Opera

1987 operatic horror movie

Rating: 15/20

Plot: A killer stalks an opera singer.

With Argento, you can assume you're getting style over substance, but nothing can prepare you for the raven ensemble cast here. Lots of perspective shots--some from the ravens, some from unseen figures behind vents, some from stalking murderers--and as you'd expect with this director, a great use of color and some gory deaths. I watched with closed captioning because some of the dubbed dialogue was hard to pick up, and at one point, the caption read [wet stabbing]. There was a lot of wet violence in this one, so if that's your thing, this will be your thing.

Maybe those were crows. I'm telling you--ravens/crows is my new alligators/crocodiles.

Here's something I learned from this one--"opera singers are incredibly horny." Who knew? Ironically, the cute little prima donna played by Cristina Marsillach isn't at all. In fact, in the lone scene where things are about to get sexy, she's not able to get it up, so to speak. It would have been the most disappointing part of her boyfriend's night if there wasn't wet stabbing in his future.

Is "stupid artsy-fartsy" a genre? This mash-up of artsy-fartsy visuals, inventive camera work, and opera pretensions with a pretty dumb plot is a mix that gives this a unique voice. I wasn't the biggest fan of Suspiria when I saw that one, but I think I must have been in the mood for Argento's stupid artsy-fartsiness this time.