Dario Argento
Dario Argento is an Italian director whose expertise is in the horror and giallo film genre, which is the Italian name for thrillers. He has influenced contemporary horror flicks with his innovative and over the top way of filming (he also has the look of a creepy horror filmmaker, which is always a plus). If you're looking for movies with crazy murder mysteries, voyeuristic points of view and black gloved hands strangling young women, Argento is definitely for you.
Early Giallo Films
Argento's first films fit perfectly into the realm of giallo. He had not yet experimented with supernatural thrillers, but only straight murder mysteries.
'''Fun fact''': every time there was a murder scene with those infamous black gloves, it was always Argento's hands that were filmed.
* '''The Bird with the Crystal Plumage''' (1970): This was Argento's directorial debut and received high praises. A writer is about to return to the U.S. from Rome when he witness a murder and gets wrapped up in solving it.
* '''The Cat O' Nine Tails''' (1971): Argento himself has said this is his least favorite of all his films. The number nine in the title refers to how many leads the main character follows before he finds out what's behind the murder of several victims.
* '''Four Flies on Grey Velvet''' (1972): A drummer in a rock band is being stalked. He confronts and accidentally kills his stalker, not realizing someone has taken pictures of the act and tries to torture him with what he has done.
* '''Deep Red''' (1975): Often hailed as the best giallo film ever, Deep Red is full of blood, intrigue, and absolute insanity. A music teacher investigates the murder of a psychic medium after he witnesses it in an apartment building.
A Touch of Supernatural and Later Films
After the huge success of his early films, Argento started to add supernatural elements into his oeuvre to create some really chilling cinema.
* '''Suspiria''' (1977): The first of a trilogy, Suspiria is a violent and surreal supernatural movie. Next to Deep Red, it's considered one of Argento's best pieces of work.
* '''Inferno''' (1980): A man looks for his missing sister who lives in an apartment that used to be home to a powerful witch. You can't have worse luck than that.
* '''Tenebrae''' (1982): In his return to traditional giallo, Tenebrae follows an American thriller writer who gets caught up in finding a serial killer inspired by the author's novel.
* '''Phenomena''' (1984): Also known as Creepers, it was one of Jennifer Connelly's earliest films and is credited for influencing the survival horror video game series, Clock Tower.
Other Films
* Opera
* The Stendhal Syndrome
* The Card Player
* The Mother of Tears
Top Picks
Related Guides
*
Alfred Hitchcock
*
George A. Romero
*
Foreign Horror Films
*
M. Night Shyamalan
*
Survival Horror Games
