Tenebrae (1982) Director: Dario Argento

Tenebrae is one of Argento's more accessible films - if you've seen Suspiria, you'll know what I mean. Still a masterpiece of claret and 'giallo', the wonderful thing about Tenebrae is that it's actually a bloody good thriller and film; a riveting 'who dunnit?' that keeps the surprises coming right until the end.

I adore Argento's use of camera, especially during his killing scenes when you become the killer, to hilarious 80s synth music. His voyeuristic stalk 'n' slash of women has been criticised - for sure, his films are highly sexual and brutal but my view is he absolutely adores women; the women, as victims, in his films are so stand-out and glorified, it's an obvious homage to their wonderfulness that they get to star in an Argento film and get killed so brutally! His camera thrives on their beauty and their ability to scream...very loud.

Tenebrae is no exception - the sexual flashbacks here are key to the understanding of the film. We follow horror novelist and American Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa) who arrives in Rome to promote his new book 'Tenebrae'. However, pretty young ladies start being bumped off by a razor-blade wielding killer, mirroring the killings in his novel in absolute detail. Neal helps the Police to try and track down the killer, as the bodies pile up.

The twists in this film are superb - it had me going in all directions and even at the end, we get one final shock. In true Argento style, the film ends with a girl screaming...and...screaming...and screaming. This is highly stylised horror at its best - it looks great, the murders are nasty and you always appreciate a good Argento dubbing. Fantastic.

5/5