Claudio Argento Movies

An English-language throwback to the type of distinctly Italian thriller that earned him the international reputation as "The Italian Hitchcock," Dario Argento's Giallo once again teams the director with producer and younger sibling Claudio Argento to tell the tale of a serial slasher with a penchant for cutting beautiful women. After discovering that her sister has been abducted by a notorious serial killer who operates under the name "Yellow," an American flight attendant enlists the aid of an Italian investigator in seeking out her missing sibling. Asia Argento, Adrien Brody, Emmanuelle Seigner, and Elsa Pataky star in this thriller, penned by screenwriters Jim Agnew and Sean Keller. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The Dario Argento-directed Do You Like Hitchcock? pays homage to the man considered by many to be the master of suspense. A voyeuristic film student senses foul play when a murder strikes at the apartment complex across the street, but the plot, which references such Hitchcock classics as Rear Window and Strangers on a Train, is less important than the style. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Director Dario Argento, best known for his stylishly bloody horror films, revisits the style and themes of his early directorial efforts in this tense crime thriller. A prostitute (Barbara Lerici) discovers one of her customers has a taste for much rougher sex than she's willing to give him; trying to sneak away from her john, she accidentally walks off with one of his scrapbooks, from which she discovers her client apparently committed a series of unsolved murders almost 20 years earlier. The john tracks down the prostitute and murders her to insure her silence; this awakens in him the desire to kill again, and soon he's once again leaving a bloody swath across Italy. Ulisse Moretti (Max Von Sydow), the police detective who investigated the earlier wave of killings, is brought out of retirement when clues link the new murders to those committed in the early '80s, and the aging cop finds his sometimes foggy memory jolted back to recognition by the growing number of bloody victims. Meanwhile, Giacomo (Stefano Dionisi), whose saw his mother being killed by the murderer as a boy, learns that the killer is back at work, and sets out to investigate the case on his own. Non Ho Sonno features an original musical score by the rock band Goblin, who also wrote music for a number of Argento's best-known films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In keeping with the his cult reputation, Italian filmmaker Dario Argento's take on Gaston Leroux's enduring Gothic tale of terror and obsession features plenty of sex and graphic, high-tech gore (although hard-core Argento purists may find the splatter scenes rather sparse). Unlike other renditions of the illustrious Phantom, Argento's version suffers no facial disfigurement and therefore remains unmasked. His creepiness, shown in the early parts of the story, comes from having been abandoned as a baby and raised by rats in the labyrinthine catacombs beneath the Paris Opera. Unaccustomed to humankind, the Phantom (Julian Sands) spends his days in the darkness playing an organ, murdering intruders, saving his rodent family members from the theater's exterminator and occasionally wandering about the opera house. His life changes when he falls in love with beautiful young singer Christine (Asia Argento), understudy to temperamental zaftig diva Carlotta (Nadia Rinaldi). Desperate to have her, the Phantom plays a haunting melody and lures her into the bowels of the great theater. There he will begin a macabre courtship destined to end in tragedy. Those who enjoy finding continuity mistakes will be delighted to discover that while the story is set in 1877, the theater is lighted with electricity, something that did not happen in real life until 1888. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Two well-known directors each adapt stories by Edgar Allen Poe in this horror drama. George Romero's "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" tells how the wife of an elderly, wealthy man and her lover--who also happens to be the husband's private physician--scheme to control his assets. Dying before they can carry out their plans, his soul is caught between life and death while they freeze the body to finish their work. In the Dario Argento-directed "The Black Cat" a crime photographer, known for his photos' gruesome content, kills his girlfriend's titular pet and then his girlfriend. Soon he gets a good look at what he's done. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

