This weeks movie is 'Opera' by Italian director Dario Argento. As I have only seen it in Italian I am a bit hazy on the plot details, but thats not really the point of these 'Gialli' horror fillms anyhow is it. The best bit of the film is the very start. The heroine is tied up and needles are taped to her eyelids so if she blinks they will stab her (its a kind of crazy injury-to-eye motif thing to a silly degree), then her boyfriend comes in and gets stabbed in the throat, going through his tongue in sudden severe close up, and the crazy rock music starts up. Its by one of the Goblins, who are an awesome Italian band who worked with Argento for the soundtracks for nearly all his films. The best of their music is in Suspiria where the whole film seems like an excuse for the great music. I had their 'best of..' album once, I wounder where it has gone, I must go find it. The rest of the film is pretty good, crows fly around, people get done in. This film is from my Video Nasty collecting phase when I was younger. (Never did me any harm...)
Friday, 12 February 2010
Films for Friday 3
This weeks movie is 'Opera' by Italian director Dario Argento. As I have only seen it in Italian I am a bit hazy on the plot details, but thats not really the point of these 'Gialli' horror fillms anyhow is it. The best bit of the film is the very start. The heroine is tied up and needles are taped to her eyelids so if she blinks they will stab her (its a kind of crazy injury-to-eye motif thing to a silly degree), then her boyfriend comes in and gets stabbed in the throat, going through his tongue in sudden severe close up, and the crazy rock music starts up. Its by one of the Goblins, who are an awesome Italian band who worked with Argento for the soundtracks for nearly all his films. The best of their music is in Suspiria where the whole film seems like an excuse for the great music. I had their 'best of..' album once, I wounder where it has gone, I must go find it. The rest of the film is pretty good, crows fly around, people get done in. This film is from my Video Nasty collecting phase when I was younger. (Never did me any harm...)
'Video Nasties', ha, those were the days! I detest the current appetite for 'Torture Porn', so I guess I'd probably have some identification with Mary Whitehouse if she were campaigning today.
ReplyDelete(Actually, my preferred Horror kicks these days date back to before the days of gore: The Haunting, Whistle And I'll Come To You, The Stone Tape etc.)
Never liked Argento's use of music, myself; too distracting. Mind you, I wouldn't be mad into his films, anyway.
I've avoided watching any of them new 'torure porn' type films like 'Saw' and 'Hostel' as they look really unpleasant to me. But I do like some gore.
ReplyDeleteAre they stories you mention or films? I'm sure I've read 'Whistle and I'll Come To You' in an old horror anthology..
Those pre-gore mentions are films I have on DVD, but yes, you're right, two are adapted from prose. The Haunting Of Hill House is a book by Shirley Jackson and Oh, Whistle And I'll Come To You, My Lad is a short story by M.R. James, which is probably the best entry in a substantial-enough line of BBC adaptations of James' ghost stories. You'll find it on YouTube. (A Warning To The Curious is also well worth a look. Both films are between 40 and 50 mins.)
ReplyDeleteMeaning: EACH film is between 40 and 50 mins.
ReplyDeleteI have read that then, I read a bunch of MR James stuff a while ago. I'll have a look on you tube when I get a chance.
ReplyDeleteDeffo give Whistle at least a goo - much better than the short story.
ReplyDeleteHi John
ReplyDeleteWatched that 'Whistle and I'll Come to you' this afternoon. It was very good! Very spooky. I'm glad i watched it in the afternoon and not at night. It was a lot better than the short story.
Yeah, it's a class adaptation. The BBC adapted another James, Christmas just gone - twice as long and half as spooky.
ReplyDelete