Opera
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Movie Reviews of Opera
Movie Review: Great , late era giallo
Summary: 4 Stars
First of all, the reviewer who gave this dvd release a single star is retarded. Many of the actors actually spoke english for the film, twit! You obviously have no idea about the history of giallo, nor the history of the european film industry in general at that time...sheesh! I may be overreacting but 1 star is just ridiculous! Rate the FILM for what it is! NOT FOR WHAT YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE!!!!
OK, deep breath.....the dvd is of good quality. I think it might actually look better than AnchorBays release. I already have the two-disc A-B version, but watch this blue-underground disc more for that very reason.
I wont go into what the film is about as other reviewers already have, i'll just say that it is an above average giallo, an underrated giallo. The acting is way, way above average for this genre! Also, it has some of Argentos most memorable set-piece killings and is saturatted with his style. This is the last GREAT Argento film, imho. He faded a little after this and never really captured his earlier genius.
Great buy. Not one star but a solid 4 star effort by Argento and this dvd is well worth the price.
Movie Review: "Ravens Never Forget"
Summary: 4 Stars
"Opera" is a bizarre Italian giallo from director Dario Argento. For unknown reasons, someone is stalking a beautiful young opera singer (she resembles Heather Langenkamp of "Nightmare on Elm Street" fame); the killer likes to tie her up and force her to watch the butchering of her friends. "Opera" reminds me of Dario Argento's earlier giallo masterpieces such as "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage," "The Cat O' Nine Tails," and "Deep Red." It is far better than his recent movies such as "Phatom of the Opera" and "The Stendhal Syndrome," i.e., the ones that star his daughter, Asia Argento. It is definitely better than the ones he did for Masters of Horror - "Pelts" and "Jenifer." They were gross! "Opera" has a musical score that rocks, unique death sequences, and beautiful sets that remind me of "Deep Red" with their abundant use of blues and reds. The revenge scene of the ravens flying and swooping through the opera house was memorable. Better acting and a higher body count would've received five stars from me.Movie Review: The last of Dario Argento's great movies
Summary: 4 Stars
Following an accident involving the female lead, Betty makes her singing debut in an operatic production of "Macbeth". However, as everyone knows, "Macbeth" is cursed, and a psychotic fan surfaces, whose idea of fun is to tie Betty up and force her to watch him murder her co-workers. Will Betty solve the mystery and find the killer before he strikes again?
Many fans of Dario Argento believe that he was at his peak during the period between "Deep Red" and "Opera", making this the last of Dario Argento's great works. It's not as good as "Deep Red" or "Suspiria", both of which are considered to be his masterpieces; the plot is slightly confusing in places and I have yet to see a film that is as visually stunning as "Suspiria". Nevertheless, it is still an excellent film, and if "Deep Red" and "Suspiria" did not exist, this would probably be considered to be a masterpiece.
Movie Review: It didn't make sense, but that's the charm
Summary: 4 Stars
Like most Italian horror movies, this movie didn't make much sense. You just have to let logic fly out the window when you watch movies like this. All I can say is that's it's entertaining, and that's all that matters.Movie Review: 2.75 STARS: Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."
Summary: 3 Stars
There's nothing quite like Dario Argento's movies. It never ceases to amaze me how Argento is able to make a movie out of someone's worst nightmare, and that is essentially what the audience gets in the 1987 Argento movie, "Opera". I have wanted to see this movie for some time, but I just never got around to it. Argento's movies are the kind that can be tedious but very rewarding at the same time. "Opera", similar to "Tenebre", is not a "pure" horror movie so much as it is a mystery-horror hybrid. However, there is no question that horror elements are clearly present as is the case with "Tenebre". With that undeniable Argento flavor, "Opera" starts off as a strange dream and ends up as a nightmare which creates discomfort and horror in the audience while also being suspenseful and entertaining which should be the goal of any horror movie. While the viewer has to stay with the "Opera" and work through the beginning, as with many of Argento's movies, it pays off in the end.
