It highlights everything good about Argento's work; great cinematography, a killer soundtrack by Goblin, and a good dose of suspense, while eschewing some of his more off-putting trademarks; the story, for one thing, is fairly straight forward (which isn't to say dull or simplistic), and the weird coloured lighting isn't present.
Showing posts with label Dario Argento. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dario Argento. Show all posts
Sunday, 28 September 2014
Deep Red - Will's Review
For my money, Deep Red is Dario Argento's best, certainly his most accessible, movie.
Deep Red - Lisa's Review
So, as I started the movie for this weeks review, I did so with much sighing and a feeling of resignation. Deep Red is an Italian Giallo movie, originally Profundo Rosso. It was released in the year of my birth - 1975, the reason for my lack of excitement? It's a Dario Argento movie. I think Argento is one of those directors that you either love or hate and I'm afraid I would be in the latter camp with what I've seen so far. So let me end this little introductory paragraph with a stunning revelation... I actually ENJOYED this movie! There is an Argento movie I can honestly say I like! I am somewhat stunned, but pleased by that. So to the movie...
Deep Red follows Marcus Daly (David Hemmings) after he witnesses the murder of a psychic. This music teacher takes it upon himself to start his own investigation. He feels that deep in the recesses of his brain he may hold an important clue in that a picture he saw on the wall of the psychics apartment had disappeared when the police arrived. However by becoming involved in the case, Marcus puts his own life in danger.
Deep Red follows Marcus Daly (David Hemmings) after he witnesses the murder of a psychic. This music teacher takes it upon himself to start his own investigation. He feels that deep in the recesses of his brain he may hold an important clue in that a picture he saw on the wall of the psychics apartment had disappeared when the police arrived. However by becoming involved in the case, Marcus puts his own life in danger.
Sunday, 2 September 2012
Tenebrae - Wills review.
I'm sure a film student could go to town on this one; telling us how it lacks Argento's usual strangely colourful lighting, but how despite this the camera work and set design all still have his fingerprints all over them.
They could explore the idea that the films central character was a proxy for Argento himself; The character is a creator of horror and thrillers (books not movies) and is accused of misogynism by a critic (I don't know that the Argento himself ever was, but most purveyors of horror face the charge at some point).[1]
They could explore the idea that the films central character was a proxy for Argento himself; The character is a creator of horror and thrillers (books not movies) and is accused of misogynism by a critic (I don't know that the Argento himself ever was, but most purveyors of horror face the charge at some point).[1]
Saturday, 1 September 2012
Tenebrae - Lisa's Review
*** SPOILERS ***
So another Dario Argento outing this week. I know the guys is the recipient of much praise and is held in awe amongst many movie fans, but I find his movies full of pretentious drivel.
Sunday, 26 August 2012
Week 67: Tenebrae
Alternate Titles : Tenebre, Unsane, Shadow, Sotto Gli Occhi dell'Assassino
Year: 1982
Reviews / Author Comments due: 01/09/2012
Feel free to use the comments section of this post to add your own reviews and thoughts about this movie.
Saturday, 21 April 2012
Inferno - Will's Review.
This one's an Argento. And then some. From the primary colored lighting, to the score that manages to feature Prog Rock, Experimental Jazz and opera, to the bug that lets us know shit's about to go down, this week's movie has his fingerprints all over it.
That said, it does lack the batshit insanity of his Giallo work... Probably because of the mainstream funding (this one was paid for by Fox); this isn't to say it's entirely coherent ether...
***Spoilers follow***
Part of the problem with the coherency, may be the fact that it doesn't have a clear lead character; Every time you meet someone why might be lead in any other movie, they die. There is a guy who is in most of the movies final 2/3rds, but I'm, not sure he does enough to qualify as a 'lead' in any traditional sense.
It also doesn't have much in the way of a story - there's a book in it, which tells the story of the "Three Mothers", and this book seems to be of interest to a lot of people, especially alchemists. One such alchemist, lives under a library that has a copy, but rather than just nipping upstairs and checking it out or removing it from the shelves, he seems content until someone wielding a copy takes a wrong turn and winds up in his basement, then attempts to boil their head.
There are also some pretty ropy effects, like a god awful "Death" costume which is clearly a black jumpsuit with a rubber skeleton on it, and a potentially hilarious scene in which a womanhas (what I hope are stuffed) cats thrown at her is attacked by cats...
Sad to say it, because I do like a lot of Argento's work, but this one is a bit of an, albeit beautifully shot, mess.
Body Count: 9
Boob Count: 1 pair (through a wet shirt)
Animal Body Count: 5 kills (including one insect), 2 stuffed lizards on desks.
Most Memorable Death: Knife through neck - with a lovely flow of blood from the mouth.
