The Phantom of the Opera/Il Fantasma dell'Opera (1998) - Argento's Leroux adaptation is a kicker mostly for stout fans

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Horror, frights and sexy Asia Argento are promised on this poster for Dario Argento's The Phantom of the Opera

An abandoned baby is raised by rats in the Paris sewers and goes on to become a much feared serial killer in its opera house.

 

The Phantom of the Opera is written by Gérard Brach (Bitter Moon (1992)) and Italian master filmmaker, co-writer/director Dario Argento (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage/ L'Uccello dalle Piume di Cristallo (1970)), adapting the same-titled 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux (Le Sept de Trèfle (1921)). It is Argento's 13th feature.

It is not a terribly successful film, and markedly one in which Argento finds himself noticably out of his Italian home-field. The use of modern CG special effects in the film look very misplaced today, and the phantom is revealed right up front, so that there is no continuous suspense to speak of.

Regardless of these issues the film is highly entertaining: Argento gives the often dusty, respectful screen adaptations a kick in the balls with his version here! Asia Argento (The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004)) is adorable, and The Phantom of the Opera also has some highly memorable scenes; a rat chase, a sex harem in a Turkish bathhouse - and a guy getting spiked on a cliff.

 

Related posts:

Dario Argento: Demons/Dèmoni (1985) or, Cinema of Death! (co-writer/producer)

Dawn of the Dead (1978) or, Mall of Death! (co-composer)

The Cat O'Nine Tails/Il Gatto a Nove Code (1971) - Solid genetics-themed giallo murder puzzle 

The Bird With the Crystal Plumage/L'uccello Dalle Piume di Cristallo (1970) - The great debut giallo of Dario Argento

Documentary about Dario Argento: An Eye for Horror (2002) - Bio. doc. of Dario Argento 

Watch a 2-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: Estimated 10 mil. $

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[The Phantom of the Opera was released 20 November (Italy) and runs 99 minutes. Shooting took place in January - April 1998 in Budapest, Hungary and in Italy, including in Rome. The film had a limited North-American release in June 1999 and was released in 6 other markets, but details concerning its gross performances are regrettably unknown. Argento's initial cut was reportedly an hour longer than the film eventually released, severely re-cut by the film's producers. Argento returned with AIMI: Vicolo Cieco (1999, short) and theatrically with Sleepless/Non ho Sonno (2001). His daughter Asia Argento returned in La tua Lingua sul mio Cuore (1999, short) and theatrically in Scarlet Diva (2000); Julian Sands (Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks (2014)) in The Loss of Sexual Innocence (1999). Approximately 5,300 IMDb users have given The Phantom of the Opera a 4.3/10 average rating.]

What do you think of The Phantom of the Opera?

Land of the Dead (2005) - Romero returns to the dead with strange, underwhelming results

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Signed by the filmmaker, a promising, apocalyptic, dark poster for George A Romero's Land of the Dead

Some zombie fighters are corrupted by money; the ruler of the last, barricaded human city, Kaufman tries to save himself; and the zombies have gotten brainy!

Land of the Dead is written and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker George A. Romero (There's Always Vanilla (1971)), whose 13th feature it is. It is the 4th in Romero's six-entry Dead movie series, following zombie classic Night of the Living Dead (1968), masterpiece sequel Dawn of the Dead (1978) and underground horror great Day of the Dead (1985). As may be indicated in the plot capture above, the film presents a fairly confusing narrative.
The evolution of the zombie genre is also evident in Land, as there are no longer any uncertainty of where to shoot zombies dead (in their heads.) But the film pales compared to the better horrors of the past as well as of its time, - and it isn't really scary, mostly just slimy and gross.
Simon Baker's (Heartbreak High (1996, TV-series)) protagonist could hardly be any duller, and John Leguizamo (The Hollow Point (2016)) plays an idiotic Hispanic part. Pointing up in the cast, however, are the lovely Asia Argento (Traveling Companion/Compagna di Viaggio (1996)), and Dennis Hopper (Nails (1992, TV-movie)), who makes yet another wicked villain here.

Related posts:

George A. Romero: Dario Argento: An Eye For Horror (2000, TV documentary) - Great bio-doc of master filmmaker Dario Argento (interview subject)
Night of the Living Dead (1990) - Romero and Savini hash up a superfluous remake (writer/executive producer)
Day of the Dead (1985) - Romero's underground-set zombie classic
Creepshow (1982) - Fun, campy horror anthology from King and Romero
Dawn of the Dead (1978) or, Mall of Death!
 

