Director: Dario Argento
Starring: Anthony Franciosa, Daria Nicolodi, John Saxon
Certificate: 18
Running Time: 101 Minutes
Synopsis: A razor-wielding psycho is stalking the horror writer Peter Neal, in Rome to promote his latest work, Tenebre. But the author isn’t the obsessive killer’s only target, the beautiful women who surround him are doomed as one by one, they fall victim to the murderer’s slashing blade… Will fiction and reality blur as fear and madness take hold? Watch in terror as by turns the cast fall victim to the sadistic imagination of Dario Argento, Italy’s master of horror.
Given this was my first viewing of the Dario Argento’s giallo classic since my very early teens, it’s safe to say the young gore-hound in me, obsessed with the genre way back then and still am, has most definitely grown up. Like most people of my age, I’ve learned to appreciate how a film is put together and the painstaking process some put into make the best job they can. There were plenty of woefully inadequate entries amongst the infamous ‘video nasty’ era and I even knew that from such a time, yet, I remember very little of the plot of TENEBRAE, but a whole host of it’s vivid imagery.
Re-watching after such a long period, and in such a striking remastered print as opposed to the grainy VHS bootleg, still threw up a lot of memories for me. And after recently viewing Argento’s DRACULA 3D, I was expecting to mention how the mighty have fallen as I struggled to keep a straight face during his adaptation of Bram Stoker’s bloodsucker. Seriously, it’s shockingly bad (just read our Luke’s review). However, I’ve come to the realisation Argento’s direction may well be his weakest trait. Now don’t get me wrong. TENEBRAE is a great, gore-filled thrill ride that boasts a number of sick surprises, but can you really say he gets the best out of his actors? His back catalogue is littered with genuine classics held back by some laughable performances and exaggerated acting. Of course, some not helped by some shoddy dub mixing.
As a story, TENEBRAE is most definitely one of Argento’s finest, if not his best. It makes a strong, bold statement about the human psyche and what it takes to deceive… and the script is pretty damn solid. Certainly lead Anthony Franciosa is the stand-out as famed American horror novelist Peter Neal, arriving in Rome for a spot of book promotion, only to find himself caught up in a series of murders inspired by his recent work titled ‘Tenebrae’. An obsessive fan taking his love of the material way too far. Unfortunately, there is little else to praise in the way it’s put together. Well, some marvellous tracking shots, slasher set-pieces and that memorable synthesised score from Simonetti-Pignatelli-Morante (better known as the three former members of the cult prog-rock band Goblin). Hell, TENEBRAE is blast that you can’t help but wish had some really great acting. Even the usually great genre vet John Saxon is not void of criticism. He’s just as poor as many of the supporting players.
Perhaps that’s part of it’s charm and why he’s such a celebrated filmmaker. His films are of a time. Stuck in the past and looked back with fondness in much the same way as the camp Hammer horror classics of the 1960s and 70s. Given that aforementioned recent relaunch of the vicious vamp, maybe he’s laughing at us? Times change, we grow up, yet Argento… stays the same!
Special Features:
- Limited Edition SteelBook™ packaging featuring original artwork
- Newly remastered High Definition digital transfer of the film
- Presented in High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD
- Optional original English & Italian Mono Audio tracks (uncompressed PCM Mono 2.0 Audio on the Blu-ray)
- Optional English subtitles for Italian audio and English SDH subtitles for English audio for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio Commentary with authors and critics Kim Newman and Alan Jones
- Audio Commentary with Argento expert Thomas Rostock
- Introduction by star Daria Nicolodi
- The Unsane World of Tenebrae: An interview with director Dario Argento
- Screaming Queen! Daria Nicolodi remembers Tenebrae
- A Composition for Carnage: Composer Claudio Simonetti on Tenebrae
- Goblin: ‘Tenebrae’ and ‘Phenomena’ Live from the Glasgow Arches
- Brand new interview with Maitland McDonagh, author of Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento
- Original Trailer
- Exclusive collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by Alan Jones, author of Profondo Argento, an interview with cinematographer Luciano Tovoli and an appreciation of the film by director Peter Strickland, illustrated with original posters and lobby cards
TENEBRAE is available from Monday 16th December in a limited edition steelbook form via Arrow Films
