This 4-disc Blu-ray set from Severin Films is currently available for purchase.
Ever since my teenage years, I have been an enthusiast of the films of Dario Argento. After watching so many American horror movies of the 1980s with similar elements, Argento’s unique, sometimes surreal Italian pictures really made an impression (and helped turn my attention to international cinema as well). The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) popularized the “giallo” film and Deep Red (1975) is, in my opinion, the best title ever in the subgenre. Suspiria (1977) is another masterpiece, Tenebrae (1982) is impressive and Phenomena (1985) is a whole lot of crazy fun. And while I haven’t seen his most recent outing yet, I will also vehemently stand up for the likes of Sleepless (2001) and Do You Like Hitchcock? (2005) as excellent titles in his catalog.
So, upon hearing of Severin Films release of Dario Argento’s Deep Cuts, I was a little skeptical about how “deep” it could possibly go. The discs contain his 4-episode anthology series Door into Darkness (1973) aka The Door to Darkness and that’s wonderful, since those episodes have been hard to come by. The set also contains Dario Argento’s World of Horror (1985), a solid documentary covering his career up through the production of Phenomena. But if those titles were already familiar to me, what else could there possibly be?
The answer is, quite a lot. I have discovered that I certainly do not know everything about the filmmaker and his work. Now, the fine people at Severin are filling me in with this release. In the late 1980s, Argento actually co-hosted a Friday night horror-themed television variety program that featured shorts and spots produced and occasionally made by the filmmaker. A lot of that material is present here on this set, and frankly, I’m blown away by it. I never knew this material existed and was thrilled to see it. Any Argento completist needs to pick up this set.
The previously noted Door into Darkness makes up the first two Blu-ray discs. These are four hour-long television anthology episodes with intros from Argento himself. The Neighbor involves a couple with a baby who suspect that the person living upstairs might be up to something nasty. Luigi Cozzo (Starcrash, Hercules) directed the segment and it’s a creepy, fun and effective thriller.
Argento’s episode, The Tram, is the best of the series. When the body of a young woman is discovered on a tram, a detective (Enzo Cerusico) must figure out how it could have happened on such a busy line. While this is a TV episode, there is evidence of Argento’s stylistic flourishes present with clever camera angles, and a unique story. The cop tries to reenact the crime on a train, which is a well-executed sequence. Additionally, the finale set in a rail yard is remarkably suspenseful. It’s an excellent episode.
The Doll is perhaps the weakest of the bunch, even though the story has promise. The plot involves a cop and psychiatrist hunting down a murderous asylum escapee, but it doesn’t come together as effectively as the others. The last spot, Eyewitness, gets things back on the right track. This tense effort is about a woman driving at night being hunted by a killer after discovering a wounded lady. The episode doesn’t start off particularly strongly, but the second half is quite effective and exciting. Reports suggest that Argento stepped in to reshoot significant portions (including the climax) of this solid tale.
Viewers shouldn’t expect reference quality material here. The image is perfectly acceptable, if somewhat grainy. While shot on film, this rare project was made for broadcast on TV and shot with that in mind. Thus, the picture isn’t as stunning as an Argento feature. Still, this is the best that the material can possibly look and will do the trick for fans.
As far as extras go, the first disc contains a film historian commentary on The Tram, which is very informative. It goes into the program, how it was all put together and provides plenty of trivia about the episode and series in general. Dario Argento: My Cinema Parts 1 and 2 (1999) are also included. This is a 2-hour documentary on the filmmaker that details his career from The Bird with the Crystal Plumage all the way to The Phantom of the Opera (1998). Luigi Cozzi helmed this effort and it has plenty of great interview footage with its subject, as well as Cozzi himself, members of Goblin, and composer Pino Donaggio. It’s an effective doc on Argento.
The second disc contains a film historian commentary on Eyewitness. The speakers are certain that several sections were reworked and refilmed by Argento and point these shots and scenes out, while giving information about the production. This disc also has the nearly 90-minute Dario Argento: Master of Horror doc that also provides another career overview, but focuses primarily on the shooting of Phenomena. Viewers will see how many of the gooey and grotesque special effects for that film were created.
