Cult 101: Tenebrae (1982) 4K Restoration
Director: Dario Argento Run Time: 101 min. Rating: R Release Year: 1982
Starring: Anthony Franciosa, Christian Borromeo, Daria Nicolodi, Giuliano Gemma, John Saxon
Country: Italy
Language: Italian, Spanish
Cult 101 at Gateway Film Center
A celebration of the best cult films of all time.
See more Cult 101About the film:
Italian horror master Dario Argento elevates the giallo genre to new heights with Tenebrae (1982), a darkly humorous and notoriously grisly murder-mystery that many consider to be one of his finest works.
American mystery author Peter Neal comes to Rome to promote his newest novel. A razor-wielding psychopath is on the loose, taunting Neal and murdering those around him in gruesome fashion, just like the character in his novel. As the mystery surrounding the killings spirals out of control, Neal investigates the crimes on his own, leading to a mind-bending, genre-twisting conclusion that will leave you breathless.
“Essential Argento: perhaps the auteur’s clearest articulation of his own psychological and stylistic obsessions”
—Stephanie Monohan for Screen Slate
About the filmmaker:
Dario Argento is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and critic, best know for his influential work in shaping the Italian “giallo” thriller genre since he began making films in the 1970s. His films as director include his “Animal Trilogy”, consisting of The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), The Cat o’ Nine Tails (1971) and Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971); his “Three Mothers” trilogy, consisting of Suspiria (1977), Inferno (1980) and The Mother of Tears (2007); and his stand-alone films Deep Red (1975), Tenebrae (1982), Phenomena (1985) and Opera (1987). Most recently, he directed Dark Glasses (2022), his first directorial work since Dracula 3D (2012).
Argento also co-wrote the screenplay for Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) and served as George A. Romero’s script consultant on Dawn of the Dead (1978), for which he also composed the soundtrack with his long-time collaborators Goblin. In 2021, Argento received critical acclaim for his performance in Gaspar Noé’s psychological drama film Vortex (2021), which premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.
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