(1982/ITALY)
AKA-TENEBRAE, UNSANE
REVIEWED BY-STEVE GENIER DIRECTED BY-DARIO ARGENTO CAST-ANTHONY FRANCIOSA, CHRISTIAN BORROMEO, MIRELLA D’ANGELO, VERONICA LARIO, ANIA PIERONI, DARIO NICOLODI, JOHN SAXON, JOHN STEINER and LARA WENDEL. SOURCE-RAPTOR ENTERTAINMENT DVD (PAL REGION 2 / 102 MINS / 2005)
After taking several years and a handful of horror based films off such as SUSPIRIA and INFERNO, Dario Argento returns to the genre that was his bread and butter, the giallo. This time with the film TENEBRE, a story about an American writer who travels to Rome only to discover that there’s a crazy lunatic killing people in the same fashion as his latest novel, TENEBRE. Argento, though he was never afraid to use the extremes of gore and violence in his earlier gialli, his short break with directing both SUSPIRIA and INFERNO he bring a more edgier slice and dice back to the classic giallo. Of course this isn’t that only dimension to Argento, he isn’t called the Italian Hitchcock for nothing, his vision is as sharp as ever before. Making room to both experiment and break new ground in Italian cinema. Using several new and very interesting techniques scattering through TENEBRE, from his famous innovative single shot crane transition scaling up a wall to utilizing sets, lighting and props to bring a total raw and very blood storyline to the forefront forcing the viewer onto the edge of their seats.
It doesn’t stop there either, Argento once again employs three out of the four original members of Goblin (Simonetti, Mornate and Pignatelli) to bring a very fresh and hip score that encases every scene with total perfection. It’s very interesting knowing that TENEBRE’s main theme was a smash hit on the Italian dance floors. All these elements along with the strong cast of actors recruited in TENEBRE add up to one of Argento’s strongest films to date, of course SUSPIRIA is still tops in my books. Though it gives Dario’s animal trilogy a run for it’ s money. It’s certainly a shame that we here in the western world had to suffer for years with the very cut UNSANE version, knowing that there was an uncut God out there somewhere that would grace us with the full version some day. Sadly that eventually came with the grainy multi viewed bootlegs that were circulating around back in the day.
A good films is never complete without a great cast, something that Argento really never leaves out. TENEBRE is certainly no exception either, bringing in many Euro-cult vets such as John Saxon (VIOLENT NAPLES, CANNIBAL APOCALYPSE) , John Steiner (YOR, THE LAST HUNTER), and of course his partner at the time Daria Nicolodi. All surrounding TENEBRE’s main cast of Anthony Franciosa. Of course I could go on with the many others that appear in this film that have a long list of great or classic Euro-cult outings, but we’ll go with the above mentioned. Well, one more that being the likes of Giuliano Gemma who plays Detective Germini, and is known for his many roles in some classic spaghetti westerns. Gemma in my humble opinion really steals the show here. Hey not to put down the time the beautiful Ania Pieroni puts in. Even the controversy behind the dream sequences Dario slips in and uses the transgendered Eva Robins. TENEBRE is full of surprises as each character has his or hers own unique outing.
Like briefly mentioned above, it wasn’t until DVD made it’s way into our homes that we were able to see a legitimately full uncut version of TENEBRE after suffering years of either endearing UNSANE or a very bad mass produced bootleg. Now, there are so many different opinions out there of TENEBRE, especially after Anchor Bay opened the can of worms. Now, it’s the German outfit Raptor Entertainments turn to show there version of this classic giallo from Argneto, and let me tell you, it’s one that is well worth the mola. It may not have the audio commentary the Anchor Bay disc had, but it certainly makes up for that and much more in the way of it’s audio options and special features. The print itself is nearly flawless though colors wash in the lit scenes, but certainly nothing too drastic, presented in a very clean non-anamorphic wide-screen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 accompanied by several audio options that are exactly what one would be looking for. Ranging from either English or German 5.1 to English, German or Italian 2.0. All of which are very crisp and quite clean.
The special features start off with a bang. Giving us a 3o odd minute rare interview with both Argento and Nicolodi talking about both of their careers. Though Argento’s English is quite broken, turning to Daria for help at times throughout the interview. It's amazing how Asia Argento looks and even at times sounds like Daria, this is never more true then during this interview. Also there are a couple of short featurettes on behind the scenes for both effects equipment and on special effects. Both hosted or discussed with Dario Argento explaining the usages of foley to the various other effects used in TENEBRE. There is also a sequence where they display the alternative ending music in both the US version and the original Italian version, explaining why the changes. Rounding out the rest is the original US trailer for TENEBRE. Raptor also include a booklet with liner notes on the film displaying some great still shots and poster art of TENEBRE. All inclosed in a covered keep case, the case being clear with some great art work on each side. If you are both an Argento fan and region free, I would highly recommend this disc over the Anchor Bay release.
STORY/FILM-4/5 BITCH SLAPS PICTURE-3.5/5 BITCH SLAPS AUDIO-4.5/5 BITCH SLAPS EXTRAS-3.5/5 BITCH SLAPS OVERALL DVD-4/5 BITCH SLAPS Purchase this from X-Ploited Cinema
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