Director: Dario Argento
Year: 1987
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: Terror at the Opera
Genre: Giallo
Plot:
Working on a new opera adaptation, a young singer takes over for the lead following an accident to the star and debuts on its opening night, but as the screening engagements continue she begins to be tormented by a crazed stalker while a strange series of murders strikes the people involved.
Review:
As one of the more impressive Argento films, this features a lot to like. As is usual with Argento films, most of that comes from the astounding technical qualities on display that help to push this beyond the usual type of fair in the scene. The main aspect of that is the technical look of the film as the camera work is incredible, and might pass for some of the best of his career. A shot following a character walking along a hotel room hallway is done by moving over the furniture in the way and following them out is a real testament to the creativity to imagine such a scene. The other, more important highlight of the camera work is the incredibly well-thought-out shot of a crow flying over a crowded opera house attendees which is shown through the crow's eye view swooping and sweeping in a continuous, uninterrupted shot. Not only was it genius creatively, but it's also incorporated and pulled off quite marvelously. On top of that, the material in the opera house preparing for the production that takes place in the majestic opera house carries an air of dignity and grace that comes off quite well and is a great example of why he's such an impressive director.
Some of the other trademarks of the genre are in full swing here, helping to enhance this one beyond just the stand-out technical aspects. The central storyline here is a great touch, adding a fantastic twist to an overtly familiar setup of the psychotic admirer taking his obsessive desire to see his favorite performer rise in the ranks of the theater world and take out anyone who stands in the way of that happening. It’s a fairly fun way to compose the type of melodrama associated with the original story into a fully-fledged genre outing with the murders taking out the surrounding party in her inner circle bringing about a great touch for the inclusion of such stalking scenes later on with the idea taking centerstage once it becomes obvious that’s what’s going on. The fact that this is happening to a character like her who is far more broken and fragmented than she lets on, including the tragedies in her family past and the series of cold, professional relationships employed here that threaten to deter the ensuing investigation into the series of events surrounding the performances helps to make everything come together at a rather intriguing note and delivering a strong storyline.
It’s also quite effective at the other big aspects of the genre by including the gory, over-the-top murder scenes and flashy setpieces. The murders here are pretty good, not among the best of his career but certainly worthy of mention as one is stabbed in the throat with the tip of the blade puncturing through to the mouth, a series of stabs with a giant pair of scissors, being burned alive, and the centerpiece gunshot kill. After frantically trying to enter an apartment with several key characters by posing as a policeman, one of them looks into the peephole to see what he's shouting about, and the killer raises a gun to the peephole, and in slow motion, the bullet slides through the lock, into the eye and destroys a phone across the room. It is brilliantly executed, unnerving in its setting off a chain reaction of events afterward, and a perfect example of Argento's predilection for flashy set-pieces. The killer also has one other innovative and memorable idea where they tie a piece of tape under the eyes attached with needles, forcing them open which is quite an inventive idea and brilliant in its conception. The way to expose the killer is one of the best ideas around and is executed quite brilliantly, leaving this with some strong action in the sequence as well as the other fine camera work present to give this a strong set of positives.
There isn’t much to dislike here but it does have some minor drawbacks. One of the major downfalls here is trying to make any sense of the finale which will result in one of the most throbbing headaches ever. There's a general sense of what was expected here, especially with the twist about how it evolves from the setup that came before and leads to the finale chase throughout the countryside, but to string the events together that are played out in the film sometimes requires great leaps of logic that shouldn't normally be true. It’s not just a bad idea to include this sequence as it derails the momentum of the film trying to throw on more twist but its inclusion makes the film run on far longer than it should so it’s not just a thematic issue but also a concept one as well, but as this is usual for Argento films, this shouldn't be much of a surprise. Plus, it’s really the only complaint here beyond factors that aren’t just personal preference issues featured within.
Overview: ****.5/5
One of Argento’s best, hurt only by a couple of nagging factors as while there are a couple of others to better get into Argento, it’s still one of the best ones he's done. Any Argento-phile will find much to love here and is a recommended pick for Eurohorror fans, giallo completists, or anyone else interested while only those not interested in those factors should heed caution.
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