Review of Opera (1987) by A M — 31 Aug 2011

It's not over until the fat lady sings (although there is actually a dearth of fat ladies in this).

Argento returns to his giallo roots with this stylish 80s slasher that he all but disowned at the time of it's release. When diva-ish leading lady in a modern version of Macbeth is injured in a car accident her young understudy steps into the breach. After a glorious opening night things take a turn for the worse as a serial killer begins stalking her, bumping off the cast and crew and forcing her to watch the murders - tying her up and sticking a row of needles below her eyes meaning that if she closes her eyes they will be skewered by the said needles. A very clever plot device.

This is eighties Italian cinema so we get a lot of MTV style camera work and lighting and good dollop of large shoulder pads and big hair. Despite that Argento manages to create a very stylish and atmospheric picture, layering suspense into the murder scenes and upping the tension as the young starlet is followed by her unseen pursuer and spied upon in her own home via the ventilation system.

Argento didn't like the finished product, and it wasn't well received outside of Italy but in reality it's a pretty decent flick, even if the final reveal of the killer comes as little of a surprise and some of the actors camp it up like there's no tomorrow (though to be fair the dubbing won't have helped). there are some effective murder scenes and the semi-supernatural elements that had begun to dominate his work is kept to a minimum.

Fans of the genre could do worse than see this.