Deep Red
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Kurtz9791 — 12 years ago(December 04, 2013 08:43 AM)
- The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) **** out of ****
- Deep Red (1975) ***1/2 out of ****
- Suspiria (1977) ***1/2 out of ****
- Opera (1987) ***1/2 out of ****
- Tenebrae (1982) *** out of ****
- Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971) *** out of ****
- Trauma (1993) **1/2 out of ****
- Inferno (1980) **1/2 out of ****
- The Card Player (2004) **1/2 out of ****
- Phenomena (1985) ** out of ****
- The Stendhal Syndrome (1996) ** out of ****
- Do You Like Hitchcock? (2005) ** out of ****
- Giallo (2009) ** out of ****
- Sleepless (2001) ** out of ****
- Mother of Tears (2007) *1/2 out of ****
- Masters of Horror: Jenifer (2005) ZERO out of ****
- Masters of Horror: Pelts (2006) ZERO out of ****
- The Phantom of the Opera (1998) ZERO out of ****
Mario Bava may have helped invent the giallo film genre, but it was Argento who mastered it with "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage", which I think is still his best work. Heavily influenced by Antonioni's "Blowup" as well as Bava's giallo films (in particular "Blood and Black Lace"), the film is advanced by some amazing set pieces, excellent cinematography by Vittorio Storaro ("Apocalypse Now") and music by the legendary Ennio Morricone. Everything from the pacing to the eccentric side characters is just right, and would help define his style for the rest of his career. "Four Flies on Grey Velvet" starts off just as good as his debut feature, but begins to drag a lot toward the end, though it still offers some amazing visual techniques that the director became known for. "Deep Red" is another master example of the giallo, using David Hemmings from "Blowup" to similar effect. He does here what he does best, and with Argento's films, it is best to leave logic and rational thinking behind in exchange for the ultimate dose of style over substance. "Suspiria", his first venture into horror, might just be his most well known film. Even though I was a little underwhelmed by it, finally seeing it after years of recommendations, the opening 10 minutes make it totally deserving of its classic status. And that score by Goblin is something else!
"Inferno" is an interesting followup to "Suspiria" that gets lost in itself somewhere along the way, becoming kind of a chore to watch. "Tenebrae" is a delightful return to form, with some astonishing camerawork and some rare self reflection in his work. "Phenomena" is the beginning of the end for me, and while it does have a lot going for it (the Alps setting, the cinematography, some great moody set pieces), the film is all over the place and gets pretty laughable at times. "Opera" is his last great work. The opening POV shot and the 'crow vision' camera work are some of the best of Argento's career, even though the film pretty much falls apart at the end (like most of Argento's films).
Even though the theatrics and plot points in "Trauma" reach a new level of stupidity for Argento's filmography, it's production quality is more slick and the film itself is more entertaining than a lot of his later efforts. Despite being an American production, his usual trademarks are abound. "The Stendhal Syndrome" has a lot going for it, and feels more like a Roman Polanski film than another routine thriller by Argento. However, the multiple rape scenes almost come off as glorified, and the second half really slows down to a snail's pace. The fact that he is using his daughter for these horrifying sequences brings the work to an all new uncomfortable level of WTF? And "The Phantom of the Opera" is not only his worst film, but one of the worst I have ever seen. It is below the quality of a Syfy channel original movie.
"Sleepless" is almost a return to his giallo roots, propelled slightly by the presence of Max von Sydow and a score by Goblin, but like Argento's later work, it comes off as sloppy and amateurish. "The Card Player" is probably the best of his post-2000 films. It features actual suspense, a couple memorable set pieces (a night chase through the back alleys of Rome), and actual good performances by the two leads. "Do You Like Hitchcock?" feels more like a Brian De Palma ripoff, but at least film fans have some superficial references thrown in. But his next venture into television, his two entries in the "Masters of Horror" show, depend on gore and nudity to drive them, and present a disgusting vision by a filmmaker out of touch. "Mother of Tears" bears no stylistic resemblance to "Suspiria" or "Inferno", the films it supposedly follows to form a trilogy, and gets more laughable as it goes on. "Giallo" is a well meaning effort that gets a little help from Adrien Brody and Emmanuelle Seigner, but ends up like a lot of his later films: an embarrassment.
I saw on this message board a thread for the top 5 best Argento films. That makes sense, because if one were to make a top 10 list of Argento films, it would easily reveal his decline in quality. The man should have stopped directing 10 years ago. His current films c
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IrinaOma — 12 years ago(January 02, 2014 01:00 PM)
Tenebrae
Trauma
Phenomena
Suspiria
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Deep Red
Sleepless
Do You Like Hitchcock?
The Card Player
Four Flies on Grey Velvet
Inferno
Opera
The Cat o' Nine Tails
Giallo
The Five days of Milan
The Stendhal Syndrome
Mother of Tears
The Phantom of the Opera -
symbioticfunction — 12 years ago(March 21, 2014 10:24 AM)
The bottom of the lists are the most interesting part of each post
Deep Red
Suspiria
Inferno
Bird With Crystal Plumage
Tenebre
Opera
The Stendhal Syndrome
Four Flies On Grey Velvet
Cat O' Nine Tails
Trauma
Sleepless
The Card Player
5 Days Of Milan
The Black Cat (Two Evil Eyes)
Phenomena
Phantom Of The Opera
Do You Like Hitchcock?
Mother of Tears
Pelts
The Tram (Door Into Darkness)
Jenifer
Giallo
Dracula 3D
I thoroughly enjoy all of those bar the bottom three.