"Opera" is about a girl who gets lucky and receives a part as Lady Macbeth in a major opera called "Macbeth". However, as the characters note, "Macbeth" is an unlucky opera. Indeed, people start dying in "Opera", but the killer does more than just kill people as he is also interested in making someone suffer while he does it. In the interest of not giving anymore away than that, suffice it to say that the plot, while more cohesive than most of Argento's movies, does contain some grey areas. It seems that Argento wanted the audience to draw its own conclusions in spots where most movies attempt to rationalize things.
Regardless, Argento's movies are notoriously weak on plot and rich in style. Such is the case to a certain extent with "Opera" although not nearly to the extent of other Argento movies like "Suspiria" and "Inferno" (which are my two favorite Argento movies). In fact, I would argue that Argento's plot in "Opera" is more understandable and coherent than most of his other movies. However, some of the style points seemed to be sacrificed in this movie as well. In "Opera", we do not have as much of the haunting imagery and music that we get in some of his other movies. Still, with that being said, Argento's strange and haunting use of ravens and dreams help to accentuate the horror that the audience has come to know and love in Argento's movies. As is usually the case with Argento's films, we get a lot interesting kills/death scenes including a lot of blood and gore to go with it. I thought the blood and gore was pretty good in this movie and used effectively and efficiently.
While we do not quite have the kills of the grandeur in "Opera" that we get in "Suspiria", "Inferno", or "Tenebre", the savvy viewer will notice that most of Argento's use of blood and gore and the death scenes in general in all of his movies are largely incidental to the real horror of the story and atmosphere of the movie itself. Unlike many of today's directors and their modern horror movies, Argento always succeeds as using blood and gore as an incidental mechanism to increase horror in the audience, and not as his only means of producing horror. In other words, Argento does not use blood and gore as his only vehicle to create horror, but it is the setting, suspense, the situation, the story and the horrifying atmosphere that Argento employs that are actually scary. Consequently, the killing in and of itself is scarier than it would be without the dreamlike atmosphere and tension build up that Argento uses to effectuate horror. Therefore, when the violence, blood and gore actually occur, there is already a foundation for the horror upon which the kill scenes work to magnify and/or accentuate such horror. That being said, this is where "Opera" is clearly inferior to Argento's earlier works like "Suspiria" and "Inferno" where Argento's use of atmosphere is clearly more prevalent. Still, while "Opera" does not quite have that horrific feel of "Suspiria" or "Inferno" or even "Tenebre", "Opera" does have a style all its own that is unique and effective at instilling horror in the audience.
As criticisms of the movie, there is no question that Argento's movies are tedious to say the least, and you really have to be in the mood for his stuff. There is no question that Argento is generally weak on plot and big on style...that is classic Argento. However, this is not so much the case with "Opera" as it is with his other movies. With that being said, there are moments that "Opera" just seems to drag on a little bit. The opera singing can get old. Also, I did not like the transition use of European rock music (or whatever that was) when the kill/death scenes took place. I think the absence of great scores like you get in "Suspiria" and "Inferno" by Goblin is glaring in "Opera" and this takes away from some of the atmosphere that Argento attempts to create, although as I said, the horror atmosphere is undeniably present, just not to the extent of his other great movies.
Also, I would be remiss if I did not say that Argento's dubious use of the ravens is amusingly a double-edged sword. The squawking of the ravens gets rather old and annoying, but that is part of Argento's style and part of what makes his movies like "Opera" unique. Argento will annoy the audience, but it is, at the same time, unsettling and uncomfortable to the audience and it sets the tone for evil and darkness that Argento is about to relate to the audience. At any rate, if you can get through the squawking of the ravens in the beginning of the film and all of the opera music, you will find "Opera" rewarding.
As indicated above, Argento's movies are very much like someone's worst nightmare, and that is certainly the case with "Opera" as well. I think it is true that Argento's movies are an acquired taste and I would not start with "Opera". I would start with "Suspiria" and watch it at least twice all the way through before making up your mind about whether you like it or not. Then, I would go with "Inferno", "Tenebre", "Deep Red", "Opera", and "The Bird With The Crystal Plumage". Admittedly, I do not know much about "Cat O' Nine Tails" or "Phenomena", but from what I have read, I do not think I would find those films as remarkable or as interesting as the aforementioned former Argento films.