Terror At The Opera (Subtitled) (Wide Screen) (DVD)

...he accepted the Role in Terror at the Opera he was feeling quite ill and realised that something was seriously wrong. Charleson vowed to do something far removed from his previous work and was a big fan of Dario Argento so continued with the project. Shortly after filming he fell even more ill was diagnosed with Aids and died a slow and painful death at the hands of the disease in 1990. An award was named after him in 1991 and is awarded to the best ...
...lose the plot a bit. Terror at the Opera is a prime example of this; normally his films look a bit wooden because of the dubbing, this movie has wood written all over it. Even a talented actor in a lead role could not appear to be well guided.

Visually the movie is a treat; fantastic scenery and sets. Long drawn out imaginative killings involving household items, and a continued feel of menace for the films entire length. For most ... more

On the opening night of an Opera on Shakespeare's Macbeth, the Diva of the show in a temper accidentally throws herself under the wheels of a car. Now the understudy a girl called Betty is thrown into the limelight, after all the show must go on.

The opening night was a massive success with Betty hailed as Italy's newest hot star. After the show has finished as have all the celebrations Betty heads off to the home of the Stage Director for a night of passion; this however is soon interrupted because of her many hang ups about sex. The understanding young man sympathises with her and heads off to the kitchen to make her a mint tea. But while he is missing from the room Betty is attacked by an unseen assailant; he binds her to a pillar and then puts needles under her eyes. If she closes her eyes the needles will rip her eyes to shreds. When the young innocent returns to the room Betty is forced to watch the slow painful murder of her young lover.

But this is not an isolated incident, for each time Betty is alone with someone the maniac strikes again; who is the killer and what do they want?

Cast

Cristina Marsillach
.... Betty
Ian Charleson
.... Marco
Urbano Barberini
.... Inspector Alan Santini
Daria Nicolodi
.... Mira
Coralina Cataldi Tassoni
.... Giulia
Antonella Vitale
.... Marion
William McNamara
.... Stefano
Barbara Cupisti
.... Signora Albertini
Antonino Iuorio
.... Baddini (as Antonio Juorio)
Carola Stagnaro
.... Alma's mother
Francesca Cassola
.... Alma

At the time the film was made Cristina Marsillach had just finished working on a romantic war tale with Tom Hanks called Everytime We Say Goodbye. She was destined for bigger and better things as her portrayal in both movies received such acclaim; however she rejected Hollywood and stuck with smaller roles in Italian cinema.

Ian Charleson is probably best remembered for his role of Eric in Chariots of Fire and also stared in hits like Car Trouble with Julie Walters and Greystoke. Charleson was more of a stage presence and was told that his performance of Hamlet was the best that Sir Ian McKellen had ever seen. Charleson openly came out as being gay no sooner had Chariots of Fire hit the screen. When he accepted the Role in Terror at the Opera he was feeling quite ill and realised that something was seriously wrong. Charleson vowed to do something far removed from his previous work and was a big fan of Dario Argento so continued with the project. Shortly after filming he fell even more ill was diagnosed with Aids and died a slow and painful death at the hands of the disease in 1990. An award was named after him in 1991 and is awarded to the best classical stage performance each year.

Dario Nicolodi was a big Italian lead actress, in the late 1960's she met Dario Argento and the two fell in love. Although they never married they had a daughter Asia Argento who starred in XXX and Land Of The Dead. In the 80's the relationship with Dario was falling apart and to exact his anger upon her in each of his subsequent films he killed her in more and more imaginative and horrific ways.

The Director Dario Argento is best associated with the movies Suspiria, Deep Red and Tenebrae. Widely regarded as the best director working in Italy Dario works hard to this very day; his work began in writing and his first filmed work was Once Upon A Time in the West.

Overview

I love Dario Argento's films but during the late 80's and early 90's he seemed to lose the plot a bit. Terror at the Opera is a prime example of this; normally his films look a bit wooden because of the dubbing, this movie has wood written all over it. Even a talented actor in a lead role could not appear to be well guided.

Visually the movie is a treat; fantastic scenery and sets. Long drawn out imaginative killings involving household items, and a continued feel of menace for the films entire length. For most of the film you see things from the killer's eyes; this gives a nice feel of panic as he/she commits his atrocities. For me the most incredibly filmed scene features Nicolodi's character looking through a door spy hole to be greeted by a bullet. The shot is fantastic, the camera is slowed down to the extreme that you see the bullet pass from the gun into the metal tunnel of the spy hole, while moving forward you can see it continually turning and markings on the bullet itself are visible. Its not a special effects trick, it's a slow motion real time shot of a bullet being fired and looks fantastic.

The music is a creative mix by the band Goblin a kind of operatic piece mixed with a bit of Black Sabbath. The overall score simply entitled Opera, gives a sinister yet romantic feel to the movie.

Vanessa Redgrave played the role of the Diva who fell before the car at the beginning of the movie; but her role was snipped at the last minute in respect over a row with wages and the financial translation of Italian currency to British. As a result the Diva appears but is never shown, all the way through you are expecting to see a big star and theoretically you are.

A major part of the movie "The Macbeth Curse" literally existed on the set, Vanessa Redgrave dropped out the movie, Ian Charleson became very ill, Nicolodi and Argento split up and one of the original cast was killed on the first day of filming by a falling light. As homage to the lost actor in a rather morbid fashion Argento used a light drop in the film having been inspired by the on-set death.

In summing up, it's not the best of Argento but it's not a bad movie. And with a price ranging from £5.00 on Amazon it's not a bad buy either.

There are no special features as such, just one of those nasty onscreen biographies on Dario Argento.

The Soundtrack comes in Italian with optional English dubbing; with Italian and English subtitles.
 

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