Please use the comments bellow only to comment on this post - to write your own review, please comment on the main post for this movie.
That said, it does lack the batshit insanity of his Giallo work... Probably because of the mainstream funding (this one was paid for by Fox); this isn't to say it's entirely coherent ether...
***Spoilers follow***
Part of the problem with the coherency, may be the fact that it doesn't have a clear lead character; Every time you meet someone why might be lead in any other movie, they die. There is a guy who is in most of the movies final 2/3rds, but I'm, not sure he does enough to qualify as a 'lead' in any traditional sense.
It also doesn't have much in the way of a story - there's a book in it, which tells the story of the "Three Mothers", and this book seems to be of interest to a lot of people, especially alchemists. One such alchemist, lives under a library that has a copy, but rather than just nipping upstairs and checking it out or removing it from the shelves, he seems content until someone wielding a copy takes a wrong turn and winds up in his basement, then attempts to boil their head.
There are also some pretty ropy effects, like a god awful "Death" costume which is clearly a black jumpsuit with a rubber skeleton on it, and a potentially hilarious scene in which a woman
Sad to say it, because I do like a lot of Argento's work, but this one is a bit of an, albeit beautifully shot, mess.
Body Count: 9
Boob Count: 1 pair (through a wet shirt)
Animal Body Count: 5 kills (including one insect), 2 stuffed lizards on desks.
Most Memorable Death: Knife through neck - with a lovely flow of blood from the mouth.
Please use the comments bellow only to comment on this post - to write your own review, please comment on the main post for this movie.
Inferno - Lisa's Review
*** SPOILERS ***
So a movie from the famous Dario Argento. I've heard a lot about him, so I was interested to see what all the fuss was about.
Having watched the movie and several parts of it several times, in a vain attempt to work out what was going on, I have to say I'm still wondering about all the fuss. I will attempt to give a synopsis, but I don't promise that it'll make any sense.
The movie centers around a book called 'The Three Mothers' which (as far as I could make out) was written by an architect who built 3 buildings in different parts of the world. They housed each of the three mothers (evil women). There were also 3 keys and strange clues given about where these could be located. In fact there seemed to be a bit of an obssession generally with the number 3 in this movie. We also seemed to follow 3 different characters rather than have 1 main lead.
A woman in New York (Rose) is researching the history of her building when she comes across 'The Three Mothers' story. She thinks she is living in one of the cursed buildings, so she writes a letter to her brother Mark such is her concern (whatever happened to telephones...) asking him to come and see her. He doesn't read the letter as he is distracted by some uber-hairy eyebrowed woman makes wierd mouth shapes while he is trying to read it (I think it was meant to be alluring). The girl sitting beside him (Sarah) however sees fit to read the letter when he leaves it behind (nosey cow!).
So having read the letter, this new character goes to a library to check out 'The Three Mothers' book. She is completely freaked out by what she reads and from there everything just goes completely crazy. Sarah is stabbed, along with some wierd guy that turns up, who ironically makes a big deal in not believing in the supernatural. He gets a nice big pointy knife to the throat.
Mark finds the 2 bodies and returns to New York to look for his sister. We meanwhile know Rose has also been killed. He finds out via people in her building that she has disappeared so he starts to look for her with some help from one of her friends, Elise.
He meets several weird people, including a mute guy in a wheelchair (who you just know will show up again) and starts to investigate his sisters disappearance. What happens from then on is complete confusion to me.
People die - Elise is stabbed while trying to help Mark - The original seller of the book to Rose is eaten by rats after trying to drown some cats in a lake. He is then stabbed by a hotdog seller who hears his cries - A caretaker starts a fire accidentally and is burnt to death.
Mark at the ending discovers the mute guy in the wheelchair is in fact the author of the book and the architect of the 3 buildings. Blah Blah Blah he manages to do away with him. One of the three mothers makes an appearance (it was one of the women he met earlier) and the fire gets her as it causes the building to collapse. Mark escapes.
Wondering WTF? Yup I was too.
I know a lot of people are big Argento fans, but after this I doubt I will be joining those masses. He seems to be more intent in creating something that looks the way he wants it to, rather than something that makes any kind of sense or is entertaining to the viewer. He uses red and blue light a lot and although visually some of the scenes in the movie look fantastic, surely that shouldn't be at the expense of the movie?
I've also heard people talk about the soundtrack.... I hated it. It was loud and distracting (as if you needed any more distracting).
My rating? Avoid unless you're a pretentious art student or someone who likes to say they enjoy Argento just to look cultured. Looks good, unfortunately doesn't deliver on any other level.
Please use the comments bellow only to comment on this post - to write your own review, please comment on the main post for this movie.
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