Dario Argento’s name may not be well-known to American moviegoers, but horror movie enthusiasts would recognize him as the master Italian horror movie director. Starting his directing career in the 1970s with “The Bird with the Crystal Plumage,” Dario has since directed 18 feature films. And like all iconic horror film directors, people tend to view his early films as being representative of his best work. This tends to leave a lot of fans celebrating the director’s early work, while desperately ignoring most things that have come after the ’90s. However, the documentary below takes place in the mid-80s, which allows us to exist in a time period where horror was in its prime and directors like Argento had nowhere to go but up.
“Dario Argento’s World of Horror” arrived in 1985 and is especially notable as it marked the directorial debut of Michele Soavi, the same Soavi who went on to direct notable Italian horror films “The Church” and “Cemetery Man.” This early documentary was a sought after position among horror fans of the time as it included numerous clips from Argento’s films that were cut from their theatrical releases. The documentary also includes an in-depth look at Argento’s “Suspiria” that goes deep into the behind-the-scene details and examines the way Argento was able to create the stylistic coloring of the film.
Check it out below and let us know what you think. [The Seventh Art]