Romero answers 10 questions in this video

Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 46.7 mil. $
= Box office success (returned 3.11 times its cost)
[Land of the Dead premiered 18 June (Las Vegas CineVegas Film Festival, Nevada) and runs 97 minutes. Shooting took place in Ontario, Canada, including Toronto, and in Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh, from October - December 2004. It is the first in the Dead film series to get an MPAA rating; some gore was toned down in the theatrical version for the R rating. The film opened #5, behind holdover hit Batman Begins, new release Bewitched, holdover hit Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and new release Herbie: Fully Loaded, to a 10.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week and grossed 20.7 mil. $ (44.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 3.8 mil. $ (9.5 %) and Japan with 2.7 mil. $ (5.8 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Romero returned with Diary of the Dead (2007). Baker returned in Something New (2006); Argento with a voice performance in Live Freaky, Die Freaky (2006) and physically in Marie Antoinette (2006); and Hopper in House of 9 (2005). Land of the Dead is certified fresh at 74 % with a 6.64/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Land of the Dead?

Demons/Dèmoni (1985) or, Cinema of Death!

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This Spanish poster for Lamberto Bava's Demons features a strange cut-out of a demon hovering over other demons ascending a staircase

QUICK REVIEW:

Two Italian girls, who attempt to speak American-English in Germany (...), get free tickets to a cinema, in which the demons on the screen suddenly overtake the audience.

The blood bath will never end in Demons. 
Co-writer/director Lamberto Bava (Macabre/Macabro (1980)) walks in Italian horror maestro Dario Argento's (Phenomena (1985)) and his own father, the 'Baron of Blood' Mario Bava's (The Mask of Satan/La Machera del Demonio (1960)) shoes with success here. In Demons, he has created a nightmarish atmosphere that is far from the 'realism' striven for in so many of today's horror films.
The acting and the hopeless dubbing of the film are terrible, but in a certain way this only contributes to the priceless gritty, smutty feel that surrounds this 80s teen gore galore, replete with cocaine junkies, songs by Pretty Maids, Billy Idol and original music by Claudio Simonetti (Deep Red/Profondo Rosso (1975)).
Demons is co-written by Argento (who also produced the film), director Bava, Franco Ferrini (Opera (1987)) and Dardano Sacchetti (Killer Crocodile 2 (1990), based on his story.

Watch the very dark trailer for the film here

Cost: 1.8 mil. $
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertainty
[The film was released in '86 in the US, but I can find no figures detailing its commercial performance, only the fact that 200k paid admission to see it in Spain. But it must have been a success, because Bava and the writing team followed it up with Demons 2/Dèmoni 2 ... l'Incubo Ritorna (1986).]

What do you think of Demons?
What are the best Bava films across the prolific film family's generations?

Dario Argento: An Eye For Horror (2000, TV documentary) - Great bio-doc of master filmmaker Dario Argento

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A DVD case front for Leon Ferguson's Dario Argento: An Eye For Horror that features 8 pictures of its fascinating filmmaker subject

An Eye For Horror is a mostly talking heads biography of Italian master (mainly horror) director, Dario Argento (Deep Red/Profondo Rosso (1975)), the man behind great movies such as The Bird with the Crystal Plumage/L'uccello dalle Piume di Cristallo (1970), Suspiria (1977), Inferno (1980), Tenebrae (1982), Phenomena (1985) and The Stendhal Syndrome/La Sindrome di Stendhal (1996).

This portrait is wholly fine with many relevant people, including Argento himself, talking about the works, their making and what makes them stand out. Argento's story and his stories are so incredible that he sells the documentary in his own right here. He has done amazing things in his movies, and surely stands as one of the most inspiring and ingenious filmmakers of all time. (Nevermind that his output has undeniably gone substantially down in quality since Stendhal.)
Dario Argento: An Eye For Horror is written by Charles Preece (Bra Wars: Boom or Bust (2005, documentary)) and directed by Leon Ferguson (The Second Bakery Attack (2010, short, production assistant).

Related posts:

Doc. subject Dario Argento: Demons/Dèmoni (1985) or, Cinema of Death! (producer/co-writer)
Dawn of the Dead (1978) or, Mall of Death! (music/financing/distribution)
The Cat O'Nine Tails/Il Gatto a Nove Code (1971) - Solid genetics-themed giallo murder puzzle
The Bird With the Crystal Plumage/L'uccello Dalle Piume di Cristallo (1970) - The great debut giallo of Dario Argento

An Eye For Horror is available on Youtube. Here is a medley of some of the nightmarish and spectacular horror in Argento's films

Cost: Unknown
Box office: None - TV movie documentary
= Uncertain
[Details about the documentary's production and initial release are hard to come by. It runs 57 minutes. Ferguson has not returned as a director with anything since. 1,604 Rotten Tomatoes users have given Dario Argento. An Eye for Horror a 3.5/5 average rating.]

What film director bio-docs would you recommend?
What do you think of Dario Argento: An Eye For Horror?