After the lackluster reception of Inferno, the second entry in his supernaturally inclined Three Mothers trilogy, Dario Argento pivoted back to the giallo genre that he’d helped put on the world-cinema map with the release of The Bird with the Crystal Plumage back in 1970. Not content to merely “return to form,” and plagued by some personal demons of his own, Argento unleashed the supreme meta-giallo Tenebrae, an endlessly reflexive murder mystery about the solving of murder mysteries.
The notion that Tenebrae is primarily concerned with the conditions of its own making is signaled straight away. The first thing we see is a copy of a book also called Tenebrae. A voiceover narrator declaims a passage that describes murder as a liberating, creative act. What’s more, the scene introduces two of the most elemental bits of giallo iconography: the black gloves worn by the killer and a shiny cutthroat razor.
The notion that Tenebrae is primarily concerned with the conditions of its own making is signaled straight away. The first thing we see is a copy of a book also called Tenebrae. A voiceover narrator declaims a passage that describes murder as a liberating, creative act. What’s more, the scene introduces two of the most elemental bits of giallo iconography: the black gloves worn by the killer and a shiny cutthroat razor.
- 9/26/2023
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
[This October is "Gialloween" on Daily Dead, as we celebrate the Halloween season by diving into the macabre mysteries, creepy kills, and eccentric characters found in some of our favorite giallo films! Keep checking back on Daily Dead this month for more retrospectives on classic, cult, and altogether unforgettable gialli, and visit our online hub to catch up on all of our Gialloween special features!]
While Tenebrae wasn’t my first foray into Italian horror (that honor would go to Suspiria), it was my very first experience with Giallo cinema, which is probably why it’s always been my favorite entry in this subgenre of mystery thrillers. I first watched Tenebrae on a whim somewhere between the ages of 14 and 16, and while I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t totally “get it” at the time, there was something endlessly fascinating about it all the same that completely hooked me as a viewer and as a horror fan.
As I got older, I tucked Tenebrae away somewhere in the back of my brain, and it wasn’t until I went to Coachella 2008, of all places, when the film would find its way back into my life. It was on the final night of Coachella when I decided to ditch out on Roger Waters...
While Tenebrae wasn’t my first foray into Italian horror (that honor would go to Suspiria), it was my very first experience with Giallo cinema, which is probably why it’s always been my favorite entry in this subgenre of mystery thrillers. I first watched Tenebrae on a whim somewhere between the ages of 14 and 16, and while I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t totally “get it” at the time, there was something endlessly fascinating about it all the same that completely hooked me as a viewer and as a horror fan.
As I got older, I tucked Tenebrae away somewhere in the back of my brain, and it wasn’t until I went to Coachella 2008, of all places, when the film would find its way back into my life. It was on the final night of Coachella when I decided to ditch out on Roger Waters...
- 10/31/2020
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Stars: Anthony Franciosa, Dario Nicolodi, John Saxon, Guiliano Gemma | Written and Directed by Dario Argento
Deep Red, Opera, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Suspiria… Dario Argento is one of the most influential and beloved horror directors of all time, and with the list of films he’s made sits an array of classics, many of which fall into the giallo genre, popularised by Argento himself. In that list and in that genre, sits Tenebrae. It’s been called one of Argento’s greatest achievements, it’s been called one of the very best giallo films of all time, and it remains a favourite among genre fans all over the world. There’s a damn good reason for that.
Tenebrae, made all the way back in 1982, was a story conceived by Argento that he formed into a screenplay and directed. It follows Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa), a novelist who is...
Deep Red, Opera, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Suspiria… Dario Argento is one of the most influential and beloved horror directors of all time, and with the list of films he’s made sits an array of classics, many of which fall into the giallo genre, popularised by Argento himself. In that list and in that genre, sits Tenebrae. It’s been called one of Argento’s greatest achievements, it’s been called one of the very best giallo films of all time, and it remains a favourite among genre fans all over the world. There’s a damn good reason for that.
Tenebrae, made all the way back in 1982, was a story conceived by Argento that he formed into a screenplay and directed. It follows Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa), a novelist who is...
- 8/23/2019
- by Chris Cummings
- Nerdly
House On The Edge Of The Park
Stars: David Hess, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Annie Belle, Christian Borromeo, Lorraine De Selle | Written by Gianfranco Clerici, Vincenzo Mannino | Directed by Ruggero Deodato
After helping a young couple fix their car, Alex (Hess) and his friend Ricky (Radice) are invited to an upscale house party where they are ridiculed by their debauched young hosts. Alex, psychopath that he is, decides that he, Alex and his straight edged razor deserve some fun. Together the pair take the presumably unprepared partygoers on a journey of rape, violence and debasement… Little do they know that their prey are not all they seem, and have a special surprise in store for the criminal duo.
Taking inspiration from Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left and starring David Hess, who played the villainous Krug in Craven’s movie, House on the Edge of the Park is widely...
Stars: David Hess, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Annie Belle, Christian Borromeo, Lorraine De Selle | Written by Gianfranco Clerici, Vincenzo Mannino | Directed by Ruggero Deodato
After helping a young couple fix their car, Alex (Hess) and his friend Ricky (Radice) are invited to an upscale house party where they are ridiculed by their debauched young hosts. Alex, psychopath that he is, decides that he, Alex and his straight edged razor deserve some fun. Together the pair take the presumably unprepared partygoers on a journey of rape, violence and debasement… Little do they know that their prey are not all they seem, and have a special surprise in store for the criminal duo.
Taking inspiration from Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left and starring David Hess, who played the villainous Krug in Craven’s movie, House on the Edge of the Park is widely...
- 11/2/2011
- by Phil
- Nerdly
Tenebrae (aka Unsane) (1982) D: Dario Argento Anthony Franciosa, Christian Borromeo, John Saxon and Daria Nicolodi The idea of an unseen killer slashing his or her way through unsuspecting victims with brutal escalation is not distinctly American. Italian giallo has been around for decades. For the uninitiated, giallo can be hard to define, but imagine a combination of film noir nihilism, slasher-movie gore, and operatic drama. Giallo master Mario Bava's Twitch of the Death Nerve is widely credited as a direct influence on Wes Craven and Sean Cunningham. Bava's disciple, Dario...
- 10/4/2010
- by Dustin Dunaway, Colorado Springs Classic Movies Examiner
- Examiner Movies Channel
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