Ténèbres

With its leather-gloved killer, amazing score, spectacular and innovative camera-work, and wonderfully gory murders, Tenebre delivers everything you could ask for in a giallo. Like many Italian murder mysteries, the story takes some swallowing, but if you can accept the convoluted plot, there's plenty of fun to be had.

Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa) is a best-selling novelist who becomes involved in real life murder mystery when the victims of a razor-wielding killer are found with pages from his latest book stuffed in their mouths.

One of director Dario Argento's best movies, Tenebre is packed to the rafters with the kind of stuff that make good giallos such a trip to watch. As pretty girls are stalked and killed by a raspy-voiced maniac, the director offers genuine clues and red herrings aplenty, allowing the audience to have fun trying to figure out who the killer is. The movie's stunning cinematography is accompanied by one of Goblin's greatest scores, transforming what may have been mundane moments in the hands of a lesser director into pure works of art (in one amazing scene the camera simply prowls slowly around the outside of a building, but with Argento in control, it is simply breathtaking!).

Murder has never been so stylish, and even the most grisly deaths are stunningly captured. A particularly memorable moment has a young girl stumble into the house of the killer, before being chased through a garden; this scene is shot from the axe-wielding maniac's point of view, and is incredibly effective.

Fans of gore are also catered for with several gruesome murders, the best of which involves bucket-loads of arterial spray decorating most of a wall. Juicy!

Argento reveals the identity of the killer in a suitably silly finale (all gialli have them), before offing the murderer in a fittingly gruesome manner.

Check out Tenebre and witness one of the great works from one of Italian horror's finest.

I first saw Tenebr(a)e under the moniker "Unsane" (which is supposedly missing ten minutes of gore and some extensive camera-work). I really enjoyed the film, so I bought the rerelease print from Anchor Bay, and I must say, the restored, uncut, letterboxed print looks and sounds wonderful.

There's no need to go into the plot other than to say Anthony Franciosa stars as American horror novelist Peter Neal and, while he's in Rome on a book tour, murders are being committed by one of his crazed fans. I read somewhere that Argento is king of stringing together a plot and cheating audiences just so they can't guess the identity of the killer, and with this as evidence, I agree 100%. It's nearly impossible to figure out this plot before it's fully explained.

Luciano Tovoli's camera-work/cinematography is brilliant, especially the luma crane shot (which goes up one side of a building, over the roof and down the other side in one unbroken taken). There's also an extremely well-photographed and directed sequence featuring a girl being pursued by a rabid Doberman. Now they would do those two scenes with computers, and I think that obliterates the charm of the hands-on film-making process.

In short, this film puts Hollywood thrillers like "Copycat" "The Bone Collector," and "Se7en" to shame, and it's apparent all three films stole ideas from this one (and from other films in Argento's oeuvre).

Thrilling and shocking Giallo by the talented writer/director Dario Argento . Exciting film with effective aesthetic that has lots of gore , guts , chilling assassinations and twists plots . An American crime writer named Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa) arrives in Rome to promote a new novel , which triggers a killing spree in the manner described in his book , including savage cutting . As Detective Giermani (Giuliano Gemma) in charge of the investigation, along with a detective female partner . Peter Neal is unaware that he is also being followed by his embittered ex-wife Jane (Veronica Lario) and stalked by a serial killer bent on harassing him while killing all people associated with his work on his latest novel.

This is a Shocker/Chopper/Slasher/Horror/Thriller hybrid . Italian cult director Dario Argento , master of arty gore , brings this scary and stylish story plagued with depraved gore murders . This intriguing film packs chills , suspense , thrills , bloody murders and plot twists ; however it contains some gaps in the flick big enough to sink credibility . Interesting screenplay plenty of twists and turns by the master of horror , Dario Argento , who double-crosses and cheats like mad to conceal the murderous's identity and including imaginatively staged gory killings ; resulting to be one of his most successful movies . This is a trademark terror work for the Horrormeister Argento with high tension quotient and equally elevated suspense by means of an ever-fluid camera that achieves colorful shots well photographed . ¨Tenebre¨ is an acceptable and passable entertainment with surprising and intriguing situations , it does have some good and eerie moments . Ample support cast formed by usual in Italian Terror such as Ana Pieroni , Lara Wendel , Christian Borromeo ,John Saxon , John Steiner and Daria Nicolidi , Argento's wife . Furthermore , a colorful cinematography in deep red by Luciano Tovoli , Argento's usual and a creepy musical score composed by means synthesizer .

Dario Argento is one of those film-makers who set off simple for frightening us to death . His period of biggest hits were the 70s when he directed the animals trilogy : ¨Four flies over gray velvet¨, ¨The cat of nine tails¨, ¨Bird with the crystal plumage¨, after he directed some masterpieces as ¨Suspiria¨ (1977), a surreal horror film about a witch's coven that was inspired by the Gothic fairy tales of the Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Anderson, which he also wrote in collaboration with his girlfriend, screenwriter/actress Daria Nicolodi, who acted in "Profondo Rosso" ("Deep Red") and most of Argento's films from then to the late 1980s . Argento advanced the unfinished trilogy with Inferno (1980), before returning to the "giallo" genre with the gory Tenebre (1982), and then with the haunting ¨Phenomena¨ (1985) , one of the best ¨Giallo , all of them confirm Argento's dedication to the technicalities of constructing frames in Grand Guignol style . In 1995 Argento made a comeback to the horror genre with ¨La Sindrome Di Stendhal (1996)¨ and then by another version of ¨The phantom of the Opera¨ (1998) both of which starred by his daughter Asia Argento . Most recently, Argento directed a number of 'giallo' mystery thrillers which include Insomnio (2001), ¨Il Cartaio (2004)¨, and ¨Ti Piace Hitchcock?¨ (2005), as well as two creepy , supernatural-themed episodes of the USA TV cable anthology series "Masters of Horror". Furthermore , to his Gothic and violent style of storytelling , ¨La Terza Madre (2007)¨ has a lot of references to the previous two movies as 'Suspiria' and 'Inferno' which is a must for fans of the trilogy . And finally directed a so-so film called ¨Giallo¨ and recently ¨Dracula 3D¨ .

Perhaps one of the top mystery-thrillers of the 1980s; if you like films like "The 4th Man" (1983) or "Body Double" (1984), you'll fancy this one too. Well-constructed twisty-turny plot, virtuoso camerawork, sudden shocks, terrific synthesizer score, supremely good-looking female cast. It's also surprisingly self-reflexive: the character of the writer can be seen as a stand-in for Argento himself, who uses him as a means of addressing some of the most common criticisms made against his films. This is peak Argento. *** out of 4.

Tenebre (1982) is a cold, dark and sterile film from Dario Argento. In sterile I mean the clinical and septic surroundings that the city dwellers live in. Some of the sets are painted bright white and lighted in cool hues. The film is about a murder mystery writer named Peter Neal who comes to Rome on a business trip/vacation. During this trip, some murders are committed by a strange demented killer who's a big fan of Peter Neal. The film's translated title Shadow describes the film perfectly. To say how it relates to the film would be all too telling.

Some of the set pieces in this film are some of the most graphic and violent ones that Argento has ever concieved. They fit neatly within the confines of this tightly shot and directed thriller. One of Argento's best films (besides his opus Suspiria). I strongly recommend this picture. My favorite of the set pieces takes place in the final third of the movie. It's well worth the wait. Believe me.

A+