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Could Claire Denis pull a rare two film in two back to back film festival (Berlinale-Cannes) double win a la Ryusuke Hamaguchi? As we saw with last night’s world premiere screening for Stars At Noon — it’s definitely a possibility. This is only Denis’ second time in competition – her last time in comp was in 1988 with Chocolat. In 1994, I Can’t Sleep was selected in the Un Certain Regard and after Trouble Every Day (2001) she became more of a Venice mainstay. Her 2013 film Bastards was also an Un Certain Regard section (it should have been in comp) and her 2017 film Let the Sunshine In opened the Directors’ Fortnight.…...

Broadcasting under lockdown from her home in Paris, director Claire Denis presented a three-hour masterclass this past Wednesday, offering insights into her career as she accepted an honor from the Vision du Réel film festival.

Vision du Réel artistic director Emilie Bujès and Swiss filmmaker Lionel Baier moderated the in-depth discussion, which will soon be made available with English subtitles on the festival’s site.

The francophone fest named Denis as this year’s ‘Maître du Réel’ (master of the real) – an honorary prize celebrating the filmmaker’s work in both narrative fiction and documentary.

“I wouldn’t have considered myself a master of the real,” quipped the filmmaker as she accepted the tribute. “I thought that might have been a character from a Kung Fu film.”

Reflecting on the influence of ‘realism’ in her work, Denis described her filmography as being informed by “the non-stability of our lived experienced” and the importance of desire.

By Todd Garbarini

It’s a scary thought, indeed, to think that it has been twenty-nine years since I first saw Dario Argento’s fifth giallo feature film which I had read about two years earlier in the pages of a back issue of Fangoria Magazine. The word giallo is the Italian word for the color yellow, and has found new life in describing a subgenre of the Italian horror film that refers to a who-done-it involving a killer who conceals their identity by wearing a large coat, a wide-brimmed hat, unisex footwear and gloves, their face always obscured or hidden completely. Very often we see the killer only in synecdoche. These stories all originated in the form of pulp novellas which sported yellow covers, hence the use of the term giallo.

Whereas the word giallo is always spelled one way, the correct spelling of the film’s title, Tenebrae,...

My first foray into Italian horror was Lucio Fulci’s Zombie (1980), seen as a delightfully repulsed 10 year old. However, Dario Argento’s Deep Red (Profondo Rosso if you’re Italian) was the first Italian horror film that actually intrigued me; same age, but very different feelings. The repulsion was there, that base fear, but set within a framework of beautifully rendered images. I didn’t know much about art, but it felt like that’s what I was watching.

Released in March of 1975, Deep Red was the latest thriller from Argento in the giallo style; an Italian term which has generally become known to mean a gruesome, lurid detective story; so called due to the fact that the original Italian pulp novels a lot of these stories pay homage to were written on yellow, or giallo, paper. Argento was already making a name for himself worldwide with previous efforts in...

Our own Derek Botelho has dedicated countless hours over multiple years to his examination of the work of Dario Argento and we’re happy to see that The Argento Syndrome is now available to read around the world. For those who live in the Los Angeles area, we wanted to tell you about a signing event for the book that includes Derek and a number of special guests:

The Argento Syndrome – In Stores Now! Star-Filled Signing Event Announced!

A retrospective of Italian auteur Dario Argento, The Argento Syndrome is an examination of a career marked by such genre classics as The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Suspiria, Deep Red, Tenebrae and Opera. The Argento Syndrome is part academic study, with essays on every film, and part personal memoir, detailing the author’s time in Italy on a trip to visit the set of Non Ho Sonno. Also included are several...

For most of you, I expect the band Goblin needs no introduction, since they're responsible for some of the most iconic horror film scores of the '70s and '80s – most notably George Romero's Dawn of the Dead and Dario Argento's Suspiria – but their influence on the world of horror movie music cannot be overstressed. Seattle-based label Light in the Attic – whose eclectic catalog includes everything from vintage R&B, folk and reggae recordings to rare works from Iggy Pop, Roky Erickson and Public Image Limited – is now offering imported vinyl editions of nine Goblin records, representing several chapters of the band's amazing career. LPs available now include the Cinevox issues of the aforementioned Dawn of the Dead (a.k.a. Zombi) and Suspiria, as well as scores to Argento's Tenebrae (not “legally” a Goblin release, but featuring founding trio Claudio Simonetti, Fabio Pignatelli and Massimo Morante), Profondo Rosso and Non Ho Sonno,...

