Opera
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Movie Reviews of Opera
Movie Review: Like Russian Roulette, 2 shots that killed me....
Summary: 5 Stars
THE NEEDLE EYELID SCENE =======>
Arguably the most unfathomable tragedy that could be inflicted upon a person would be the heinous murder of a loved one, right before your eyes. Imagine being forced to watch this, totally helpless, as your companion suffers an agonizing death. Completely traumatizing.
Argento feeds on this fear with precise tension and oppresive cruelty. A homicidal maniac ties up the main character and tapes packets of needles underneath her eyelids. A simple blink becomes excruciatingly painful. This detained woman is forced to gaze at the vicious murder. And the way this killing is fashioned is just bloody brutal. You will be left in a horrified stupor. Argento orchestrates this fatal crime with a penetrating audacity.
BULLET THROUGH THE PEEPHOLE =======>
Keep in mind that this film was made over two decades ago. The aesthetic maneuvering of this moment has been rehashed countless times in Hollywood. It is nothing short of brilliant.
Two women are trapped in an apartment. The killer is just outside the door, claiming to be a policeman. We are only given glimpses of the intruder as she looks through the peephole. This forces us to connect with the desperation and uncertainty that the woman feels. Of course we sense the danger, but have a shred of comfort since the perpetrator is outside the locked door.
And then, it happens...right before our eyes.
We see an extreme closeup of the bullet. Our vision is concentrated on it as it slides through the chamber of the peephole. Entering and exiting through the woman's head. Just a quick, instant death, and we're left dazed. And with a stroke of horrible luck, the phone is taken out simultaneously with this single shot. Black comic genius, I love it!
You would be hard pressed to find two better scenes in any horror movie. Heck, any movie period. Superb filmmaking.
Opera might get some criticism due to the acting, voice dubbing, or elaborate plot details that might be hard to follow. But I feel sorry for those who can't feel the impact of this magnificent horror film. I implore you to give it another try.
Death by Dario is heavenly
Movie Review: It's terror at the opera house!
Summary: 5 Stars
A lovely young opera singer gets the main starring role for the opera production of "Macbeth" until a psychopathic killer captures her sometimes and makes her watch her friends being massacred. She alerts the police to investigate these horrific crimes and to find out who is the mysterious psycho or she will have to find the killer herself before he gets to her.
Fantastic Italian psychological horror thriller from masterful Italian horror master Dario Argento with great style and dark atmosphere accompanied by gruesome gory violence such as the woman looking through the eyehole of a door then the killer shoots through which inspired the one scene in "Saw 2", good camera-work, excellent cinematography and a haunting music score. Sure the storyline isn't coherent but this is an excellent thriller with scares and shocking sequences that are quite memorable, this is one of Argento's best movies and a must see for fans of the genre.
This DVD is basically a re-issue of the excellent Anchor Bay re-issue which has excellent picture and THX sound quality with extras like a 36 minute featurette of interviews with the filmmakers and stars, trailers, music video by Italian rock group Daemonia and bio of Dario Argento.
Also recommended: "Deep Red", "Saw Series", "Black Christmas (1974)", "Phenomena", "Suspiria", "Inferno", "Tenebre", "The New York Ripper", "Maniac (1980)", "Perfect Blue", "Demons", "Misery", "Scream Trilogy", "Two Evil Eyes", "Halloween Series", "A Nightmare on Elm Street", "The Burning", "A Blade in The Dark", "Sleepaway Camp", "Hostel 1 & 2", "Grindhouse", "Terror Train", "Silence of the Lambs", "Manhunter", "Hannibal", "Red Dragon", "Hannibal Rising", "High Tension", "Don't Go in The Basement", "The Phantom of the Opera (Argento)", "The Stendhal Syndrome", "Se7en", "The Bone Collector", "Ichi The Killer", "The Untold Story", "Audition", "Urban Legend", "Twitch of the Death Nerve".
