Tenebre - Special Edition (1982)

"Any humiliation which stood in his way could be swept aside by the simple act of annihilation. Murder."

I often wonder if when Dario Argento passes a beautiful woman while walking down the street, does he think to himself "I'd love to kill the hell out of her!". The man has both a talent and a fetish for taking the sexiest women he can find and doing abominably brutal things to them on film. Not a complaint, mind you; just an observation. A wise man once proclaimed "death by Argento is heavenly". Indeed, there is no more stylish way for a gorgeous actress to go out then in a torrent of red in one of the man's horror films. "Tenebre" has the highest onscreen bodycount of any Argento film I've seen so far and that's an accomplishment in itself. It's a rather by-the-book murder-mystery which often pays homage to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tales of Sherlock Holmes both in word and in story. Its an exceptionally watchable film for more casual viewers who don't take their horror with Argento's usual doses of surrealism and is an all-around solid entry into Italy's pantheon of giallo classics.

10 things I learned from "Tenebre":

1) Don't ever give a Doberman attitude.
2) Butterfaces = transsexuals. It's Crying Game time!
3) Clubbing yourself with a rock: surprisingly sound strategy.
4) Trick razor blades are fun and practical. Fool your friends!
5) Lesbian lover's spats are HOT...and invariably lead to horrible death.
6) Horrible death: also hot.
7) Red paint prices going up or just to lazy to pick up a brush? Try dismemberment!
8) When running away from a serial killer, always face away from the impending death regardless of your hotness or the camera's location.
9) Keep all wooden fences in good repair at all times.
10) Argento REALLY likes red.

"Tenebre" is another outstanding entry to the genre from the master and should entertain nearly any fan of murder-mysteries and/or horrific violence. The score is amazing, the red keeps a-flowin', the clothes keep a-coming off of the women, and the mystery will keep you guessing until the end makes you shout "bulls!+!" at your television. But all's fair in love, war, and mysteries so deal with it. I'm not a fan of the genre due to the rigid formulaic nature of the storytelling, but I occasionally partake and as far as giallo goes, you can scarcely do better than this. October 27, 2008

Dario Speedwagon

I can't fight this feeling anymore. Time for another quick Argento review.

This movie rules! A pretty straight forward slasher/giallo from the master. The plot is simple, the kills are unique and well-orchestrated. And bloody. Just some high impact violence that won't leave you any scars. If you liked Bird with the Crystal Plumage, you'll love this.

Dario, I'm gonna keep on loving you. It's the only thing I wanna do. I don't wanna sleep, I just wanna keep on--okay I'll stop. I believe it's time for me to fly... October 20, 2008

I always knew books were bad

When american novelist Peter Neal(Anthony Franciosa) arrives to Rome to promote his newest book. The police meet up with him, to question him about a murder. There happens to be someone imitating the killer in his novel.

Tenebre is one of Argento's better films. He effectively combines style and substance with great results. Tenebre is probably Argento's most coherent story and easy to follow. It doesn't require multiple viewings to get the story or try to see what is really there.

The suspense is worked out very well, keeping you completely in the dark until the end. The film never got boring to me and there was always something going on. Either incredibly hot women on the camera. Or incredibly hot women being murdered on camera. You get a nice bit of over the top gore. The acting is easily the most solid from most of Argento's films and the characters were well used.

I have to admit that I'm very spoiled by the music scores and atmosphere from Inferno(especially) and Suspiria. Therefore, Tenebre comes up very short when compared to those two. The music score is still good but I wasn't blown away by it.

Tenebre is the one film that I think, even non fans of Argento can appreciate. It's not drawn out and I don't believe it's more of an acquired taste like Suspiria and Inferno. I recommend this to those searching for a good slasher. The ending alone makes it worth seeing. October 8, 2008

A Slashing We Will Go! A Slashing We Will Go! Hi Ho the Dario, a Slashing We Will Go!!

Boy that's catchy! Here I am back in Europe again. I'm really starting to warm up to these Italian films. I even like their mediocre movies. But mediocre this is not! Amazingly, this is the very first Dario Argento film that I've seen. I was going to dive into "Susperia" but was warned away by advice from my friends the "experts". So I backed off and went for this; a simple little slasher film. Jeez, I can be misleading!!
This isn't complicated, but it's certainly not simple either. I know, I know; "Just shut up and get to the point EK!!"