Producer Lynda Obst was at the heart of the film industry during its star-driven 1990s boom – which is what makes her critique of its CGI blockbuster-obsessed current incarnation so damning

"Speaking at a digital conference today," Hollywood stalwart Lynda Obst tweeted on 22 October. "Everybody hooked up and wired but not like we meant in the 80s." Part of the generation of producers who cemented the reign of conglomerate Hollywood with star-driven, multiplex-friendly fluff such as Flashdance, Contact and One Fine Day, Obst found herself shut out in the new millennium. The franchise-crazed studios had stopped commissioning original material; her producing deal at Paramount was nixed in 2008, with only two movies to show for it. Everywhere she looked, cinemas were full of superheroes, talking mammoths and sequels; she was exhausted, depressed and perplexed at the sea change. In the words of her son: "Making a movie because it's good is so 2003, Mom.

The sounds of Goblin have been haunting our favorite horror movies for a long time now, and finally the band is U.S. bound for a tour that's not to be missed. Read on for details and tour dates.

Thanks to Cannibal Cam for the details.

From the Press Release

Almost 40 years removed from their debut, cult legends Goblin will launch their first ever North American tour this October. The tour will start October 1st in Atlanta, Ga, and will culminate with a two-night run of performances in Austin, TX, at the Housecore Horror Film Festival on October 25th and 27th.

The Italian Soundtrack Kings will perform all of their classic cuts, including scores from Deep Red, Suspiria, Tenebrae, Dawn of the Dead, Phenomena, Sleepless and other songs that are milestones among prog rock followers, including songs from Roller, Il fantastico Viaggio del Bagarozzo Mark, and most recently Back to the Goblin.

It’s time for another update from our friends at Arrow Video, this time previewing their April 2012 releases which include the long-awaited release of the two Demons movies and the ArrowDrome release of Maniac Cop.

Demons (Arrow Video) Limited Edition Blu-ray

Live and direct, straight from Hell! Lamberto Bava and Dario Argento bring you The Gonzo Horror movie of the 1980s with Demons, a frenzied slice of gore heavy shock cinema that gives up on logic and instead assaults the screen with a riot of X-Rated violence, face chewing Zombies and pounding Heavy Metal. In a mysterious cinema, an audience are watching a brutal horror flick when the horror rips out of the screen, unleashing a swarm of slathering Demons who are intent on spreading their evil plague across the globe.

Time to tool up and take no prisoners… The Demons are coming!

This Amazing Edition Includes:

Four option reversible...

It’s another jam-packed week of DVD and Blu-ray releases, here’s the rundown of what’s available to buy from today, May 2nd 2011.

The Green Hornet (DVD/Blu-ray)

Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) is a slacker by day, party animal by night… until he finds a serious career that’s seriously cool: crime-fighting action hero. As the Green Hornet, he teams up with gadget wiz and martial arts master Kato (Jay Chou) to take down La’s underworld. Even Britt’s assistant Lenore (Cameron Diaz), doesn’t suspect this mismatched pair is the masked duo busting the city’s toughest thugs led by Chudnofsky (Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz, 2010, Supporting Actor, Inglourious Basterds). With style, swagger and an arsenal of awesome gear, the Green Hornet and Kato are doing justice their way, making every mission a mix of over-the-top action and outrageous comedy. Review.

Tekken (DVD)

The year is 2039. World...

When renowned horror journalist, author and broadcaster Alan Jones met Dario Argento for the first time in 1982 on Tenebrae he had no idea he would become a permanent fixture in Dario’s life, visiting all his subsequent film sets and writing the best-selling book ‘Profondo Argento’ about his career and the enigma he still presents to the world. As Alan says:

I promised Dario on the day we met that I would always make sure his fans were kept reliably informed on his movies and future plans. It’s a duty I have solidly adhered to and one I know his legion of fans have appreciated. Hosting the Argento season on The Horror Channel is yet another part of that commitment I made to bring his unique work to the attention of the widest possible audience.

