale of an exclusive (and haunted) German ballet school exhibits more personal style and verve in its opening ten minutes than many directors demonstrate in a lifetime. The arrival of American dance student Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper) coincides with a series of bizarre, violent deaths within the academy, and while the film’s coven-of-witches storyline is tenuous at best, Argento’s striking camerawork and audacious colored lighting more than compensate.