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Reviews
Screamin' Jay Hawkins: I Put a Spell on Me (2001)
A fan's documentary - it shows, thank God!
The director adores Screaming Jay. This is not a cold, academic approach to his work. It is the study of a genious by a man who clearly knows what he's doing. The interviews from Jarmush and Diamanda Gallas were great touches and the whole thing plays great - you never get bored with it.
All in all, one of the best documentaries on a cult icon I've seen for years.
Non ho sonno (2001)
Anyone with knowledge of film making must love this
It is refreshing to see such a film today when most horror filmakers are trying to "scare" us with cheap shock tactics. Argento starts the film with a magnificent 20 minutes opening murder scene that builds up to a grand finale. Sure, there is a lot of talking in Non Ho Sonno. What is the problem with that? Too much Michael Bay will kill you, you know!
However, I prefer the Stendhal Syndrome - his true masterpiece since Suspiria.
Il fantasma dell'opera (1998)
Argento's own "8 1/2" - Art-House horror For the Soul...
Well, after the pretty poor by Argento standards Trauma and the near-perfect Stendhal Syndrome , Dario Argento pulls off his most expensive in-joke yet! I saw this movie at Athens Film Festival where they had organised a retrospective of Dario's work and I found it extremely interesting.
Argento does not care to make a horror film, that's for sure. Instead, he creates a self-ironic film, deliberatly balancing between shots of poetic grace (the Phantom's visions of children pierced by mousetraps - chilling) and shots of extravagant kitch (Asia's appearance in the same scene!). Argento's choice of not to have his Phantom disfigured was not without a point: This man is disfigured from the inside, and thanks to the script, it shows.
Let's not forget that Gerard Brach, the co-scripter, is the man who co-wrote "Frantic", "The Fearless Vampire Killers" or "Rosemary's Baby" and many other Polanski films. He lived up to our expectations once again.
The film is deliberatly funny in places but it contains some very weird scenes (like the one in the brothel - unbelievable for an Argento film). I would say that it is his most 'Fellini-esque' film yet. It is his "8 1/2". This is his contribution to a tradition kept by directors such as Fellini, Visconti or the Taviani brothers. That is why it is so hard to swallow for the "gore only" fans... Let's not forget the help he gets from his actors: Julian Sands couldn't be a better choice. His phantom is gentle,vicious, romantic and monstrous all at the same time.
Asia on the other hand seems to be stoned for most of the film which adds more to the dreaminess of the concept me thinks.
Sergio Stivalleti has done some great work with CGI, especially in a scene where a poor guy gets impaled (you think it's really happening!). Ronnie Taylor's photography is NOT up to perfect standards (it is known that he could not stand the weather conditions and wanted to leave as soon as possible) but the known quality of his work is there, once again.
A movie that belongs more to the Art-House section than to that of Horror, I might add. Don't miss it though. And buy the Ennio Moriconne soundtrack, it is a masterpiece!