Kicking off the season on Friday 13th May (10.55pm) is an uncut and uncensored...

Both Alan Jones and Dario Argento are cool dudes. Jones is a critic I've always admired and Argento is a director I've adored since my first viewing of Suspiria. So if you fancy a slice of the old master's works Alan Jones is presenting a mini season of the later period films on The Horror Channel next month.

The Stendhal Syndrome, Sleepless and The Card Player are the movies selected. The Stendhal Syndrome is perhaps the last classic of Argento's. It's a brilliant and lurid movie and deserves some respect! Read the press release below and then do yourself a favour next month and watch these flicks!

"When renowned horror journalist, author and broadcaster Alan Jones met Dario Argento for the first time in 1982 on Tenebrae he had no idea he would become a permanent fixture in Dario's life, visiting all his subsequent film sets and writing the best-selling book...

Dario Argento’s later forays into the lurid world of the giallo is being released on DVD by Arrow Video on 2nd May under the title of Neo Giallo Collection. So if you want to revisit the likes of Terror At The Opera, Sleepless, The Stendhal Syndrome and The Card Player, this collection of “neo-giallo” is for you.

The Stendhal Syndrome, in particular, is one of the master’s most underrated features. Below is the full press release along with all the extra features on each disc. A very cool bunch of films indeed.

“Sit back, relax and prepare to be thrilled, frightened and horrified by the four latter day Dario Argento classics contained within The Neo-Giallo Collection.

Baroque excess and eyelid piercing horror spill from the screen in Opera, Argento’s gory love song to the classical stage, when a young singer is stalked by a homicidal maniac,...

There’s been plenty written recently about the legal dispute between Adrien Brody and the producers of Giallo regarding non-payment of the actor’s services. I haven’t yet seen Dario Argento’s movie but imagine it isn’t very good. Mother Of Tears depressed me beyond tablets (to quote Brass Eye) but hope springs eternal with Argento. Sleepless was alright but I’d have to go back to 1996′s The Stendhal Syndrome to find an Argento film I actually like.

So will Argento’s 3D Dracula project be a ‘return to form’? The seventy year old directing legend is heading into production next February according to Variety. The trade paper reports a Spanish media magnate Enrique Cerezo has bought into the film and provided some funds to get it secured. Reported budget for Dracula 3D is rumoured to be ten million euros.

It’s always good to hear the...

Glen looks back at the movie music work of the band Goblin, in particular the collaborations with Dario Argento...

Italian prog band Goblin's back catalogue differs greatly when compared to many of their contemporaries, given the fact that much of their output was made up of movie scores which more often than not were for the films of Dario Argento.

The band started out under the name Cherry Five, performing British style prog, but when their debut album failed to impress, they were left to reassess their situation. Argento had heard enough promise in their debut to hire them and would go on to use them a number of times.

Below are what I consider to be the most notable scores in Goblin's back catalogue:

Profondo Rosso (Deep Red)

The score for Argento's Profondo Rosso marked a hugely impressive debut for Goblin, Not only did it compliment the film brilliantly,...

One of Arrow Video's great success stories is the championing of Dario Argento's work on home video in the UK.  I know what some of you may be thinking, and perhaps championing Argento isn't exactly controversial position to defend, but no one had really taken up the challenge of rescuing many of these Argento features in Britain from BBFC cut purgatory.  Many of Argento's features have been sliced and diced by the BBFC, and for the most part, home video distributors have made do with the cuts in order to have a marketable product.  Arrow Video, however has taken some of these very same films, including their recent Blu-ray/DVD release of Inferno, back to the BBFC for reclassification, and they won!  They are currently awaiting a decision on Deep Red (Profondo Rosso), which has yet to be seen completely uncut in most areas of the world.  This is...

