Opera

Alternate titles : Terror at the Opera

Tagline : "An Aria of Terror from the Maestro of Horror - Dario Argento "

Another excellent Argento thriller, which this time takes a new twist on the old "Curse of MacBeth" legend. Christina Marsillach stars as a young Opera singer named Betty, who's just received her first big break in the theatre after she's asked to perform the leading role of the operatic version of MacBeth.

MacBeth has always been considered to be an unlucky production amongst actors, and Betty is no exception to that belief. Which was bolstered by the fact that she was only got the part after her predecessor was killed in a hit-and-run accident (leading to a hilarious announcement "Ladies and Gentlemen, the great Mara Chakova has been run down by a car"!!!!).

Her first performance goes well, but unfortunately she then finds herself being stalked by a crazed fan, who proceeds to pounce on her at random, tie her up and force her to watch as he murders her closest friends.

Not only this, but the killer also attempts to sabotage the production, killing luckless stagehands, slaughtering the ravens used during the final act, destroying costumes and causing props to crash down during the show. The detective investigating, Inspector Santini (Urbano Barberini), believes the culprit is someone known to her. But as the bodies pile up, it appears that the killer is not who she first suspected....

Definitely a must see for horror fans, especially those who are familiar with Argento's slick style of production. There are some beautifully choreographed death sequences in this, Daria Nicoladi getting shot being particularly memorable, and as with his other works there's enough plot twists to keep you guessing who the killer is right up till the end.

Overall Marks : 6/10.

Terrifying Trivia

• Alternate tag lines used for the film, "Obsession. murder. madness", "A star is born tonight... will she live to see tomorrow?" and "The last note is a real killer".
• This was the last film that Dario Argento worked on with his then partner Daria Nicoladi (who also appears in the film as Betty's agent Mira) as they split up around the time of the films release. Many also say that this film marked the end of his most prolific period.
• Urbano Barberini, who plays Inspector Santini's, also starred in the cult Argento/Bava/Soavi collaboration "Demons", as well as starring in the Luiggi Cozzi film "The Black Cat".
• Antonella Vitali, who plays Marion, went onto star in the Argento produced film "The Church" (AKA "Cathedral of Demons").
• About 140 crows were used for the scene where they are released into the opera house. After which, it took several hours to recapture them. But even then, they only managed to get about 60 of them back.The rest somehow managed to escape outside.
• The "Curse of MacBeth" is an extremely old superstition, believed by many actors, that Macbeth is a cursed play. As it's subject matter revolves around witchcraft, the belief is that when you mess with the forces of evil, even in the arts, evil may decide to take some part. But whatever the reason, there are numerous stories about accidents happening to people involved with production of that play. To ward off evil, many actors don't call it by its title and refer to it instead as "The Scottish Play."
• Fellow Italian Director and frequent Argento collaborator Michael Soavi has a minor role as a Police Detective.
• The opera Director, Marco, was played by British actor Ian Charleson, who was a familiar face to fans of British Drama films, having previously starred in "Chariots of Fire", "Ghandi" and "Greystoke : The Legend of Tarzan". This was sadly to be his last feature film, as he died of an HIV related illness in 1990.
• Noted British actress Vanessa Redgrave had originally been cast to play singer Mara Czekova. But, she dropped out prior to filming. So the part was heavily rewritten, substantially reducing the role to just a few scenes, which were only shown in abstract, with an uncredited extra playing the role.
• The UK cinema and initial video releases suffered 3 short cuts before being passed with an 18 certificate. These heavily toned down the death of Detective Santini, removing a zoom in shot of his skewered tongue and shortening his subsequent stabbing. The death of the wardrobe girl also removed the shot of the killer putting a pair of scissors into the dead girl's mouth. The 2002 Disc release by Arrow films was of the full uncut version.
• The film was heavily censored for its US theatrical release in the late 80s. All current US Disc releases though are fully uncut, with all the gore intact.

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