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InfernoRating:
Release Date: 25 April, 2000 Retail Price: $19.98 Sorry, this product is not currently available. Cast: Complete Cast (5 total) |
Inferno Reviews
A TRUE horror film by one of the masters
In an age where garbage like the SAW movies and endless remakes of horror classics (The Hills Have Eyes, Amityville Horror, etc.) clutter up theaters, it's nice to be able to revisit the visionary horrors of Dario Argento. Sure, Inferno is slow-paced by today's standards...and it's all the more terrifying for it. Like a master painter, Argento takes time to compose each scene for maximum visual impact. Each time I watch Inferno, I get drawn in again.
Like his masterpiece, Suspiria, Inferno isn't terribly well-acted or even conventially plotted. But again, it's about the visual experience, the in-your-face horror. Do your nightmares make sense? More often than not, they don't. And that's what the best of Argento's films do: they approximate living nightmares. Even the music--at times discordant and jarring--adds to the unsettling feeling that Something Is Not Right Here.
It's safe to say if you're a fan of those recent movies I listed at the start of this review, you probably won't care much for Inferno. But if you have a little patience and willingness to go along for the ride...you may just have a few nightmares after spending a couple of hours in the world of Dario Argento.
A stunning visual feast from the brilliant Argento
Having just viewed Dario Argento's "Inferno", his follow-up to "Suspiria", I must say it was fantastic. This film is a real banquet for the eyeballs. The use of color and lighting in this film is magnificent, and the cinematography first-rate as well. The story is dark and ominous and you quickly find yourself immersed in it. I rate it right up there with "Tenebre", "Suspiria", and "Deep Red" as one of his finest cinematic achievements. Just awesome. Dario is one of the greatest filmmakers ever. Period. An uncompromising visionary of stellar genius. He has a vision and he does not deviate, he is unconcerned with studio execs approval or public perception of his films. Unwaivering, he makes the kind of films HE wants to make. He doesn't set out to make a commercially successful film. He doesn't compromise his ideals and sacrifice the integrity of his films by allowing their content to be edited just to please producers, or in a pathetic attempt to try to appeal to a more mainstream audience. Perhaps that's why some of his releases have been cut by nearly an hour! (In the U.S. and other countries outside of Italy.) Sadly, "Phenomena" was originally released in the U.S. at just 82 minutes. The U.S. version from Anchor Bay is 110 minutes. (It should be noted that this is not the complete version either. The "integral version" available in Italy, Holland, and Japan runs 115 minutes.) That's 28 to 33 minutes that was cut previously!! That's absolute butchery and that's sickening! The Director's original vision needs to be preserved at all costs. At any rate... Dario is an immensely talented director and "Inferno" is a prime example of the man at his best. No true Argento fan, or horror film buff in general, should do themselves the injustice of not owning this movie. 5 Stars, hands down. Highly recommended viewing if you enjoy dark, morbid stories with dazzling visual imagery. I wish that even 25% of the directors in Hollywood had the talent, the vision and the balls that Dario possesses. Maybe then we wouldn't be bombarded with the gutless, unimaginative, uninspiring trash that is heaved upon us month after month, year after year, by the Hollywood filmmaking community. But, I digress. Definitely buy this one if you like Dario or horror movies. You won't be sorry.
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