Tenebrae

For the uninitiated, Italian horror director Dario Argento (or the Italian Hitchcock as he is affectionately referred as by his fans) has fashioned a career on very stylish and very violent ‘Giallo’ thrillers. Tenebrae is classic Argento featuring intricately orchestrated deaths, perverse pathologies and labyrinth plotting. American mystery writer Peter Neil (Anthony Franciosa) finds himself the target of a serial killer while on a promotional tour in Rome. It seems that the murderer is literally taking a leaf out of Neil’s book by stuffing pages of his latest thriller into the victims mouths. Neil soon finds himself embroiled in the killers sick fantasies and a prime police suspect. Argento in the past has come under considerable fire with feminists and critics who have felt that his unrelenting carnage of women in his films borders on rampant misogyny. Tenebrae isn’t so much an answer to feminists but a provocative and cheeky slap in the face, offering even more elaborate female mutilation, castrating temptresses in red stilettos and a lesbian feminist critic who meets a horrible and violent end. Music by Goblin. Cast includes: Christian Borromeo, Mirella D’Angelo, Veronica Lario, John Saxon, Ania Pieroni.