BORDERLINE: RETROSPECT: A is for... ARGENTO

Sunday, 13 June 2010

RETROSPECT: A is for... ARGENTO

I got it. FINALLY!!!

Yep, the second volume/ slice to the Argento triple pack series. Thanks to the groovy guys at DVD King, I managed to score it at a very nice price, and am now kicking back to run thru the whole twisted shebang, one flick at a time, in order of DVD appearance, and inflict it on YOU.

6 Argento horror flix.

6 Very opinionated reviews by yours truly.

And a fuckload of GIF's to make it all worth your while to actually take the 3 seconds it needs to run your peepers across the damn post. And maybe even... COMMENT!

NICE...

For those who came in late -

Dario Argento (born September 7, 1940) is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the horror/ slasher film genre, and has a huge output in the thriller/ giallo sub genre. Argento has had a major influence on modern horror and slasher movies throughout the last 40 years.

Most people categorize Argento's prolific cinematic output into "years" based on the categories he was working in at that time, and often in sets of 3 movies or Trilogies. Soooo, we get -

The Giallo years

Early in Argento's directing career, up until the 70's, he continued to concentrate largely on the Giallo or Thriller genre. The Italian "Giallo" usually refers to generic mystery works. Argento directed a number of very successful thrillers, such as The Cat o' Nine Tails (1971) and Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1972) which, alongside The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), are frequently referred to as Argento's "animal trilogy". His best known and most referenced Giallo movie though would have to be 1975's Deep Red. Deep Red gave Argento international success, and influenced other directors to work in the Thriller genre.

The Supernatural years

Argento's "Supernatural" years kicks off with the ultra-violent thriller Suspiria (1977).Argento planned for Suspiria to be the first of a trilogy about "The Three Mothers", three ancient witches residing in three different modern cities. The second movie of the trilogy was 1980's Inferno. The Mother of Tears concludes the trilogy. After Inferno, Argento returned to the screen with the thriller Tenebrae (1982). He then went for a giallo and supernatural combination in Phenomena, also known as Creepers (1985).

Argento directed and produced scores of cinematic expression, but for the horrorheads who creep and slink across the meanderings of this blogspot, most of us are really only interested in his movies that lean towards the horror/ supernatural genre output, which pretty much looks like this -

* The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo) (1970)

* The Cat o' Nine Tails (Il gatto a nove code) (1971)

* Four Flies on Grey Velvet (4 mosche di velluto grigio) (1971)

* The Five Days (Le cinque giornate) (1973)

* Door into Darkness (TV Series, Episodes Testimone oculare, Il tram) (1973)

* Deep Red (Profondo rosso) (aka The Hatchet Murders) (1975)

* Suspiria (1977)

* Inferno (1980)

* Tenebrae (aka Unsane) (1982)

* Phenomena (aka Creepers) (1985)

* Opera (aka Terror at the Opera) (1987)

* Two Evil Eyes (Due occhi diabolici) (Segment, The Black Cat) (1990)

* Trauma (1993)

* The Stendhal Syndrome (La sindrome di Stendhal) (1996)

* The Phantom of the Opera (Il fantasma dell'opera) (1998)

* Sleepless (Non ho sonno) (2001)

* The Card Player (Il cartaio) (2004)

* Do You Like Hitchcock? (Ti piace Hitchcock?) (2005)

* Masters of Horror (TV Series, Episode Jenifer) (2005)

* Masters of Horror (TV Series, Episode Pelts) (2006)

* The Mother of Tears (2007)

* Giallo (2009)

Out of this fine selection, I get to review, and inflict upon you, The Argento Classics Series on DVD -

Volume I

* DEEP RED

* TENEBRAE

* PHENOMENA

AND

Volume II

* THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE

* SUSPIRIA - COLLECTOR'S EDITION

* PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Both DVDs were released in Australia through Umbrella Entertainment.
DVD I was released in Australia on 13 Jan 07

DVD II was released in Australia on 01 Feb 08

Each review on BORDERLINE will give a film synopsis, a breakdown of "important" stats and other technical junk, plus my own worthless and opinionated take on how the film came across to me. Oh, and I'm gunna rip a few frames and GIF them just so you don't have to put up with the same old "stolen from a Google search" image that accompany every other damn review currently out there. How can you say no to moving goddamn pictures?

So WATCH THIS SPACE buckos, coz I'm seeeeeriously hitting the TV & DVD player hard, and got my crayons and paper ready to take notes as I dig me deep into some... DARIO.

REFERENCES

http://umbrellaent.com.au/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_Argento

http://dvdking.com.au