Change Your Image
f150green
Reviews
Profondo rosso (1975)
Argento's best "normal" movie
Although, I think Deep Red and Suspiria are both excellent, this is a perfect starting place for people not familliar with Argento's work. The reason being it is Argento's most coherent plot and if there was one movie that could of broke Argento into the famous category this would of been it. That's isn't saying that Deep Red is a perfect horror movie. It is a bit dated, talky, and there are a few plot holes, like how the killer found out that Hemmings was going to see the author. If you overlook these things, Deep Red is actually a excelent exercise in style. It also has really good performances from the cast which is rare in a Argento movie. Hemmings and Lavia are both very good, the only weak performance I thought came from Meril who overdoes her part a bit. Horror buffs might like to know that the Goblin soundtrack, which is excellent, was Carpenter's inspiration to the music for Halloween.
Inferno (1980)
Flawed but acceptable "sequel"
Might contain spoilers: Dealing more with architecture and alchemisty than witch craft, Argento's Infeno leaves a lot to be desired. It feels a lot more subdued than the over the top Suspiria. The lack of plot doen't help and a few times I felt like I was watching a play more than an actual movie with no real ending. Although, I would not recommend this to first time Argento viewers, Argento fans would see it as a sort of scenes that were left out of Suspiria, Deep Red, and The Bird With The Crystal Plumage. Even some of the actors reappear: Carlo from Deep Red(with the same name!), Ms. Tanner from Suspiria, and of course Daria Nicolodi(Argento probably could of used some of her help with the story more than her acting). If you look past these things, and the fact that the "plot" moves so slow, Inferno is possibly the most beautiful and colorful movie Argento has ever done. There is also some great scenes in the first and final quarter of the movie: the underwater ballroom, the discovery of the mother of darkness while the building is on fire, the cab ride and hotel room(both reused from Suspiria with less success), the rat and cat attacks, the library, and the appearence in the music class of the mother of tears(who is such a hottie she could put a spell on me anytime). Back to the review, the middle of Inferno is a total mess: points in the beginning get dumpped and never used again, there are not as many breathtaking moments, and a minute feels like a hour. In my opinion, these all make Inferno Argento's worst movie of his best period, 1975's Deep Red to 1987's Opera, but the points above make it far from being a bad movie and not even close to his worst movie ever. It does leave hope that the third part will be better.
Quadrophenia (1979)
Possibly the most underrated musical ever
To start off I'd like to say I was not a Who fan until I saw this movie. It blew my mind that much. The movie is about a teenage boy, Jimmy, in the early 60's England who has tremendous psychological problems. While he has them he tries to deal with his friends, job, parents, and being a mod. What made the movie so good besides the acting, direction, and good soundtrack, is that the characters of Jimmy and his friends are even true today. Anyone who has been a teenager at some point and time can relate to some of the things Jimmy or one of his friends goes though. The only flaw I can point out, besides the morbid ending, is that some of the English slang is hard to understand.
The Last House on the Left (1972)
True a very underrated horor movie, however
Any person who saw Scream and Nightmare on Elm Street should steer clear of his one. More to give the viewer a feeling of repultion than to make them enjoy the film. Last House on the Left works in that aspect but does little much else. The killings are brutal, the rape scene is long, and it is anything but a good time as a movie. Hooper would use the same technique of repultion in his Chainsaw Massacre movies but it works a little too well here. It would of been better to see Craven, Cunningham, and Minner to work on a true horror movie than an exercise in repultion. You have been warned. Little fact: Craven also used Hess as the knife welding maniac, Ferret in Swamp Thing 10 years later.
Voodoo (1995)
ok low budget horror flick
Not that its gold or anything, but I found it pretty hard to hate this movie. Any movie with David Lynch favorite Jack Nance in it and I will have this problem. But enough about that, let's get to the review. Feldman, an actor who has made a lot of stupid movies and a few good ones, plays a college student recruited by a frat only to find out it is a vodoo cult. The movie pretty much goes nowhere after that, but doesn't do that bad of a job. A few good scenes (including a shotgun massacre scene that is the best) and Feldman doesn't do that bad of an acting turn this time. However, the character he plays is never really fully developed and it shows in some parts. The relationship between Feldman and his girlfriend is never fully displayed. There was even a few parts in the movie where I forgot all about her. Altogether, worth a late night on cable or a cheap rental but not something I would like to own.
The Changeling (1980)
A movie every fan of ghost stories should see.
Although some comments would call this a great horror movie this one doesn't. However, it is a very good one that relies more on mood and tension than big effects. There is virtually no gore, and we don't see the ghost until about halfway in. If you are a person who like to have the monster or killer pop out every twenty minutes or so, then steer clear of this one. It works more on your nerves than on shock value, although I can think of one part that the ghost pops out that does work.
The acting is outstanding and there are some great parts of tension (with the seance and the red ball that won't go away being the best). Altogether a very good ghost story without needing the high budget of most of today's ghost story movies. It probably didn't want it anyway.
The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
Guidelines for reviewing a horror movie.
I do have to say if you are a Wes Craven fan this and Deadly Blessing are two overlooked gems that he did in the 80's although no where close to as good as Scream or Nightmare on Elm Street they both do have scenes that are effective in them. I actually had a nightmare about the buried alive "dream" scene in this movie. One thing it seems like a lot of people forgot about horror movies is that they are not supposed to make you "feel good about life as we know it", they are supposed to do one thing and one thing only and that's scare you. So did this movie scare me? A couple of parts did.
Was the movie good? Who cares it already did its job.