Movie Review: Classic Argento, but a little flawed
Summary: 4 Stars
As much as I enjoyed Opera I have to admit I'm kind of surprised at the reaction it gets from fans. Whenever you see a poll of the best Argento movies the most common one to take top spot is Suspiria. And I have noticed if it's not Suspiria a lot of the times it's Opera, which ranks in the top spot. Opera was the last film of the 80s that Dario Argento made and overall it was a solid way to close out the decade in, which he gave us so many classics. But as great as Opera is there are some things in my opinion that just don't fully work.
The screenplay written by Dario Argento & Franco Ferrini was at times kind of weak. As I have stated in the other reviews I have written for movies by Argento, his writing is the only weakness. He started off as an excellent writer, but after that he wrote some good screenplays, but the movies were all about the visuals. Some of the things the characters say can be a bit silly and even their reactions to things don't make a whole lot of sense.
Christina Marsillach stars as Betty and I have to say of all the women in a Dario Argento movie she is my 2nd favorite. Nobody can take top spot away from Asia Argento. The thing is Betty is kind if a flawed character. She doesn't always have the smartest things to say. And her reaction to seeing some brutally killed she is horrified, but afterwards she seems rather calm and ok like nothing happened. Despite the flaws of the character I did find her quite likeable.
Most of the other characters really don't have much depth to them and this I would say is one of Argento's weaker scripts. There is also a scene or two than can be kind of silly, but despite all that Opera is still a fantastic film in Dario Argento's career.
Upon my first viewing I didn't quite like Opera, which actually has happened when I watched other Argento movies, but seeing them again you begin to notice things you didn't before. Argento has that going for him. You can watch his movies multiple times and pick up on stuff you didn't notice before and you will find yourself enjoying the movie this time around and if you liked it the first time you might find yourself liking it more.
The power of Opera simply comes from Dario Argento's directing. With any other director I think Opera would have probably been a silly mess of a film, but Argento doing what he does best makes this movie work so much more than maybe it should have. First things first the visual side is mind-blowing!
From just a pure visual side I don't think you will see a better looking film than Opera. The camera work is amazing. I would even go as far to say it's a better visual film than Suspiria even if not as enjoyable or creepy. The POV shots were excellent. I don't think there is a filmmaker out there that can do a POV shot better than Argento.
The use of colors in Opera also adds so much to it. If you thought Suspiria and Inferno looked amazing you have to see Opera. The usage of the red, green and blue lighting was without a doubt stunning! The scene in which Betty and Mira played by Daria Nicolodi are trapped in the house with the killer roaming around might be the best looking scene ever crafted in a film. From the shot selection to the way the colors change. I was totally blown away!
My biggest complaint though with Opera is the music. The music in Argento's movies was always brilliant. Early on he worked with Ennio Morricone and than Goblin. And it's Goblin Argento will always be linked with. As much as I love Morricone, it was Goblin that really made Argento known for what he is. His brilliant visual style and their score was a tough act to follow.
But starting in 1985 with Phenomena and even seen in the Argento produced Demons and Demons 2, he got into this metal phases where he started using metal rather than a simple score by Goblin. Here in Opera it's a sort of weird. The use of the metal music in some weird way does add to the movie, but it also breaks the tension up at times. Claudio Simonetti of Goblin does provide some music, but it's not the typical music he is best known for when working with Argento.
Dario Argento knows how to create suspense not many know how to craft a build up as well as he does and the kill scenes are always so well shot and are damn creepy due to that. Now you have Goblins music going over that. Now in Opera replace that with either opera music or metal and suddenly the suspense and tension drop just a little bit. When the characters are on stage I don't mind the opera music, but in a more suspenseful scene is when I feel it shouldn't have been used.
Opera does feature some tense moments. Dario Argento is a master of the genre and he doesn't fail to deliver. There are some creepy moments and there are some moments with a lot of tension, but the music used does take away, like I said in some ways the music does add to the scene, but it also loses something. I would love to see Opera rescored by Claudio Simonetti or Goblin. I personally think it would make the movie a lot better.
When all was said and done I still think Opera is a fantastic film by Dario Argento and would easily rate in my top 10 favorite films by him and one of my favorite horror movies of all time, but I think the use of music did take away at times. A lot of people rate this as Argento's best and if Goblin scored it I think I might agree.
