After the lackluster reception of Inferno, the second entry in his supernaturally inclined Three Mothers trilogy, Dario Argento pivoted back to the giallo genre that he’d helped put on the world-cinema map with the release of The Bird with the Crystal Plumage back in 1970. Not content to merely “return to form,” and plagued by some personal demons of his own, Argento unleashed the supreme meta-giallo Tenebrae, an endlessly reflexive murder mystery about the solving of murder mysteries.
The notion that Tenebrae is primarily concerned with the conditions of its own making is signaled straight away. The first thing we see is a copy of a book also called Tenebrae. A voiceover narrator declaims a passage that describes murder as a liberating, creative act. What’s more, the scene introduces two of the most elemental bits of giallo iconography: the black gloves worn by the killer and a shiny cutthroat razor.
The notion that Tenebrae is primarily concerned with the conditions of its own making is signaled straight away. The first thing we see is a copy of a book also called Tenebrae. A voiceover narrator declaims a passage that describes murder as a liberating, creative act. What’s more, the scene introduces two of the most elemental bits of giallo iconography: the black gloves worn by the killer and a shiny cutthroat razor.
- 9/26/2023
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
Welcome back to Let’s Scare Bryan to Death, where this month we’re diving into a heaping helping of giallo. Now, I’ve never been shy about sharing my misgivings with the giallo subgenre. My inability to get over the cognitive dissonance instilled by the wonky dubbing and the convoluted mystery elements usually keep me from truly loving Italian horror’s most famous import. But although I’m too often underwhelmed by the overall product, I find at least something to like about any giallo I watch. So I’m always up for trying a new one, especially if I get a chance to see the great John Saxon wearing a very silly fedora.
With that in mind, I’m very grateful to this month’s guest, Mark O. Estes, as he’s introducing me to Tenebrae, the 1982 offering from giallo maestro Dario Argento. You may know Estes as...
With that in mind, I’m very grateful to this month’s guest, Mark O. Estes, as he’s introducing me to Tenebrae, the 1982 offering from giallo maestro Dario Argento. You may know Estes as...
- 3/30/2022
- by Bryan Christopher
- DailyDead
There's no denying that Italian director Dario Argento is something of a legend among horror fans, myself included, but equally there's no denying that he hasn't really done anything not only of note, but even remotely interesting in the film department in perhaps the last couple of decades. Granted, he did turn in a couple of half decent episodes of Mick Gariss's mostly enjoyable Masters of Horror offerings, but even they weren't a patch on his earlier work, of which one of the finest examples is Tenebrae.
Lumped in with the Video Nasties business nearly thirty years ago (yes, it was that long ago), Tenebrae is a wonderfully deceptive film in that every time I sit down to watch it, and I confess it's been a good decade since my last viewing, I always remember it as being a dark, serious movie, but in reality it's a very funny film,...
Lumped in with the Video Nasties business nearly thirty years ago (yes, it was that long ago), Tenebrae is a wonderfully deceptive film in that every time I sit down to watch it, and I confess it's been a good decade since my last viewing, I always remember it as being a dark, serious movie, but in reality it's a very funny film,...
- 1/9/2014
- Shadowlocked
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