Blu-ray collection: http://www.blu-ray.com/community/collection.php?u=78799 -
raiquerlt1 — 12 years ago(March 25, 2014 06:51 PM)
Suspiria
Profondo Rosso
Tenebre
Trauma
Phenomena
Opera
The bird in The Crystal Plumage
Inferno
Sleepless
Two Evil Eyes
Fou Flies on Grey Velvet
The Cat o'Nine Tails
Giallo
Dracula
Mother of Tears
The Card Player
Hasn't seen The Stendhal Syndrome, Five Days of Milan and The Phantom of the Opera yet
Yeah, well, you know, that's just like My opinion, man -
LuxNatalis — 11 years ago(May 12, 2014 01:00 PM)
Suspiria -
9.5
Profondo Rosso -
9
Phenomena -
8.5
L'Uccello dalle Piume di Cristallo -
8
Inferno -
8
Il Gatto a Nove Code -
7
T5b4error at the Opera -
7
4 Mosche di Velluto Grigio -
7
Tenebre -
7
The Stendhal Syndrome -
6.5
La Terza Madre -
6
Two Evil Eyes -
6
The Card Player -
6
Non Ho Sonno -
6
Giallo -
4.5
Trauma -
3.5 -
deRider84 — 11 years ago(September 22, 2014 03:19 AM)
- Suspiria - 9/10
- Tenebre - 8/10
- Deep Red
- The Stendhal Syndrome - 7/10
- Opera
- Inferno
- Bird With Crystal Plumage
- Phenomena - 6/10
- Cat o' Nine Tails
- Four Flies On Grey Velvet
- Sleepless - 5/10
To paraphrase a critic on rotten tomatoes, I know of no other director with such lopsided strengths and weaknesses. The sublime is always competing with the clunky and the ludicrous, often within the same scene.
I like him overall though. He's a great visual stylist and a master of the murder set piece. Makes it just about possible to overlook the inevitably shoddy acting, frequently horrendous dialogue, and predictable one-note plots.
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In_Fockin_Bruges — 10 years ago(May 07, 2015 08:45 AM)
From the ones I've seen:
Suspiria
Opera
Phenomena
Tenebrae
Sleepless
Deep Red
The Bird With The Crystal Plumage
Four Flies On Grey Velvet
Inferno
Mother Of Tears
The Cat O' Nine Tails
Giallo
Do You Like Hitchcock? -
Horrorfan — 10 years ago(June 04, 2015 03:57 AM)
Phenomena
Suspiria
Deep Red
(Terror at the) Opera
Tenebre
Bird with the crystal plumage
Cat o nine tails
Four flies on grey velvet
Sleepless
Inferno
Trauma
Stendhal Syndrome
Mother of Tears (so bad its good)
The Card Player
Phantom of the Opera
Giallo
Do you like Hitchcock? -
lindahopeboy — 9 years ago(June 24, 2016 08:08 AM)
The Best:
Suspiria
Inferno
Profondo rosso
Great:
Phenomena
Tenebre
Opera
Il fantasma dell'opera (I really believe Argento made a good film here that was butchered by di2000stributers)
L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo
Il gatto a nove code
4 mosche di velluto grigio
La sindrome di Stendhal
Trauma (widely under-appreciated)
Alright:
Non ho sonno
Il cartaio
La terza madre (had potential to brilliant but unfortunately did not deliver)
Dracula (like Phantom I think this could've been great but Dario had it taken out of his hands)
Giallo (not sure why this was so panned, it works well and is definitely not his worst)
Weak:
Due occhi diabolici (pretty bad, Romero's part was superior)
Jenifer (pretty lame and un-Argento)
Pelts (way too extreme and un-involving piece, despite a good cast)
Ti piace Hitchcock? (his absolute worse, a terrible film) -
guigui-paul — 9 years ago(June 26, 2016 07:15 AM)
To Lindahopeboy:
"Il fantasma dell'opera (I really believe Argento made a good film here that was butchered by distributers)"
"Dracula (like Phantom I think this could've been great but Dario had it taken out of his hands"
How do you know that PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and DRACULA were taken out of Argento's hands?
I remember reading that PHANTOM OF THE OPERA was cut and had budget issues during the shooting, but i don't remmember where i've read this
"Giallo (not sure why this was so panned, it works well and is definitely not his worst)"
I've watched it on Blu Ray (french blu ray) last night and i agree that it is an ok film, decent thrilleri like Adrien Brody's performance and character in it. -
!!!deleted!!! (63057267) — 9 years ago(June 26, 2016 01:51 PM)
- Deep Red
- The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
- The Cat o' Nine Tails
- Four Flies on Grey Velvet
- Suspiria
- The Five Days of Milan (Great, odd, funny movie)
- Tenebrae
- Inferno
- Phenomena
- Opera
- Sleepless
(This is where things start to get dire) - Trauma
- The Stendhal Syndrome
- Mother of Tears
- Giallo (Pretty awful, this one)
- The Card Player (Absolute crap)
Never saw:
Do You Like Hitchcock?
The Phantom of the Opera
Dracula
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IAmGoatboy — 9 years ago(October 02, 2016 02:29 PM)
- Inferno
- Suspiria
- The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
- Four Flies on Grey Velvet
- Opera
- Deep Red
- Phenomena
- Tenebrae
- Cat o' Nine Tails
- Sleepless
- Trauma
- Mother of Tears
- Two Evil Eyes
- The Stendhal Syndrome
- The Card Player
- Giallo
- Do You Like Hitchcock? (TV movie)
- The Phantomb68 of the Opera
- The Five Days of Milan
- Dracula