apart from david lynch and john waters, dario argento may be the only film director whose films i can guarantee i will love. even robert altman made several unwatchable films, woody allen is starting to make films cinemas won't pick up, and wes craven even made some shit with meryl streep
i was reminded of this the other night as i curled up on the couch with a bowl of potato and leek soup (that i has just whipped up in the le creuset, it was great, the recipe is only an ask away) and watched profondo rosso as i filled in time before a pub quiz
although his masterpieces may be profondo rosso and susperia, everything is worth a look. who could resist trauma? a killer on the loose seeking revenge for her baby being decapitated by a falling chandelier AS she gave birth to it. genius. phenomena sees jennifer connely hunting a killer with a fly AND a chimp as her sidekicks, complete with an amazing cabin murder in the swiss alps to open the film. and the rat killing machine operated by deranged midgets in phantom of the opera
no one, but no one, has ever captured a better death scene, well slaughter, than argento. surely an axe to the head is enough to kill someone? but why not take it further by smashing them through a few windows, then hanging them from an electric chord, THEN pushing them through a three story window?
the acting may be at some times dire, the stories more often than not as predictable than an episode of murder she wrote, and unfortunately are only widely available in horrifically dubbed english versions. but all this does not distract from the world class gore and intricately crafted tales of terror.
short of INLAND EMPIRE, this years most anticipated film for me is la terza madre (the mother of tears). the final chaptyer in dario's mother's trilogy (started with susperia and inferno) sees the world's most powerful witches converge on rome to pay homage to a series of suicides that have recently taken place. AND it stars asia argento. guaranteed to the incredible, 2 argentos, horror, witches, gore and rome, what more can we ask for? a UK cinema release. here's hoping. please please please
back to the pub quiz that i mentioned earlier. it was shit, and we came third. the rosemary branch is a great pub, but their quizes not so. SO, if you were looking for something to do on a tuesday, now you know not to go to the rosemary branch, why not join me for an argento film and bowl of soup. next week i will have inferno after it is FINALLY re-released
music to accompany this: of course it has to be anything by goblin for an argento soundtrack, all of it amazing, better than the morricone stuff (for dario that is)
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