Over the past few months I’ve come to appreciate the genre
of horror films known as giallo more than I did in the past. While I’d seen
several of the movies long ago I never quite got what the whole interest in
them was. I get it now. It’s a style, the way a story is told, the images that
combine with those to make a compelling movie. I’ve discovered movies I missed
and gone back to revisit some I saw long ago. TENEBRAE falls into that latter
category.
Anthony Franciosa stars as Peter Neal, an author who
specializes in horror filled tomes revolving around murder. In Italy to promote
his latest book he suddenly finds himself in the midst of a real life serial
killing situation. It seems that the killer must be a fan as he’s murdering
people similar to the styles used in Neal’s books and stuffing pages from his
books in their mouths.
As the film moves forward more questions come to mind. Is
the killer someone influenced by the work of Neal or is it actually Neal
himself doing the killing? What tie with Neal does the killer have, a personal
connection or just that of crazed fan? Who will the next victim of the killer
be and do all the victims have something in common? All is revealed by the end
with something most viewers won’t see coming.
First off let’s start with the acting. There isn’t an actor
in the bunch here who doesn’t turn in a fine performance. Franciosa, a regular
on numerous television series in the sixties and seventies, does a fantastic
job as Neal, giving him that investigative edge when it comes to trying to
solve the identity of the murderer while at the same time presenting himself as
a likely suspect. A nice trick if you can pull it off and he does so quit well.
John Saxon, a man who starred in what is considered the first giallo film, is
on hand as well doing a great job as Neal’s agent. The other actors also turn
in great performances though I’m honestly not as familiar with their previous
work, the only exception of which is Daria Nicolodi who has starred in several
giallo works and was also the longtime companion of director Dario Argento.
Dario Argento. Among the directors most noted for creating
and giving life to this genre, Argento is the one who made it more mainstream
than ever and who led it from simple murder mysteries into the realm of horror
with supernatural touches in several films. He takes the various elements of
the genre, the black gloved hands, the violent deaths, the bright colors and
camera angles and makes them his own. The blood spilled in Argento’s films
always flows bright red and bursts forth more so than earlier examples of the
genre and yet in an artistic way that doesn’t force you to turn your head. His
style is truly recognizable and puts him among the greats of film history.
As I said, I’ve watched films in this genre in the past and
TENEBRAE is one of those films. I even recall having it in the video store I
once owned, a new release that I was sure fans would embrace. But it never
really quite caught on in my area and neither did the whole giallo genre. Even
I wasn’t quick to embrace it but at least I recognized it existed. In part that
might have been because the quality of the movies at the time left much to be
desired. It wasn’t that they were terrible but still, the transfers were
usually soft focused and dubbing was terrible. That all changed with DVD and
more so now with blu-ray. When coupled with the treatment of this film by
Synapse it gets even better.
Synapse has released a new version of the film on blu that
is something to behold. The quality, the clarity, the crispness of the image is
amazing. This new version features a supervised color correction and
restoration of a 1080p scan from the original camera negative, presented in the
original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. What that means is the best quality picture to
watch that has ever been offered.
In
addition to that there are a number of other extras worth noting. There is a
commentary track by film critic and Argento expert Maitland Mcdonagh. The
blu-ray version includes a feature length documentary, YELLO FEVER: THE RISE
AND FALL OF THE GIALLO by High Rise Productions discussing the rise in
popularity of the genre from its early roots in crime fiction and on through
its influence on slasher films into the world today. Also included are the
original end credits sequence from the films U.S. version title UNSANE,
alternate opening credits and an international trailer.
Synapse is doing a great job with the way they’re handling
releases like this and it makes fans and movie lovers grow anxious to see what
they have next in store. Right now they’re taking orders for another Argento
film, PHEOMENA, and I for one can’t wait to see what they do with it. If
nothing else I’m certain that we’ll get the best looking version of the film,
another among those I once saw in low quality VHS. With the care they’re
showing to the films of Argento it just makes you wish they could be
responsible for handling all of his films.
Click here to order.
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