31 Nights of Terror #24 - Tenebre (1982)

Tenebre (1982)
Director: Dario Argento
Starring: Anthony Franciosa, Christian Borromeo, Daria Nicolodi, John Saxon
Format: DVD (Anchor Bay)

- I haven't seen this movie in quite a few years. In the late 90s I went through a period of discovery of giallo and I tried to get my hands on as much Argento/Bava/Fulci etc as I could.
- I remember really liking this one, but have only watched it twice, so a third viewing all these years later will be interesting.
- How much does Dario Argento owe Claudio Simonetti/Goblin for his success? His music is so key to Argento's movies, I can't imagine the movies working without it.
- Ania Pieroni (The House By the Cemetery, Inferno) is soooo hot. Yowza.
- You gotta watch out for those rapey tramps.
- Ah, the good old black gloves.
- Argento regular Daria Nicolodi is one of those actors who just don't seem natural in front of the camera.
- The scene on the beach has gotta be like porn for foot fetishists.
- Have to love the camerawork exploring both levels of the lesbians' house.
- Ah the 70s/early 80s, a time when a young girl would jump on the back of a motorbike without a helmet. And the boy rider would pull a wheelie to show off.
- Talk about random attacks. First the rapey tramp, now the bitey doberman.
- The surreal sight of John Saxon making out with the future first lady of Italy (Veronica Lario married Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in 1990 and is in the process of divorcing him).
- Lots of nice, gorey blood during Lario's death scene.
- It's a shame I remembered who the killer was halfway through watching this again, but it's a good twist nonetheless.
- Love the Halloween-esque shot in the last scene (if you've seen the movie you know the one I mean).

Overall thoughts: Tenebre is just a great Dario Argento giallo. I'd rank it a close third behind Suspiria and Deep Red. It has all the elements that make Argento's work so great - nice camerawork and lighting, fantastic music by Goblin, a black-gloved killer, blood, nudity and a storyline that keeps you guessing until the killer is revealed. It's also fairly straight forward, so would make a good starting point for anyone new to giallo.