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While I know a lot of people view it as one of his weaker films, I've always thought that  Phenomena was his best film.

I like Suspiria a whole lot (which seems to always be people's picks for his best film), but I've always thought that Phenomena was a more accomplished film overall.

I also think that he hasn't made a good movie since 1987's Opera.

His two Masters of Horror episodes were awful IMO.

My favorite is DEEP RED.The music by Goblin is fantastic! And the axe murder scene is one of the coolest murders oin a movie ever!I like ALL his movies,and for a second pick I would pick PHENOMENA as well.

I like Deep Red best as well, though Suspiria ranks a close second.

Dario Argento...one of the "bad movie" horror masters, no doubt.

I prefer "The Sisters" from 1974. not widely circulated ( in fact it may not have got a national release),  it  nevertheless exemplifies Argento's "sleight-of-hand", vis-a-vis horror techniques. A truly absorbing film in the solid  tradition of Hitchcock-esque spine chillers mixed with balls-to-the-wall bloody horror. The plot-line concerns a young girl who becomes traumatised by recurring nightmares which involve a screwdriver, an knife, and a collander. She continues her life as normal until "Detective Saunders" becomes inextricably involved with her her life thanks to a bake-sale at her school. The remainder of the film is based around the murderous relationship which occurs between the girl (played by a young Jamie Lee Curtis) and the 'tormentor', (played by Dolph LLuhngren, with 2 L's)

the resulting film is one of my ultimate favorites, and a firm classic amongst "bad-movie" lovers across the globe.

NB: none of the above is true.

The only ones that I have seen are DEEP RED HATCHET MURDERS and SUSPIRIA. Both were ok, but I wouldn't watch them again. Would like to check out the rest of those titles though.

Torgo have you seen them all?

Quote from: Scott on January 12, 2007, 07:53:24 PM
The only ones that I have seen are DEEP RED HATCHET MURDERS and SUSPIRIA. Both were ok, but I wouldn't watch them again. Would like to check out the rest of those titles though.

Torgo have you seen them all?

Yeah, I've seen them all.

Like I said, I think that everything he's done after 1987's Opera has been pretty bad.

The only thing you hear people mention about Trauma is that it was one of the last movies that Tom Savini did effects work on and also you get to see a disturbing scene in which Dario's then only 16 year old daughter Asia (who has grown into a beautiful woman) is filmed topless for about a minute or so. 

Phenomena was the movie that Jennifer Connelly got cast in due to Dario Argento seeing her work in Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America.  It's definitely the craziest of his movies as it features a homicidal-deformed midget, a monkey, Connelly communcating with insects and Donald Pleasance.

Inferno is the sort of sequel to Suspiria as it is the 2nd movie in Dario's Three Mothers trilogy in which he is just now getting around to filming the 3rd film this year.  Inferno has some visually striking moments, but it has even less of a coherent script than Suspriria.   But in the case of Suspiria, the visuals were at all times just mind blowing which causes you to not notice the threadbare script.

Suspiria is just a classic of horror cinema.

Tenebrae has John Saxon in it and is a really good murder mystery with some really over the top murders in it (the arm chopping scene comes to mind) and also has an amazing 2 minute shot in which a camera goes all around the exterior of a house while two barely dressed women are in the house going about their normal business.

Deep Red and the 3 prior films are all very similar, though I feel that with Deep Red he perfected what he was trying to do with the 3 prior films.

I saw SUSPIRIA a loooong time ago,and I could'nt make heads or tails of it. :question:Only saw it that once,never cared to again.Nice camera work,though.

I went with SUSPIRIA . I thought it ok better than the others I have seen up there. I did like Masters of Horror: Jenfier.

I never really liked Argento films much, the plots never interested me and the dialogue was never memorable. Suspiria had some cool moments, I'll go with that, the falling in barb wire scene was amazing. If you count Demons as an Argento film, I'll go with that instead, that movie RULES!

I went with Suspiria too.  Just liked the atmosphere throughout the movie. 

I saw Suspiria a long time ago, just seemed like a typical bad movie except with lots of red and green lights shining on everything.  Saw Deep Red but turned it off after about 20 minutes.

I guess Argento is an aquired  taste.Some people prefer beer...others wine.(I like kool-aid,myself...)

I need to watch Suspiria again. Right now the only thing that sticks out in my memory is that first death and the music.

Out of the choices, I had to go with Suspiria.  That film is amazing and it's one that I can watch over and over.  Goblin's music in that film, especially with the first murder, is great!

Phenomena would come in second.  The ending is so damn surreal.  WTF?  A deformed midget!?

Tenebre would be third.  Not a bad film by any means.  John Saxon puts in a great performance.

Inferno was always a bit too surreal for me.  I could never quite get into it the way that others did.

Also, has anyone else seen any of Argento's "Door Into Darkness"?  It's a great show from the '70s that was a bit like "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", with Argento introducing the stories and producing the show.  Supposedly, he directed two of the episodes.  It's decent and worth a look.  For some reason the IMDB doesn't show the TV show under Argento's work, but I promise it exists.

Deep Red has always been my favorite of his movies, with Suspiria coming in a close second.

But I agree with the above poster...if you counted Demons, I'd have chosen that one.   :teddyr:

For me it would be Suspiria first, then Inferno (I'm waiting for The Third Mother, though with Dario's recent track record and a few comments he recently made- about how this one will be different than the other two, and about how its being tailored for a modern audience, and all- I fear it could be a major dissapointment). The third would be Opera.

I like Suspira, the only other things I've seen were The Bird with the Chrystal Plumage and Pelts, neither of which I cared for. I'm not a big fan of Dario Argento, but then I probably haven't seen enough of his work, and that could be the reason.

A couple of options you should add are, "I've never seen any of his films" or "Who is Dario Argento?"

I would choose the first one as I've heard of the guy but have never seen any of his films.

I'd go with "Suspiria". The problem with Argento is that he makes gorgeous set pieces, but his films are quite uneven, even his best. I'd choose this one for the atmosphere, the visuals and the boldness of the whole concept. 

Quote from: Ashthecat on January 15, 2007, 04:58:20 AM
A couple of options you should add are, "I've never seen any of his films" or "Who is Dario Argento?"

done.

I picked Opera because its the fast's paced Argento movie.