Dario Argento: Five Films for Newcomers
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
Today marks Italian horror master Dario Argento’s eighty second birthday, and there’s at least a bit to celebrate here. The auteur is still working, as his latest film, Dark Glasses, was released just this year. He has decades of material, but, personally, I haven’t really cared for much of his output since the 1980’s. However, there are Argento fans that will see anything he releases, and that’s exactly who he is still making films for: his devoted following. As for the rest of us, it’s still easy to recognize the classics and influence he has made within the horror genre, specifically within the giallo sub-label (giallo is an Italian horror style that evokes exploitation-based taboos with slasher film sensibilities; Argento includes heightened aesthetic appeal to his films as well). There are at least five films I love to varying degrees, but I think they’re the same films that pretty much anyone would pick (unless you rotate my fifth and fourth picks with films like, say, The Cat o’ Nine Tails, or Phenomena). For those of you that have never seen an Argento film, I firstly have to flag this article, as his films are almost exclusively disturbing, so you have been warned. Secondly, I don’t think you can find better starting points than these. Also, I’m not including films he didn’t direct himself, so no Once Upon a Time in the West (which he helped co-write); that would just be cheating (but please watch that masterpiece anyway). Here are five films for newcomers to the works of Dario Argento.
5. Tenebrae
Not many Argento films feel as pulpy as Tenebrae: as if you are reading a juicy novel about murder, and then are conjuring up these violent images in your head. While this film definitely is just another day at the office for the director, it’s for sure the best film of his that is as standardly Argento as possible (so nothing particularly special that separates it from his other works). If Argento ever made his own Hitchcockian work, it would be this tale of deception and the curse of the double.
4. Opera
While almost goofy at times, I love Opera. It is a straight up bloodbath that I am so fond of despite its hyperbolic ways (it almost feels soap-opera-like in a surreal way: like what David Lynch has achieved time and time again). Hinged entirely on the curse of Macbeth (sorry for those of you that believe in the comeuppance that comes from uttering the title of William Shakespeare’s play), Opera has bouts of agony and insane levels of torture and death. It doesn’t even make much sense on a fundamental level at times, but it almost feels excusable here: it’s the final time Argento could go to the extreme without fumbling over the line.
3. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Argento’s debut, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, seemed to tick off all of the right boxes when it came to being a top-tier giallo opus, and this is evident with its lasting impact on the genre (particularly how it even put it on the map). While this is true, I feel like it is also superb as a straight up horror and/or thriller film. I love how the film feels a little reserved for Argento: as if this is a rare time where you can see the horror filmmaker actually use mystery and tension (and quite well, too) without gunning straight for shocking imagery and situations to get by.
2. Deep Red
There’s quite a leap here once we reach Deep Red, which is — in ways — Argento’s most artistically sound film (not his aesthetically strongest film, mind you: that’s next on this list, and an obvious pick). Deep Red almost feels like Argento at his most controlled and masterful: like he is playing by the rules but also breaking ones that won’t ruin his film in the process. It’s his bridge between his earlier, literary mysteries, and the Argento that we are much more acquainted with: one fascinated by the unknown and the extents of carnage.
1. Suspiria
Well, duh. I know it’s typical to go straight to Suspiria on such a list, but let’s get things clear. Firstly, this just is Dario Argento’s greatest film. Secondly, if I’m going to be suggesting a film to someone that’s never seen Argento’s work before, then this only makes sense. This colourful, psychedelic nightmare (the final film shot on Technicolor) is a rare moment in cinema where elements don’t have to line up perfectly for the film to be effective. I can actually suspend disbelief and allow Argento’s abstract horrors to take the lead, especially after that magnificently terrifying opening sequence (I wouldn’t dare spoil it for the unaware). The film continues to leave its mark, from its Goblin-composed score (and what a perfectly bonkers score it is) to the melodramatic fatalities that take place (and how delightfully cheesy they are). Luca Guadagnino directed his own Suspiria but made the wise choice of not copying Argento’s style. That’s because the 1977 Suspiria is a singular horror experience, and one of the greatest fight fests ever put to film; it is certainly Dario Argento’s magnum opus.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.