The kill scenes were all well-done. The murder scene about 30-min was really graphic and so well shot. Every movie I see by Argento I was say that was one of my favorite kill scenes and I have to repeat that again. Though as a whole Opera might feature his best murder scenes. They are violent and even quite mean. With Argento's visual style along with the murder scenes help elevate Opera.
When you watch Opera you are gonna watch it for the visual aspect; that is without a doubt the strongest thing about the movie. Anyone who watches Argento always know we are gonna get one great visual ride and just from a visual stand-point this just might be the best.
The only other problem with Opera is it goes on a little too long. The final scene really felt tacked on and wasn't really needed. Opera really should have wrapped up about the 95-minute mark but goes on for another 10-minutes. The scene wasn't bad it just wasn't needed and was a tad bit silly.
In closing Opera is an excellent movie by Dario Argento despite some flaws. It's not a perfect film and wouldn't make my top 5 Argento flicks, but it's still a damn good and very fun movie by the master Dario Argento.
Movie Review: HEADSHOT!!!
Summary: 4 Stars
Since I'm an Argento review virgin reviewing Argento (at the coercion of some fellow Amazon denizens) during our annual Horrorween month celebration, I'll start from the beginning. I happened across Suspiria one night on cable. "Love at first sight" is the only pertinent phrase to describe the feeling. That is how I discovered Italy's macabre national treasure, Dario Argento. Since then we've crossed paths often, be it his collaborations with personal hero George Romero, the B-movies he's produced like Demons, or the occasional giallo -a genre he owns like no other, but is hot and cold for me- but I've never been able to recapture that "this is the greatest thing ever" feeling I got from "Suspiria". The closest were his entries into Showtime's outstanding Masters of Horror series, Jenifer and Pelts. And now here we are, with the first feature-length Argento-directed film since that fateful night that I have enjoyed front to back.
"Opera" is the story of a singer, Betty, who is forced to stand in for the injured star of a production of Shakespeare's Macbeth, a play that has long been believed to be cursed. She owns the role and becomes an overnight sensation. Then the killing starts. A masked assailant begins a horrific ritual of tying up our protagonist and taping a row of needles under her top eyelids so that she is unable to even blink without drawing blood. He then lies in wait and proceeds to brutally kill whatever friend or lover attempts to come to Betty's rescue before cutting her free and going on his merry way. Why? Well that's complicated; best to let you figure that one for yourself. You've got your brutal Argento-rific deaths, your pack of birds not to be f#@ked with (quoth the raven, "mmmmm, eyeballs yummy!"), some really cool opera scenes, your creepy little girl spying on people in her apartment building through an air-conditioning shaft, and yes, your utterly inappropriate blasts of 80's heavy metal music. I haven't decided if it's obnoxiousness is charming or annoying, but I'm glad Argento represents.
Cristina Marsillach is beautiful. The girl is as captivating as they come whether she's in full-on opera garb belting it out, conversing with her co-workers, enjoying the beauty of nature maybe a little too much, or running braless down the street from her mysterious stalker. She is just a joy to watch in this film. The opera itself is very cool too. Argento added another layer of cred by making the director of the production a horror filmmaker crossing over into theater. The giant skulls and live croaking ravens on the stage set look absolutely killer and the costumes are pretty sweet as well. The tension in the film is well-played and the release is always a blast. Argento's trademark technicolor lighting gets a little bit of a workout in a scene or two. I don't know why it is so creepy and cool when it should just be a distraction, but I love the visuals that are created by this out-of-order color scheme that Argento likes to play with at times. Often imitated, never duplicated. Thought I was going to talk about horrible deaths first didn't ya? I'm not that shallow. Or am I just saving it for later to make you think I'm not?
Wait's over. "Opera" features some amazing deaths. Gotta love the ol' knife through the lower jaw and into the mouth gag. Get's 'em every time! Then you've got your close-ups of knife entering flesh which never stops being unnerving, and of course the fight with a clothes iron over a little gold trinket. Seriously. But the show stopper here is a work of true and utter genius. It's a death that has inspired countless others in it's artfulness, inventiveness, and (almost) unexpectedness, and is even more impressive when you consider that modern filmmakers need a million dollars worth of CG to attain anything close to the same effect today. Italian horror filmmakers really are a breed apart. That scene will likely put me off of peepholes for some time.
