It does confirm Argento's dedication to the technicalities of constructing images - Grand Guignol for L'Uomo Vogue, perhaps - but you'll still end up feeling you've left some vital digestive organs back in the seat.
Tenebrae
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Italy · 1982
1h 41m
Director Dario Argento
Starring Anthony Franciosa, John Saxon, Daria Nicolodi, Giuliano Gemma
Genre Horror, Mystery, Thriller
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Peter Neal is an American writer who has traveled to Rome to promote his latest book, “Tenebrae,” but he is stalked by a serial killer bent on harassing him and killing all people associated with his work on the book. A riveting, suspense filled look at the intersection of art and reality.
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Entertainment Weekly by Chris Nashawaty
Directed by Dario Argento, a.k.a. the Italian Hitchcock, the remastered giallo Tenebre is crammed with artsy camera work, intricate Rube Goldbergian death scenes, and a gruesome final reel where blood flows like the Tiber.
Tenebre is a riveting defense of auteur theory, ripe with self-reflexive discourse and various moral conflicts. It’s both a riveting horror film and an architect’s worst nightmare.
Franciosa and John Saxon (as his agent) turn in amusing performances, and Argento makes some points about the intersection of art, reality, and personality, but the director's stunning trademark setpieces, presented here in a fully restored version, provide the real reason to watch.
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