Tenebre (1982)

August 7, 2018

Directed by: Dario Argento
Written by: Dario Argento

Starring:  Anthony Franciosa, Giuliano Gemma, Christian Borromeo

Quote: "The impulse had become irresistible. There was only one answer to the fury that tortured him. And so he committed his first act of murder. He had broken the most deep-rooted taboo, and found not guilt, not anxiety or fear, but freedom. Any humiliation which stood in his way could be swept aside by the simple act of annihilation: Murder."

Trivia: In Germany, the film is still banned after 25 years of its release. The film has never been released uncut in Germany and according to the FSK (the official censorship in Germany), it never will.

I don't know how he does it, but Dario Argento has the uncanny talent of turning horrific scenes into some of the beautiful moments in film. I've only seen a small handful of Argento's films and was excited to watch Tenebre. This film does not disappoint. The film score is done by the incredible horror synth band Goblin and is absolutely amazing. The web of confusion the film creates around the mysterious killer is fascinating. The killings are beautifully disgusting. And the women in the film are ridiculously beautiful. Oh, and it is yet another one of the infamous "Video Nasties" banned in the UK during the 1980s.

Tenebre fits in nicely in the Giallo film subgenre. Inspired by the American Film Noir movies of the 1940s and 50s, Giallo are Italian films that generally involve a murder mystery, combine eroticism and violence, and a mysterious killer who is revealed during the final act of the film. Tenebre has all the above.

The movie is about a popular novelist, Peter Neal, that while on a book tour someone begins using his latest novel Tenebre as inspiration to murder a bunch of people. After the killer's first murder he sends a letter to Peter telling him that his book is his inspiration. He goes on to kill a half dozen more people while the police, Peter, and his agent (played by John Saxon, the dad from Nightmare on Elm Street) try to figure out who the killer is. This is all intercut with scenes involving a woman who at first seems about to engage in group sex with four other men and later is stabbed by a man. Is this from the book? Is this someone's flashback? Is there another meaning?

I will save the ending for those of you who want to watch it, but Argento does an incredible job of making the killer nearly impossible to guess. Furthermore, the plot, characters and killings have so many twists and turns that it forces the viewer to abandon guesses with regards to who the killer is. The ending is satisfying because it ties all the pieces together, gives a feeling of conclusion, and explains character motivations that had not made sense earlier in the film.

Tenebre has some truly great killings. The first killing of a shoplifter is done with a razor and afterwards the note is shoved in the woman's mouth. Then there is the murder of a lesbian writer and her lover. What is great about Argento deaths is that it is not so much the killing that is the highlight like most other horror films, but rather it is the scene that is left behind is the focal point. The blood splattered corpses, contorted bodies and the vacant look on faces is what are really memorable. Also, with these three killings is that the women are so unbelievably beautiful that their dead bodies create a unique picture of beauty and revulsion. Also, Argento films, including this one, spend a lot of time having beautiful women being chased.

The cinematography in the film is another highlight and one scene immediately comes to mind. There is a scene in the lesbian writers house where the camera is watching her in her kitchen and then the camera exits through a window. The camera then slowly moves up to the second floor where the first girl's lover is at. After watching her for a bit, it pans out and pans up to the third floor. All this is done in one breathtaking take.

The film looks at the darkness that exists within all of us and does so with style and beauty. I cannot overstate what a stylish and interesting film this is, with a great filmscore and a collection of some of the most gorgeous women that have ever appeared in a single movie.