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nasties" list. [50] Nevertheless, the ban lasted until 1999, when Tenebrae was |
legally released on videotape with one second of footage removed in addition |
to the previously censored five (the BBFC-censored footage was uploaded as a |
video file, viewable on the distributors (Nouveax Pictures) website, in a |
clear signal of changing times). In 2003, the BBFC reclassified the film and |
passed it without any cuts. [20] In Germany, the release was strongly cut, and |
reportedly seized by the authorities. [84] The film has since been released on |
DVD in the US, mostly uncut save for approximately twenty seconds of |
extraneous material. [85] Tenebrae received an initial DVD release in March |
1999 from Anchor Bay Entertainment , with a re-release in May 2008. [86] [ |
better source needed ] The Anchor Bay release, though presented as "uncut" was |
not the fully restored version of the film. A DVD German release by Raptor was |
also missing about one-and-a-half seconds of material. [84] In June 2011, |
Arrow Films issued a special edition on DVD, [86] [ better source needed ] but |
although the image quality was far better than in previous DVD releases, this |
version was "heavily lambasted" for carrying a transfer of the film that had |
visible noise and "distorted audio". In 2013, Arrow released a Blu-ray edition |
that corrected the audio and video problems. Additional corrections were made |
to the transfer and released by Synapse Films in 2016, as a steelbook edition |
limited to 3000 copies. [87] The Arrow & Synapse DVD and Blu-ray releases are |
"completely uncut". [84] Later reception [ edit ] Tenebrae has since become |
regarded as among Argento's best films by many fans and critics, with some |
calling it his last great film. [20] [46] AllMovie refers to the film as "one |
of Dario Argento's best thrillers". [88] In her 1994 book on the director, |
Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento, Maitland |
McDonagh maintains that Tenebrae is "in many respects ... the finest film that |
Argento has ever made." [52] Richard Dyer, writing for the Directory of World |
Cinema: Italy , describes the film as a "tease", one which is "perhaps the |
apotheosis of one of the core pleasures of detective fiction: being outwitted, |
wrong-footed, led up the garden path". Dyer believes that the degree of |
lighting used in the film is unsurpassed. [89] Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine |
said that Tenebrae "is a riveting defense of auteur theory, ripe with self- |
reflexive discourse and various moral conflicts. It's both a riveting horror |
film and an architect's worst nightmare." [90] Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club |
noted "... Argento makes some points about the intersection of art, reality, |
and personality, but the director's stunning trademark setpieces, presented |
here in a fully restored version, provide the real reason to watch." [91] |
Almar Haflidason, in a review for BBC Online , opined, "Sadistically beautiful |
and viciously exciting, welcome to true terror with Dario Argento's shockingly |
relentless Tenebrae ." [79] Tim Lucas in Video Watchdog said, "Though it is in |
some ways as artificial and deliberate as a De Palma thriller, Tenebrae |
contains more likeable characters, believable relationships, and more emphasis |
on the erotic than can be found in any other Argento film." [11] Gordon |
Sullivan of DVD Verdict wrote, " Tenebre is a straight-up giallo in the old- |
school tradition. It may have been filmed in 1982, but it comes straight out |
of the '70s tradition. We've got all the usual suspects, including a writer |
for a main character, lots of killer-cam point of view, some crazily over the |
top kills, and approximately seventy-two twists before all is revealed ... For |
fans of Argento's earlier giallo , this is a must-see." [92] Not all the |
recent critical reaction to Tenebrae has been positive. Geoff Andrew of Time |
Out thought that the film was "unpleasant even by contemporary horror |
standards". [93] John Kenneth Muir, author of Horror Films of the 1980s , |
considers the film to be far inferior to Suspiria , but acknowledges that it |
was so "unremittingly gory" that it justified its US title of "Unsane". [74] |
John Wiley Martin, although evaluating the film as a "technically mesmeric" |
one, felt that thematically it was a "disappointingly retrograde step" for |
Argento. [94] Christopher Null of Filmcritic.com called it a "gory but not |
particularly effective Argento horror flick", [95] while Dennis Schwartz of |
Ozus' World Movie Reviews dismissed it as "trash". [96] Gary Johnson, editor |
of Images , complained, "Not much of Tenebre makes much sense. The plot |
becomes little more than an excuse for Argento to stage the murder sequences. |
And these are some of the bloodiest murders of Argento's career." [97] In |
2004, Tim Lucas re-evaluated the film and found that some of his earlier |
enthusiasm had dimmed considerably, noting that, " Tenebre is beginning to |
suffer from the cheap 16 mm-like softness of Luciano Tovoli's cinematography, |
its sometimes over-storyboarded violence (the first two murders in particular |
look stilted), the many bewildering lapses in logic ... and the overdone |
performances of many of its female actors". [72] Legacy [ edit ] Coming at the |
tail end of the giallo cycle, Tenebrae does not appear to have been as |
influential as Argento's earlier films. Douglas E. Winter, however, has |
commented that Tenebrae ' s Louma crane sequence has been stylistically |
influential, pointing to its use in Brian De Palma 's The Untouchables (1987). |
[44] In addition, towards the end of the film, with Neal supposedly dead, the |
camera faces Detective Giermani directly. When he stoops to pick up some |
evidence from the floor, Neal is revealed to be standing behind him, their |
silhouettes having perfectly matched in the shot. Alan Jones cited Tenebrae as |
the first film to use this specific type of camera blocking , and believes it |
to have been copied and referenced deliberately by later filmmakers. [24] One |
such example, discussed as an unacknowledged "steal" from Tenebrae , is De |
Palma's "surprise reveal" of John Lithgow standing behind a victim in Raising |
Cain (1992). [25] [98] Robert Zemeckis 's What Lies Beneath (2000) also |
contains a similar moment, although Zemeckis has denied familiarity with |
Italian films. [99] The final death scene in Tenebrae – where Neal is |
accidentally impaled by a sculpture – is directly referenced in Kenneth |
Branagh 's Hitchcockian murder mystery Dead Again (1991). Kim Newman maintains |
that Branagh's film imitates the sequence so entirely – with Derek Jacobi |
being pierced by the sculpture – that Branagh must have included the reference |
deliberately. The next moment, where Nicolodi screams repeatedly in the rain, |
was cited by Asia Argento (Nicolodi's daughter with Dario Argento) as the |
moment that inspired her to become an actress. [57] See also [ edit ] List of |
Italian films of 1982 References [ edit ] Footnotes ^ "Tenebrae (1982)" . |
Archivio del Cinema Italiano On-Line . ^ Tenebre (1982) - Dario Argento | |
Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie , retrieved 7 |
June 2023 ^ "How Dario Argento's Classic 'Tenebrae' Was Inspired By His |
Stalker" . Collider . 12 August 2022 . Retrieved 7 June 2023 . ^ "The Quietus |
| Film | Film Features | 30 Years On: Tenebrae Revisited" . The Quietus . |
Retrieved 7 June 2023 . ^ a b c d e Newman & Jones 2011 , chapter 9 ^ a b c d |
e f g h i j k l m n o p q Jones, Alan (27 June 2011). Dario Argento's Tenebrae |
(DVD booklet). Arrow Films . ^ a b Gardner, Kurt (1 September 2020). "Giallo — |
The Distinctly Italian Genre" . ArtScene SA . Retrieved 7 June 2023 . ^ a b |
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