Dario Argento

[The Burgomaster]

Here's a pretty good Argento website:

www.darkdreams.org

[DodgingGrunge]

Well, serves me right for taking a vacation.  It looks as though just about everything has already been said.  Haha.  But...

Hundreds of years ago I got a bootleg of Suspiria and didn't care for it.  Like RC, I found it rather dull.  However, I picked up the Anchor Bay 3-disc DVD and was pleasantly surprised.  The film's suspense relies heavily on its vibrant colors and nerve-racking Goblin score.  It is definitely worth a watch, but play it loud and turn off the lights!

Phenomena is a lot of fun.  Think DePalma:  It isn't marvelously constructed on a whole, but it has so many neat segments that more than justify its existence.  Razor-wielding helper monkeys?    What more does a movie need?

From a directorial-style standpoint, Tenebre is probably his best.  There's a three-plus minute tracking shot from the killer's point of view that starts at a window, climbs the building, descends the other side, breaks a window, and enters the house.  Amazing!  I used to show this (along with the subsequent murder) to my film students.

If you find you like the ridiculous, violent Italian slashers, you should check out things like Fulci's New York Ripper, Lamberto Bava's Dèmoni (Demons), Michele Soavi's Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man).  For a start.    Oh those crazy Italians!

[Amontillado]

A really good Argento movie that most people leave out is Trauma. It's one of his later ones, '90 I believe. It suffers from the same pit falls that all of his movies do (bad acting especially by the female leads, incoherent plot, etc), but its one of his better recent films. Like Phenomena, the build up has some to desire, but the ending was well worth the wait. Another pretty decent later Argento was The Card Player. It was in the psyche-thriller vein that Deep Red is in.

Goblin is friggin' awesome. If you like the soundtracks you should check out some of their album stuff.

It also hasn't been mentioned that the hands of the killers in any Argento film are that of Dario's himself.

Some other great Italian horror flicks are Fulci's Don't Torture a Duckling, Bava's Twitch of the Death Nerve (which I just saw a few days ago. Highly recommended), and if you really just want a bloody mess there is always Anthropophagus: The Grim Reaper wherein a beastly character rips a giant fetus out of a woman's womb and eats it. Crazy Italians indeed.

[Neville]

"Twitch of the Death Nerve" is a personal favourite, don't forget to check it out, depressed crack addict. Not only it is a great film, but it also spoofs some of the giallo conventions, and that together with the hifg body count make it a lot of fun to watch.

[Shadow]

"Twitch of the Death Nerve" is a personal favourite, don't forget to check it out, depressed crack addict. Not only it is a great film, but it also spoofs some of the giallo conventions, and that together with the hifg body count make it a lot of fun to watch.

Indeed..and ya gotta love that ending! I really hope this one is re-issued on DVD soon.

[RCMerchant]

 Maybe I just have to rewatch SUSPIRIA....it WAS my first introduction to Argento....and it was a looong time ago. Maybe it's one of those "watch it again" type movies.  

[AnubisVonMojo]

Hundreds of years ago I got a bootleg of Suspiria and didn't care for it.  Like RC, I found it rather dull.  However, I picked up the Anchor Bay 3-disc DVD and was pleasantly surprised.  The film's suspense relies heavily on its vibrant colors and nerve-racking Goblin score.  It is definitely worth a watch, but play it loud and turn off the lights!

Oh man, that Goblin soundtrack was pretty much all I listened to for the months following that purchase. If the term "f*cking amazing" was created for anything, it would be Goblin.

Phenomena is a lot of fun.  Think DePalma:  It isn't marvelously constructed on a whole, but it has so many neat segments that more than justify its existence.  Razor-wielding helper monkeys?    What more does a movie need?

There's an international poster for Phenomena (which might actually be under the Creepers banner now that I think about it) that features said simian assailant in painted glory. If I ever find that thing, my bank account is in for some pain...

If you find you like the ridiculous, violent Italian slashers, you should check out things like Fulci's New York Ripper, Lamberto Bava's Dèmoni (Demons), Michele Soavi's Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man).  For a start.    Oh those crazy Italians!

A second on all of those. 

[Torgo]

BTW, anyone also wanting to really get an in depth history of Argento's films (as well as some interesting facts about his life/upbringing) would do wise picking up the book Broken Mirrors/Broken Dreams.

http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Mirrors-Minds-Dreams-Argento/dp/0806515147/ref=sr_1_1/103-2945600-0075867?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184036029&sr=1-1

[zombie no.one]

thanks for all this info guys, looks like Ive got a stack of films to catch up on regarding italian horror... 

[The Burgomaster]

Some of my other Italian horror favorites are:

* THE HOUSE OF EXORCISM (which is really the movie LISA AND THE DEVIL with some scenes cut out and new scenes added)

* BEYOND THE DOOR

* SHOCK (aka BEYOND THE DOOR II - - it is not a sequel and is a better movie than BEYOND THE DOOR)

* BLACK SABBATH

* BLACK SUNDAY

* BLOOD AND BLACK LACE

[Torgo]

Just make sure to stay far away from The Card Player and Phantom of the Opera.   

[Neville]

This reminds me I just saw "Ti piace Hitchcock?", one of his later efforts. For a TV movie it is quite good, but don't expect many of his usual flourishes. It's a giallo, yes, but more a homage to Hitchcock that an attempt to bring back the old magic. It's overall rather decent, but the script just mixes too many homages to Hitchcock to be any plausible.

[Joe the Destroyer]

The only ones I've seen are Opera, Cat O' Nine Tails, and Suspiria.  I like all three, but I have to say Opera is my favorite of the three.  I still want to pick up some of his other flicks as well.

[akiratubo]

I'm really not too fond of ol' Dario.  However, I do like Phenomena and Inferno.

[The Burgomaster]

This thread encouraged me to watch DEEP RED again last night.  The DVD I have is the director's cut and it is strange to watch because some scenes were apparently never dubbed into English (or the English dubbing has been lost).  So, throughout the movie, people will suddenly stop speaking English and start speaking Italian with English subtitles.  Even British star David Hemmings!  Next time, I'll probably just watch the Italian language version with subtitles throughout.