Dario Argento's World of Horror

This was a documentary that I checked out while working. Hindsight here would have been to wait since this does feature interviews with Dario Argento that are subtitled. That did make it difficult where I would need to pause to see what he was saying. Regardless, this was one that I had wanted to see and finally can tick it off my list.

What we're getting here is an interesting doc that was done by Michele Soavi. He is a filmmaker that worked with Argento as well as Lamberto Bava before going off on his own to make horror films until he switched to doing TV work. This is interesting, covering Argento's career from 1969 to 1985, showing behind the scenes footage of how shots were crafted. We also get to see the makeup as well as explaining how things were done. As a massive fan of Argento, this was something fun to check out.

This isn't a definitive thing to watch or anything like that. What we get is a brief overview, learning a bit more about the films and the career of Argento between that timeframe. Not one that you need to go out of your way to see. It is more if you're just out to knock everything about Argento or trying to see all of Soavi's filmography.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Those expecting a deeper look into the content of Argento's movies in this 71 minute documentary will be thoroughly disappointed -- the movie mostly concerns with the technical aspects of Dario's movies (special effects, crane shots, etc), and choke-full with footage from his movies. I'm not exaggerating -- this documentary shows us minutes upon minutes of scenes from Argento movies for no good reason literally wasting our time.

The biggest disappointment is the lack of insight into the themes of Argento's work -- though, admittedly, there is some of it, but it obviously wasn't the main concern of the guys behind the documentary. All in all, it is a very shallow look into the subject.

Dario Argento was a new breed of Italian directors that appeared on the scene in the late 1960's with the Giallo form of horror filmmaking. Giallo's were detective style structures and mixed with horror. Argento dealt with Serial Killers very well. With Mario Bava and perhaps Lucio Fulci (stretching that one a bit), Italian cinema entered a "golden era" of horror gore and exploitation during the 1970's.

World of Horror shows the best of Argento's movies, leading up to Demon's, which he produced only. Most scenes are either "Death Scenes" or "Stylistic Shots". Anyway, there is some technical shots, but the movie does not really go into detail about the technicals of his movies. However, you get a dose on what happens in his noggin, and that in itself is scary enough. If you happen to find this movie on video (good luck), try it out, but good luck trying to find some of his movies on video (I'm still looking for his "4 flies on Gray Velvet")

No one can deny Dario Argento. Earning a place in horror as a pioneer while being as visually adept as Peter Jackson, John Woo or David Fincher. Unfortunately, his style over substance approach has limited his exposure to the European shores and to probing pesky horror fans. This could be the reason why 'Dario Argento's World of Horrors' comes off as more of a commercial than a documentary. It does have its meat, with behind the scenes footage and interviews but it also comes off somewhat contrived. The interviews, for instance, have him talking directly to the camera expressing thoughts and reasons on various projects. While this gives a somewhat intimate approach it also looks staged and heavy handed with Dario looking like he's just talking to himself. Once more the editing is just too abrupt and distracting making it look extremely amateurish with the result being uneven pacing between interviews and selected scenes. OK, this was Michele Soavi's first gig, but harsh cuts and uneven progression are something an editor is hired to fix. More importantly it never really fleshes out his many film contributions but instead seems content to be Argento's argument to the world that he is a valid director. Almost like propaganda. Yuck. It's too bad, because the proof is in the pudding. The more we discover about his films the more we see how inventive and influential his style is. The interesting info is just glanced over here and I wanted more. Such as his Technicolor filming of Suspiria, the makeup effects in Demons, or the fantastic production design for Tenebre. Footage was shown but never explained or commented on. I wanted to see more about his various styles of camera work that seems almost ripped off by contemporary films. Also you could have put aside an hour alone on his work with composer Ennio Morricone and the band Goblin. Now group this with the fact that it's somewhat dated (Miami vice music and all) and what you have is an interesting but uninspired 76 minutes.

Michele Soavi, writer and director, presents his view on Dario Argento. There is no better person to present a documentary on Argento, as Soavi has studied under the man (as well as other great Italian legends), and through his tutelage went on to be the greatest Italian horror director of his time... to see this early attempt at directing is instructive of both Argento and Soavi.

The documentary was released in 1985, so it focuses on behind the scenes on "Phenomena" and the process by which a hornet was put to sleep with ether, surgically modified and remote controlled, as well as other camera tricks and special effect work. It's an interesting take on how effects were much different 25 years ago.

Another reviewer opined that parts of this would work better as featurettes on the other DVDs, and I absolutely agree... though, of course, in 1985 movies did not have special features. With the rights to many films being owned by Anchor Bay and this one by Synapse, I'm unclear how that would work.

The best bits are by far the interview segments with Argento, where we learn that he thinks his murder scenes are "beautiful", how murder is "erotic" and "sensual", and how he worries that he does not have the skill to pull off his ideas. It's a very sympathetic look, but also a frank one. He speaks his mind, as unpopular as his views might be.

If you do not know who Argento is, this may not be the best introduction. But if you've seen a few of his films and want to see more, this should put you in the mindset to continue your journey. Experienced fans might not find much new here, especially after all these years, but I have seen the bulk of his work and still found it insightful.