Dark Glasses

I've already seen this movie twice in a 3 days time.

The first time i mostly noticed what was NOT there:

• many choreographed murders
• the surprise/shock of finding out who the killer is
• the close ups of gloved hands and weapons to kill the victims

And in a Dario Argento's movie, for anyone familiar with his style, that is A LOT missing.

But the second view made me appreciate more the film in its own right to "exist".

I recognized in it the same sort of empathy towards the main character that i felt in Phenomena, Opera, Trauma.

Technically thumbs up for the score and cinematography.

Good performance from Asia Argento.

'Dark Glasses' is the latest project from legendary filmmaker Dario Argento that showed up as a Shudder original with little to no fanfare. The 82 year old director is best known for the films he made from 1970 into the late 80's and for helping to popularize the Italian genre of the "giallo" thriller. His fame mostly comes from his extremely inventive choices and daring camera work. Very much an artist who valued style over substance, he made some great movies ('Suspiria,' Deep Red'), some bad ('Inferno,' 'Mother of Tears') and a few truely bizarre ones ('Phenomena'). After 1987's 'Opera' many argue that his career went downhill fast. It's true that going into the 90's the quality of his output greatly decreases. There are a couple of projects that aren't terrible ('The Stendhal Syndrome,' 'Trauma') but that's about it.

'Dark Glasses,' his first movie in ten years, does mean that his last film won't end up being 'Dracula' - which was pathetic and embarrassing on every single level. That's the good news, however his latest is hardly a spectacular comeback. The story is very "giallo-esque" in nature featuring a mysterious killer who targets prostitutes. Our main character Diana (Ilenia Pastorelli), a lady of the night, crosses paths with said killer resulting in a car accident that takes her eyesight. It also results in an unlikely friendship with a young boy named Chin (Andrea Zhang). She is also helped during her recovery process by a professional blind person therapist (?) played by Asia Argento. So the scene is set for a 'Wait Until Dark' type thriller as the maniac remembers that he wants to kill her and then kind of tries to do that sometimes..

The film isn't really concerned with the mystery aspect of the story, it only gives you one red herring so it's pretty easy to figure out who the killer is. Much of the run time is dedicated to Diana's relationship with Chin, creating a certain amount of heart that's usually absent in this type of film. It's kind of touching in spots although mostly forgotten as everybody starts running away from the murderer because they don't want to get murdered. Once the movie settles into the thriller aspects it loses steam, becoming pretty routine. There are some trademark lapses in logic as well, like why the killer doesn't try try to finish the job during Diana's weeks (or months, possibly years?) of rehabilitation where she's vulnerable and alone much of the time, only striking when there's lots of police officers hanging around.

Some of the positives: The performances are pretty good, they use practical effects instead of CGI for most of gags and the musical score captures past Goblin vibes fairly well. The main problem with 'Dark Glasses' is that it's so average. There are some Argento touches like the tracking shot along a wall lit by primary colors panning down to actors running down an ally, or a brief shot from a dog's point of view but there's nothing much here to remind us of the great talent behind the camera. It's good to see him back with this, as well as his recent lead performance in Gasper Noe's 'Vortex.' Hopefully we're experiencing a late career renaissance for Argento, I also hope his next picture is a true return to form. 5/10.

The past 15 years have been really hard on Dario Argento fans. Dracula 3-D & Giallo were the lowest of the low and Dark Glasses is a faint improvement. The biggest issue with recent Argento films seem to be the low budgets. It's not as if his early work was mega budgets but the past few movies he seems to be working from the biscuit tin. The style and flair that went with his earlier work is just not there any more. This movie has a nice soundtrack and is Argento all over however that appears to be the only thing remaining.

Ilenia Pastorelli is the lead role and it's not unfair to say she isn't the best actress in the world. Asia Argento is in this and is given nothing to do and makes you wonder if she would have been the lead if this movie was made in 2002 when Dario Argento wanted to film it.

The movie climaxes with a typical ridiculous killer reveal and goes full on Cujo remake. Anyone watching this would perceive this as someone doing a bad Argento movie and not the great man himself. People would be best off watching Deep Red again.

I'm a Indian & admire Dario Argento's earlier works which were flag beares for gialo films. The latest addition of the master of horror get some of it right but the plot seems very thin. The colour grading is all good & makes it's atmospheric but story has many plot holes. The killer does not seems to facinate the audience & the face reveal is done quiet early for the story. The acting seems to be quiet ridiculous to me me even though the main lead has an artistic body to display. The movie is a small budget movie & is quite evident from the beginning. The movie ain't that bad, give it a watch without any expectations & you'll enjoy it.

I found the film a little bit lacking. This is a slasher film and not Citizen Kane! Dario has done some great innovative stuff over the years and while this not being one of them I found it entertaining.