Time for another Dario Argento flick, this
time 1982's TENEBRAE. As usual, it's cool to look at, super stylish and has
sweet music (this time by ex-members of Goblin). But, this one's a little
better than OPERA because it doesn't suffer as much in the plot department.
Peter Neal stars as a popular horror novel
author who is in Rome on his latest book tour. Amid accusations that his novels
are misogynistic, a killer starts murdering women in Rome and sending pages of
Neal's work to him with notes explaining the killings are inspired by his work.
We have at least one suspect: Neal's ex wife
(Veronica Lario) has secretly followed him to Rome, and she's not happy. So,
this isn't just a slasher: it's also a mystery, complete with flashbacks of an
unknown origin to a previous murder in the past. The movie keeps you guessing
until the end.
Peter Neal is likable as the successful but
hounded author, and the rest of the cast is good, as well, particularly
Giuliano Gemma as the detective on the case and John Saxon of "Enter the
Dragon" and "Nightmare on Elm Street" fame as Neal's agent or
manager, or whatever he is.
The movie works as an interesting comment from
Argento on himself as a filmmaker: the same accusations about the exploitation
of both violence and women, and the possibly misogynistic nature of the
author's work could be leveled against Argento. He doesn't do much in this film
to say what he really thinks about these things, but he presents them to show
that he knows what he's doing and isn't a slave to creative impulses beyond his
control.
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