From: wildman@athena.mit.edu (Timothy Worsley)
Newsgroups: alt.cult-movies
Subject: Re: DARIO ARGENTO
Date: 20 Aug 92 08:49:31 GMT
Reply-To: eprice@sql.sybase.com
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

In article <168487F14.PETERC@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu>
PETERC@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu (Peter Correnty) writes:

>[...]
>THE DEVIL'S DAUGHTER  (1990) - weird modern-day demon tale.

Hey!  That's one I haven't heard of.  Any references?  (Like, where
could I read about, get it on video, will it be released theatrically
in the US, etc.)

>I met Argento in New York when his biography was being distributed
>("Broken Mirrors, Broken Minds").

It's not a biography.  But it's mildly interesting reading (it could
be a lot better though).  Warning: it contains SPOILERS GALORE!  (And
it doesn't have any mention of "The Devil's Daughter", which is why
I'm so curious about it...)

>All along, Argento had the rights, refusing to relinquish them because
>he did not want the movie to be butchered by the editors.

I'm glad to hear that.  But I'm intensely NON-glad that there seem to
be so few (none?) distributors willing to release his films the way he
wants them to be shown.  I'm trying to avoid seeing any more Argento
on video (and I'm certainly no-way-in-*hell* going to get any more of
the edited versions) -- I wish theaters would play these flicks --
UNCUT of course!!!  Why should that be so hard?  Is it asking too
much???

>BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE was cut by 30 seconds.
>DEEP RED was chopped down from 121 minutes to 99 miuntes removing
>much of the violence/gore and some essential plot elements!!
>SUSPIRIA was reduced to 92 minutes from 97, INFERNO from 107 mins.
>to 83!!!!, TENEBRAE from 110 to 91!!!! and PHENOMENA from 120 mins
>to 80!!!  No wonder many of the critics find Argento's films
>incoherent.  I remember when I first saw SUSPIRIA in the theaters,
>it was the uncut version.  Two years later, SUSPIRIA showed up on
>cable in its butchered state.  Five minutes didn't destroy the plot,
>but films like DEEP RED and INFERNO made little sense when I saw
>them for the first time in truncated form.  Fortunately, video
>companies have released Argento's films completely uncut!

Has Video Watchdog or something ever done an Argento issue??  You
realize that most of these numbers differ from those given in _Broken
Mirrors/Broken Minds_ *and* from those given by Leonard Maltin or by
the _Video Movie Guide_...  What's your source, Pete?

(eg, you say Suspiria was 97m, cut to 92m.  THe Video Movie Guide says
it's 97m -- the US video release.  McDonagh's filmography says it is
100m.  But on the laserdisc one of the trailers says something like
"The only thing scarier than the last 12 minutes of Suspiria are the
first 92" which would make 104m!)  Which brings me to...

A FLAME:

WHY THE FUCK CAN'T WE JUST HAVE THE DIRECTOR OF A FILM FINISH IT AND
SAY, OK, HERE IT IS, *THIS* IS THE FILM AND IT IS EXACLTY <n> MINUTES
(or <n> reels or whatever) AND EVERYONE SHOWS THE MOVIE LIKE IT IS
SUPPOSED TO BE SEEN!!!  WHY SO MUCH CONFUSION!?!?!??

Sorry about that.

>Argento is working on (completed?) a sequel to THE CHURCH which is
>due out later this year.

Did he direct it?  Or just produce it?  Do you mean "out" like out in
(US and/or Italian?) theaters?  Or video?

>Pete.

I'm still waiting for someone to tell me where I can find Domovideo,
Eccentri-cinema or any other place that carries all this supposedly
available uncut Argento...  Just what city it's in would do -- I can
call information myself!!  Please?

And in response to that response to my enthusiasm for Suspiria in the
theater as it is meant to be seen: YOU SHOULD FIRE-BOMB THAT FUCKING
THEATER!  That was irrelevant, man, ANY film can be ruined if complete
and utter morons run the theater...  They turned the sound done for
the loud parts?!?  My God...  I would have thought that any
self-respecting Argento fan in the situation you describe would find
the management and practice what they've been watching (assuming one
had a straight razor with you anyway)...  (And what makes you think
there are no prints available that are any good?  What is your source
for that claim?  The print I saw looked good, and that was about a
year ago.)

If anyone can answer any of my pleas for information, I Thank You very
much!  Grazie tanto!  (or whatever)

-a very annoyed Ed (not Tim), whose email address is
eprice@sql.sybase.com (not wildman@...)
Newsgroups: alt.cult-movies