Pale, drawn and barely standing, like the sole survivor who makes it to the final frame of the horror flick, we have reached the end of this blood-curdling week of 'extreme' movies here on Indie Movies Online. To finish off the week we have the double-shock of Two Evil Eyes, directed by Dario Argento and George Romero, and Sleepless, directed by Argento alone.

read more...

The appropriately named prog rock band Goblin is most famous for their collaboration with Dario Argento on his gory giallo films, especially Suspiria, arguably Argento's most well-known and best film to date. Goblin provided Argento with unforgettable soundtracks to Tenebre, Phenomenon, and Deep Red, as well as Argento's 2001 film Sleepless, which brought the band back together again after 22 years. I'm ashamed to say I have not yet seen Sleepless, but after sitting through Argento's more recent movies like Do You Like Hitchcock? and even Mother of Tears, I'm a little wary.

Goblin also supplied soundtracks to other Italian horror movies, as well as giallo and soft porn director Joe D'Amato's Beyond the Darkness. They did the soundtrack to George Romero's Dawn of the Dead, aka Zombi, under the name The Goblins; much later, Shaun of the Dead used one of the songs from the soundtrack in their film...

George A. Romero’s classic zombie epic Dawn Of The Dead walks again in a new Blu-ray/DVD three-disc set coming from British company Arrow Video. To tie in with this release, a pair of screenings will take place in Scotland with special actor guests.

Debuting October 26, Arrow’s new package consists of the following:

Disc One (Blu-ray):

Dawn theatrical cut in high definition, with DTS-hd and 2.0 stereo soundtracks Audio commentary by Romero, Tom Savini and Chris Romero Audio commentary by producer Richard P. Rubinstein Rou Frumkes Document Of The Dead documentary Document lost interview and deleted scenes Fan Of The Dead French docu visiting the locations

Disc Two (DVD):

Dawn Of The Dead director’s cut The Dead Will Walk documentary Disc Three (DVD):

Dawn Of The Dead Dario Argento cut Scream Greats Tom Savini documentary Publicity Vault with U.S. and German trailers, TV/radio spots and reviews,...

“Sleepless” was originally released in 2001 and saw legendary horror director Dario Argento returning to the Giallo form in an attempt to reverse what had seemed for many years to be the irreversible decline of his once glorious career. Perhaps inevitably receiving mixed reactions from critics and fans expecting, or at least hoping for another “Deep Red”, the film is now an interesting candidate for re-evaluation. Arrow Video are offering UK viewers a chance to do just that with this new release, which is part of their Masters of Giallo series, and which comes with new specially commissioned artwork, a short documentary film on the modern Italian Giallo, a featurette on the making of the film, plus the usual trailers and press materials. The film has Argento working with veteran actor Max Von Sydow (best known to most genre fans as “The Exorcist” himself), who stars as an insomniac detective called...

Fango got the word that Britain’s Arrow Video is launching a new Masters of Giallo DVD imprint, devoted to showcasing the works of Italy’s top genre directors. The line debuts June 29 with movies by Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci and Lamberto Bava, each in brand new special editions.

Argento’s Sleepless, Fulci’s The House By The Cemetery (pictured) and Bava’s MacAbre will be presented completely uncut for the first time in the UK, packaged with double-sided sleeve inserts sporting the original release artwork and fresh, specially commissioned exploitation art, along with posters featuring the latter. There will also be a host of extras, including new documentaries directed by Elijah Drenner (of the forthcoming American Grindhouse):

Sleepless

• Murder Madness and Mutilation: Sleepless and the Modern Italian Giallo docu with Joe Dante, Sergio Stivaletti, Fango’s Tony Timpone and others

• The Making of Sleepless

• Press kit

• Photo gallery...

"Cine-Excess III is delighted to confirm that Italy’s iconic horror legend Dario Argento (Director of Deep Red, Suspiria, Tenebrae, Opera and Sleepless) and his long-time composer Claudio Simonetti (of rock-supergroup ‘Goblin’ fame) have just been confirmed as this year’s Guests of Honour."www.cine-excess.co.uk | cine-excess.blogspot.com

Via: Cine-Excess III Read More

tags: cult film, dario argento, film festival, horror...