Additionally, there is an archival interview with Argento about The Tram and Door into Darkness series, as well as an interview with writer/director Luigi Cozzi, who discusses the hectic schedule and other problems he faced working on the show.
The other two discs are where, for this reviewer, all of the new and incredible material begins. It seems that back in 1987, Argento took part in the RAI television variety show Giallo, which he co-hosted with popular Italian presenter Enzo Tortora. Tortora has something of a tragic history in the country, being falsely accused and imprisoned on drug-running charges. Finally released by authorities (with an apology) and back on the air, the host befriended Argento and created a Friday night program with him. According to the extras, Tortora would host true crime segments that examined real-life mysteries, while Argento would appear to talk about horror-related subjects and present bits on special make-up effects and various other chilling subjects.
Disc three contains Night Shift segments from Giallo. These were 15-minute mystery tales produced by Argento, in which a trio of cab drivers (Matteo Gazzolo, Antonella Vitale and Franco Cerri) witnessed pieces of a crime while on the job and would have to figure out who the culprit was. Apparently, when the episodes aired, there would be a brief break and Argento would go among the crowd to ask who they thought the guilty party was. All the segments here are presented without the breaks. Lamberto Bava (Demons, Demons 2) directed the first handful of episodes while Luigi Cozzi took on the remaining shorts.
They are all enjoyably silly. There are all sorts of strange happenings, and when one watches them back-to-back, you really get the impression that all their fares are murderers. Based on these shorts, Rome might be the most crime-infested city in the world. Some of the assumptions made by the cabbies in solving the crimes are also ridiculous. Yet the spots are very enjoyable and entertaining, as the cabbies analyse the “facts” and quickly identify the killers. There are even some familiar faces involved. A Christmas-themed mystery features Daria Nicolodi and a very young Asia and Fiore Argento.
Once again, the footage isn’t in phenomenal condition, but does come from recently discovered film elements and is likely the only source available. So, again, we’re lucky to be seeing any of it at all and it is entertaining. Extras include an interview with Argento about how he met and collaborated with Enzo Tortora. In separate interviews, Lamberto Bava and Luigi Cozzi discuss the incredibly tight shooting schedules. They received their scripts the day after the previous broadcast and had to shoot nights and complete a 15-minute film for the following week. Lamberto was the first man hired, but when another job came along, Cozzi took over. The pair talk about some of their favorite episodes and the people they worked with. Also included is a conversation with the screenwriter and an interview with the well-liked co-star Antonella Vitale, who talks about her experiences on set.
Disc 4 contains Nightmares. These are shorts from the show (sometimes less than 5 minutes) that involve Argento confessing about things that frighten him. His admissions are followed by visual depictions of these nightmares. Some are very intense and graphic for TV. There is a nasty bit involving a worm crawling out of a woman’s eye, and, on a lighter note, the filmmaker casts an actual fan and aspiring actor, putting him through his paces in a nightmarish audition scenario.
These are wild spots that I didn’t even know existed. Also included on the disc is a stylish Italian car advertisement directed by Argento that was broadcast on TV. Best of all is 100 minutes of extra footage included from the Giallo program. It includes Argento interviewing actors on the variety show, including Anthony Perkins and band Pink Floyd. One of the more entertainingly bizarre moments briefly features Luigi Cozzi traveling to Scotland to Loch Ness, interviewing the head of the Operation Deepscan sonar exploration, and placing a microphone in the water so that host Argento can interview the monster.
The 80s were a wild time and it appears that, despite his reputation as a man presenting terrifying images to viewers, he was also willing to have fun. Giallo is an unexpected and crazy delight that I was thrilled to see.
Yes, the 4-disc Blu-ray set Dario Argento’s Deep Cuts is exactly that. It presents some great hard-to-find material (like The Tram), as well as rare Giallo footage produced and sometimes directed by the filmmaker that even his biggest fans won’t know about. There are so many outlandish and memorably wild moments here, any Argento enthusiast will be impressed. Thanks once again to Severin Films for locating and making this material available on Blu-ray.