From: PETERC@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu (Peter Correnty)
Newsgroups: alt.cult-movies
Subject: Re: DARIO ARGENTO
Date: 19 Aug 92 13:02:11 GMT
Organization: Yale University

In article <1992Aug18.042944.3820@oswego.Oswego.EDU>
jprisco@oswego.Oswego.edu writes:
 
>
>Does anyone have any information on director Dario Argento?  I recently
>saw SUSPIRIA, and found it to be one of the most visually stunning films
>I have ever seen, horror or otherwise.  A friend also lent me OPERA,
>but I haven't watched it yet.
>
>Also, when was SUSPIRIA made? And have The Goblins put out any albums
>in the U.S.?
>
>Thanks in advance!
>
>
>--
>Joseph Prisco                        BITNET                          INTERNet
 
I saw SUSPIRIA during its original US theatrical release in 1977.
The movie was made in 1976.  The original soundtrack to SUSPIRIA
was, at one one time, available.  I doubt you'll find it now
unless you go to out-of-the-mainstream music stores.
 
Other Argento films to see:
 
BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (1969)  - Tony Musante witnesses a
murder in Rome.  Strings together clues to solve the mystery.
 
FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET (1972)  - Scary psychological movie.
The last thing that a murder victim saw has been recorded on the
iris of his eye.
 
DEEP RED (aka THE HATCHET MURDERS)  (1975) -  Excellent psycho
tale with bloody axe murders and a complicated plot.  See my
earlier post.
 
SUSPIRIA (1976)  -  scary witch tale set in German ballet school.
 
INFERNO (1980)  -  "sequel" to SUSPIRIA.  I thought it was as
scary as SUSPIRIA, and equally as visually compelling.  Apparently,
most people don't.
 
TENEBRAE (1982)  - unedited version of UNSANE.  A killer is mimicking
the murders he reads in a mystery novel.
 
PHENOMENA (1985) - CREEPERS minus 40 minutes.  Definitely try to get
the unedited version.  Weird insect movie.  Jennifer O'Connell can
telepathically control insects.
 
TERROR AT THE OPERA (1988) - OPERA.  I hope your friend lent you the
unedited version.   Remake of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA as only Argento
could do it.
 
THE DEVIL'S DAUGHTER  (1990) - weird modern-day demon tale.
 
TWO EVIL EYES (1991?) - second segment was directed by Argento.
 
 
Argento also has his own production company called DAC which has produced
films like DAWN OF THE DEAD, DEMONS, DEMONS 2, THE CHURCH, ...
 
I met Argento in New York when his biography was being distributed
("Broken Mirrors, Broken Minds").   He's very soft-spoken and loves
his fans.  He had just come from a convention where they had shown
SUSPIRIA ... the EDITED version!  The reason why SUSPIRIA had taken so
long to be released on video was that Magnum Entertainment spent
months trying to find who had the rights to SUSPIRIA.  All along,
Argento had the rights, refusing to relinquish them because he did
not want the movie to be butchered by the editors.
 
Every Argento film before 1990, with the exclusion of FOUR FLIES ON
GREY VELVET, was badly chopped by American censors.
 
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!
 
Argento is working on (completed?) a sequel to THE CHURCH which is
due out later this year.
 
Pete.