-A VIRGIN TAKE ON DARIO ARGENTO.
What can you say about a guy who will shoot film of his own daughter in the nude? You can say "ALLRIGHT!!" that's what. Though I would never do it (and not just because I'd get arrested), this guy has few standards when it comes to nudity and gore other than "more please". In the 1980's this was gold for horror fans. It doesn't play too badly today either. Besides those obvious deviant traits, Argento is a bold and creative visionary. You can almost see his brain working as he tries to come up with a really creative way to shoot a scene. Sometimes it looks pretentious. The rest of the time it's bloody brilliant. Not every shot is creative, but in the right situation; lookout!!! Argento's story telling is a bit clumsy at times but he definitely had some tricks up his sleeves for "Tenebre". I'm not sure if I made an accurate assessment watching just one film but that's my take for now.

-IT AINT OVER UNTIL IT'S OVER, AND OVER, AND OVER...
If you've read the synopsis of "Tenebre" (and you should, because I'm not going to tell you), you'd know this is about a serial killer stalking an author of the titular book while reenacting the murders contained within. I know I've seen this before, but I'm not sure where. Regardless, it's a plot device Argento has some fun with. This mystery is a real puzzler and I would have never guessed it. However, when the mystery is solved, the murders continue. Now, up to this point, I had no clue who the killer was. But as soon as the suspect is revealed, I immediately unraveled the second mystery. Yea, there's a second mystery and the movie is really only half over. The great thing is, now we get more murders and some real mass carnage! Even though I solved the second mystery as soon as it presented itself, not only was I actually surprised by the ending but I WAS COMPLETELY SUCKERED!!!

-ITALIAN DUBBED. ITALIAN FUNNY!
It's really kind (and financially wise) of Italian film makers in general, to do these films in English. Even American actors have their voice dubbed on occasion if something didn't turn out right. They happen to be pretty good at this and it never was a distraction. In fact, as brutally goofy as some of the dialogue was in "Tenebre" other parts were uproariously witty. My favorite dialogue was between the author, "Mr. Neal" and the police detective. I'm not going to quote anything here; that would spoil the fun. But I highly recommend you look out for these conversations because they are amongst the best in any horror film. This detective would put "Columbo" to shame (despite amazon's review)!

-CARNAGE. OVER THE TOP WE GO!!!
Oh yea, this carnage is way over the top!!! It's absolutely beautiful. I think I'm going to weep (sniff). Seriously, besides one of the coolest dog chase scenes you'd care to see, we get a bushel of throat slashing, a peck of head splitting, a liter of impalement, a gallon of spine splitting and a quart of good old fashioned stabbing. Throw in a pinch of dismemberment with fountains of blood and I think "over the top" is where we end up. But carnage in itself is not a beautiful thing. It's a delicate art form. You need to set the mood. To achieve this end, Argento kindly plays "Goblin" music just before every murder; how 80s cool is that! Though not quite the theme from "Jaws", it sure helped me ratchet up my expectations and excitement when I heard it. If you have only a mild tolerance for gore, you'll be ok. This stuff never looks real which is why I thought it was so much fun.

-ITALIAN WOMEN ARE BEAUTIFUL TOO.
So, what more do you want me to say? All right, I should say something. One thing I learned from this film about women in Italy, Rome in particular, is that they never wear bras. In fact, they have a hard time covering the parts that matter most of the time. Even when the try to cover things, they just end up uncovered again. I've never seen such slippery women. The funniest part of all is when Argento basically admits he's a sexist pig during one scene in this movie; a badge he seems to wear with pride. Just try to get me to complain about it!

-THIS IS NO MYSTERY AT ALL.
If I made this film sound too goofy, I must apologize. It really is played straight with great characters and a well paced story. The actors all do an above average job. What makes it so fun is the audacity of it all. Argento is about as bold as they come when it come to creativity with a camera, gore and nudity. I'd never call the guy a master cinematographer, but he gets huge points for pushing the envelope. Though I make light of it, the story is actually well thought out and cleverly pulls a fast one (or two) on the viewer. I never even mentioned the interesting choice of scenery; some very cool places. Make no mistake, this is not brain food. But it won't bore you either. My biggest problem may be ridiculous expectations for future Argento films currently in the mail. If you want a bloody good time, this is for you. (jeez this is long, sorry).

Story.....3.8 stars
Acting...4 stars
Visuals...4.7 stars
Gordity...5 stars

Average....4.38 Stars
October 1, 2008

a good mind twister in the end

a very good scripted and acted movie. dario always have given giallo with the thrilling appeal to the movies and this one is no exception. there is also very good cinematography in the movie speacialy camera angles when it covers the whole of building and interior as well in the single shot its amazing work from dario keeping in views there was no such advanced equipments that we see today in filmmaking. August 29, 2008

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