In this English-dubbed version of an Italian sci-fi film, a group of aliens lands on the planet in spirit form and take over the bodies of the recently dead. Trouble begins when a toddler tells his dad that he sees his deceased mother walking around every day. When the father investigates, he sees her too, and it soon becomes evident that there's a kind of epidemic of revived bodies going on. However, the aliens are not malevolent, and when their new bodies are gathered into one area by the worried authorities, they give them up. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Dario Argento leaves a distinct and bloody impression with this Italian horror film that took the slasher genre to graphic new limits at the time of its release. Novelist Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa) jets into Rome to promote his new book. Simultaneously, a killer obsessed with Neal begins a brutal series of murders that are followed by cryptic notes to the author. Inspector Germani (Giuliano Gemma) questions Neal, who then begins his own investigation into the bizarre case with the help of his assistant, Anne (Daria Nicolodi), and local youth Gianni (Christian Borromeo). Neal and Gianni follow leads to the home of a TV talk-show host (John Steiner), who is axed to death in front of Gianni while Neal is knocked unconscious. As they close in on the killer, flashbacks show the killer's murderous beginnings and an obsession with red shoes. Meanwhile, Neal's publicist, Bullmer (John Saxon), is revealed to be having an affair with the author's ex-lover, Jane (Veronica Lario), making them both potential suspects. Inspector Germani insists that Neal leave town, but even when he does, the killer strikes again, knifing Bullmer in broad daylight. At the same time, Gianni returns to the home of the dead talk-show host and recalls an important detail about the murder. However, he is strangled before he can tell anyone. At her apartment, Jane is brutally slain just as Inspector Germani arrives to discover the murderer's identity, along with the shocking, twist-filled truth behind the entire case. ~ Patrick Legare, All Movie Guide

Director George A. Romero's epic sequel to his legendary Night of the Living Dead has firmly established itself as the equal of its ground-breaking predecessor. Though shot in 1978 -- ten years after the first films' release -- Dawn's story begins as if the events in Night had happened only a few months before: after shambling armies of the recently-dead take over every major city -- seeking warm human flesh for food -- the U.S. government imposes a state of martial law, sending in special National Guard units to attack and destroy zombie infestation where they find it. Two members of one such unit, Peter (Ken Foree) and Roger (Scott Reiniger) have been tasked to overthrow a nest of zombies in a Pittsburgh housing project (one of the film's most explicitly gory scenes). When the job turns ugly and Peter is forced to terminate his own berserk, racist commanding officer, the pair decide to split the outfit with the help of his friend Stephen (David Emge), a traffic pilot for WGON-TV, and the station's floor manager, Stephen's girlfriend Frances (Gaylen Ross). Together they steal the station's helicopter and head for less-populated areas, but after some narrow scrapes with flesh-hungry redneck ghouls in the country outside Harrisburg, they opt for a more secure hideout. Eventually they find the perfect solution: a massive, sprawling shopping mall. After the lengthy process of purging the building of zombies is complete, the four secure themselves snugly in the miniature city, consigned to live out their lives in a dull but cushy consumer's paradise... but the arrival of a menacing gang of nomadic bikers proves that this is not to be. With their survival instincts weakened by a mallful of toys and trinkets, the crew are again forced to face grim reality as they face both living and undead foes in a final battle. Romero's excellent, multi-layered story combines high-adventure heroics, three-dimensional characters and explicit gore (by the always masterful Tom Savini, who plays a small role as a leering biker) to excellent effect. The subtext comparing the glassy-eyed behavior patterns of the ghouls to those of American consumers is clear, but not overdone: "It's some kind of instinct," Stephen comments, observing the zombies' attraction to the mall; "This was an important place in their lives." Despite the glimmer of hope offered by the film's closing scene, the outlook for humankind is grim. Perhaps it is Frannie who best expresses Dawn's outlook for humanity: "We're not gonna make it, are we?" Several versions of this film are available on video, including a faster-paced European version edited by overseas distributor Dario Argento and a "Director's Cut" with a great deal of exposition restored (though Romero is quoted as having preferred the unrated cut released initially to U.S. theaters). The shooting script also contains a more downbeat ending, which was never filmed. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

The film that has become the master work in Italian horror maestro Dario Argento's canon, Deep Red holds up brilliantly despite the plethora of copycat slasher films it inspired in the years to follow. The film opens with a flashback murder shown from the perspective of a child while an eerie nursery rhyme plays. Cut to the present, pianist Marc Daly (David Hemmings) witnesses the murder of a psychic while chatting with his drunken pal, Carlo (Gabriele Lavia). While the police investigate, Marc joins forces with attractive reporter Gianna (Daria Nicolodi). Once Marc realizes that he is a target for the killer, he seeks help from Giordani (Glauco Mauri), a professor of the paranormal, who soon becomes one of the killer's victims. Marc's research leads him to an abandoned house where he discovers a secret room that hides a corpse. Before he can call the cops, he is knocked out and awakens to find the place in flames while Gianna holds him. Racing to the neighbors to call for help, Marc discovers an important clue that leads him to a nearby school where he finally finds the killer's identity. The madman attacks him, but the police arrive to save Marc. Though the case appears to be solved, Marc comes to the disturbing realization that one piece of the puzzle remains. ~ Patrick Legare, All Movie Guide