Tenebre [Tenebrae] **** (1982, Anthony Franciosa, John Saxon, Giuliano Gemma) – Classic Movie Review 7,490

Ah, yes, ‘Terror Beyond Belief’. Dario Argento’s 1982 horror mystery thriller movie (giallo) Tenebre [Tenebrae] delivers the goods in spadefuls in this marvellously scary triumph of style over nasty and often silly content.

Ah, yes, ‘Terror Beyond Belief’.

Writer-director Dario Argento’s 1982 horror mystery thriller movie (un giallo) Tenebre delivers the goods in spadefuls in this marvellously scary triumph of style over nasty and often silly content. It stars Anthony Franciosa, John Saxon and Giuliano Gemma. It was prosecuted and banned in the UK as a ‘video nasty’.

Tenebre suffers from a fairly ludicrous, underdeveloped, less than fully coherent screenplay. But Argento, the master of stylish horror, transforms it into something creepy and pretty wonderful thanks to his brilliant use of colour and sound, which whisk the imagination into another dimension.

Luciano Tovoli shoots in Technicolor, Giuseppe Bassan is the production designer, and the synth-driven score is by Italian rock band Goblin, who re-formed to do it after disbanding in 1980.

In the story, an American novelist in Rome discovers that his books are being used as a blueprint for vicious murders and finds he is being stalked by a serial killer.

Anthony Franciosa stars as American author Peter Neal, who in Rome promoting his latest murder-mystery novel becomes embroiled in the search for a serial killer who may have been inspired to kill by his novel. John Saxon and Daria Nicolodi co-star as Neal’s agent Bullmer and assistant Anne. Giuliano Gemma and Carola Stagnaro play Detective Germani and Detective Altieri, the detectives investigating the murders.

There are various versions: the original 110 minutes, the US heavily cut print at 91 minutes and the director’s cut at 101 minutes.

Also in the cast are Daria Nicolodi, Christian Borromeo, John Steiner, Mirella D’Angelo, Veronica Lario, Ania Pieroni, Carola Stagnaro, Lara Wendel and Isabella Amadeo.

The Italian Tenebre translates as ‘Darkness’ or ‘Shadows’. It is also known as Sotto gli Occhi dell’ Assassino (Italy), Unsane (US) and Tenebrae (UK).

Filming began on 3 May 1982 for 10 weeks, mostly on location in Rome. It was released on 27 October 1982. It was modest success in Italy and the rest of Europe, but not as popular as some of Argento’s previous films.

It was cut by the censor by about four seconds in 1983 when the VHS was released in the UK but it was soon included in a list of 39 so-called ‘video nasties’ prosecuted and banned from sale in UK video shops under the Video Recordings Act 1984.

The London Underground poster replaces the original image of a slashed neck with a red ribbon.

Goblin had provided the scores for Argento’s Deep Red (1975) and Suspiria (1977). Argento asked three of the band’s former members – Claudio Simonetti, Fabio Pignatelli and Massimo Morante – to work on Tenebrae. The score is credited to Simonetti-Pignatelli-Morante since Goblin’s former drummer owned the rights to the band’s name.

The cast are Anthony Franciosa as Peter Neal, John Saxon as Bullmer, Daria Nicolodi as Anne, Giuliano Gemma as Detective Germani, Carola Stagnaro as Detective Altieri, John Steiner as Christiano Berti, Veronica Lario as Jane McKerrow, Mirella D’Angelo as Tilde, Christian Borromeo as Gianni, Ania Pieroni as Elsa Manni, Lara Wendel as Maria Alboretto, Mirella Banti as Marion, Eva Robin’s as Girl on Beach. Ennio Girolami as Department Store Manager, Marino Masé as John, Fulvio Mingozzi as Mr Alboretto, Lamberto Bava as Elevator Repairman, and Michele Soavi as Man in Flashback.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7,490

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Tenebre’s lurid CD cover.