I wish "Opera" was perfect, but it just isn't so. First off, giallos (and slashers in general) aren't really my thing, though I do appreciate them. On the other hand, I must say that I also loved What Have You Done to Solange? so perhaps the genre is growing on me. There are a few parts in "Opera" where the scenes played out in such a fashion that I was literally annoyed by what I was watching. The battle for the trinket is one such scene. I don't demand realism, but don't be stupid either. No one is fighting a masked assailant over a crummy bracelet knowing that people have been murdered while their friend is mysteriously tied up in front of them. And nobody is going down for the count because a clothes iron hits them in the back either. Awful sequence. It also kind of robs the killing scenes of their emotional impact when we are hearing cheesy metal the whole time and we're supposed to be feeling for poor Betty being forced to watch. The needles under the eyelids didn't actually look very convincing, the ending was kind of odd, and I guessed who the killer was the first scene he was in. I can't even point to a specific reason why, I guess I just knew by some ingrained understanding of film conventions. Maybe Queen B's horrible sixth spoiler sense has rubbed off on me somehow. Dread the thought.
This is my second favorite Argento film that I've seen so far but there are, of course, more to see. This is an entertaining film of any genre and fans of Argento, murder, mystery, and murder-mysteries need to give this a shot. It stops short of being a masterpiece, but it's not that far off, either. Woopak (he's got you all in check!), and Mackshere: this one's for you guys.
Movie Review: Opera
Summary: 4 Stars
Marco Baddini's production of Macbeth is suffering from a number of unfortunate accidents which seem to be related to the opera's illustrious curse. After the lead is struck by a car, a beautiful young ingenue assumes the role of Lady Macbeth in her stage debut, but an unseen admirer will go to any length to ensure her success! OPERA is a refreshing return to form for Italian director Dario Argento, and it is one of his more artful, stylish, and technically accomplished Gialli. Here, he combines the power and grace of the opera house with his own frenetic energy and violent murder sequences. Argento could not have picked a more appropriate backdrop for the film, since Macbeth already contains such a fierce character drama and a rich history of problematic productions. The stage is then set for him to unleash his next black-gloved killer, although the curse of Macbeth would strike closer to home throughout the course of its making.
Argento creates a number of striking images that are contrasted by the utter horror in OPERA. From the elegant set designs to the extravagant deaths, every frame of the film has a painterly quality about it. That being said, he also slips in a few self-serving scenes that are beautifully composed but completely unnecessary. The first trails a bullet from the barrel of a pistol through an eye-hole and then out the back of one character's head. The next involves a series a swooping crane shots that are used to imitate the raven's eye view as the birds search for the killer.
As with many of Argento's pictures, the soundtrack plays a huge role in the final production of OPERA, making this one of his strongest scores since SUSPIRIA. With Goblin disbanded, Argento would only go back to Claudio Simonetti for two arrangements (including the main theme). In addition to the classic operatics that were taken from Macbeth, he also cranks up the volume during several Heavy Metal tracks that play over the murder sequences. While this adds to the excitement and terror, the jarring shifts in music are more painfully artificial than they had been in DEEP RED or TENEBRE.
OPERA's killer is more sadistic than ever, not only eliminating his victims in a variety of gruesome fashions, but also forcing poor Betty into watching him kill by tying her up and taping sharp needles beneath her eyelids. The theme of voyeurism is essential to the plot, and plays into every aspect of the film. Unfortunately, OPERA is no less contrived than any of the director's other thrillers, and the gory centerpieces still take precedence over the actual storytelling, itself.
While many fans often choose to ignore many of Dario Argento's films following his 'decline' with PHENOMENA in 1985, OPERA should be considered one of the director's last great works, and one that is sorely overlooked despite the fact that it is one of his more accomplished achievements.
-Carl Manes
I Like Horror Movies