Occhiali neri

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.

I have seen Occhiali neri last night at FEST - International Film Festival, Belgrade . It's a very strange Iittle thriller, very bizarre and very low budget. The plot is extremely silly, with water snakes and other over-the-top decisions, but that's Argento for you. We don't expect logic in his films. Do we? There is warmth in it as well, it's very character driven. It feels rushed in places and acting is so-so, but overall you should definitely see if you're Argento fan. It's his best since Nonhosonno, fast paced and never boring. And yes... it's very gory. The third act reminded me of the begining of Rob Zombie's Halloween 2, because it's basically a long chase scene in the countryside. The OST is great.

Went into this with high hopes since it was Argento but unfortunately it is like recent disappointments from Argento which blotch his legendary name. The high points of this film is the extreme Argento gore we have come to all love. This does have some very interesting and unusual camera work and visuals. I wouldn't recommend going out and buying this unless you are an extreme Argento fan, I would wait until it goes on to some streaming site or The Horror Channel. I am still at a loss why this is advertised with They Live homages in the poster as it has nothing to do with They Live in the actual film.

It's safe to say this is far from argento's best work but certainly not his worst. One or two good kills and some decent cinematography. Plus the soundtrack is a good listen. Overall no classic but worth tracking down.

As a well-documented Dario Argento fanboy, I really rooted for the film to be on par with his 70s and early 80s cult classics. The opening sequences (and most of act one) were indeed made up of beautifully colour saturated- and uniquely constructed scenes; shot in an elevated 'Profondo rosso' style. However, the too thin storyline, lack of suspense and ridiculous snake- and mauling sequences did not work at all and merely made "Occhiali Neri' another Argento homage to his earlier work. It's worth watching solely as a beautifully shot example of classic (albeit toned down) Argento Giallo, which makes it still deserving of a 7/10.