Tenebrae

aka Unsane

Everyone loves Peter Neal's new novel, Tenebrae, but someone has taken their love of the book too far. A series of murders, inspired by the novel, leave the police scratching their heads. But, after the killer starts sending notes to him, Peter decides to start looking for the murderer himself. Dario Argento's Tenebrae is a return to straightforward giallo after the supernatural themed films Suspiria and Inferno. The atmosphere and cinematography in Tenebrae are on point, which shouldn't be too surprising. And the score is fantastic. The main theme slaps, as I assume the kids would say.

Rating: 73%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Phenomena

aka Creepers

If you're wondering whether or not you should check out Phenomena, I can help you make your decision with just six words: Donald Pleasance plays a Scottish entomologist. Chances are you're either tracking down a copy of the movie right now or you don't like cool stuff. No, but seriously folks, Phenomena kinda took me by surprise. I'm not an expert on the films of Dario Argento by any means, but I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the cinematography of Phenomena. It's a weird movie about a girl, played by a young Jennifer Connelly, who tries to use her ability to communicate with insects to solve some murders. The movie's soundtrack is all over the place, switching back and forth between Goblin's funky score and random tracks from Iron Maiden and Motorhead. It's an odd film, for sure, but well worth a watch.

Rating: 72%

(Image from Wikipedia)

The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar

This half of the movie Two Evil Eyes, for which Romero and Dario Argento each adapted a Poe story. Anyway, while trying to hide a hypnotized dead body, a doctor and his mistress accidentally put ghosts into the corpse, and believe me, you don't want ghosts in a corpse!

RATING: 44%

Inferno

Perhaps I just don't like giallo movies. I mean, Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2 is fun, and I love the title of Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key, but I don't really like the movies of Dario Argento, the supposed king of Italian horror. None of them ever make sense, and this one is no different. Let me give you the plot. There is a creepy house, everything is shot in starkly beautiful contrasting primary colors, and people and cats get killed. At least a poet gets her head cut off, which you don't see that often, and it's cinematically stunning. Well, a few points for showing up at least.

RATING: 47%