INSTANT EXPERT
WRITE START
The son of Italian producer Salvatore Argento and Brazilian photographer Elda Luxardo, Dario Argento seemed destined for a life in the film industry (‘Our house was all about cinema,’ remembers his sister Floriana). Having worked as a critic as a teenager, Argento turned to scriptwriting in his mid 20s. In the late 60s he worked alongside Bernardo Bertolucci on the story for Sergio Leone’s epic spaghetti-western masterpiece, Once Upon a Time in the West (1968).
MURDER MOST WOW
Argento’s unparalleled ability to conjure up visually audacious murder set-pieces reached its high point with 1977’s Suspiria, a supernatural nightmare etched in lurid Technicolor hues and set to Goblin’s startling prog-rock soundtrack. A (loose) sequel, Inferno, followed in 1980, only to be all but abandoned by 20th Century Fox. Belated trilogy-capper Mother of Tears (2007) proved a huge disappointment, cementing the downward trajectory of Argento’s post-80s career.
BLOOD ON HIS HANDS
Having made a career out of depicting beautiful women being brutally butchered, it’s no surprise Argento has been dogged by accusations of misogyny. Less remarked upon, however, are his frequent critiques of traditional modes of masculinity andfor the timeprogressive inclusion of gay and transgender characters in his early movies.
THE ITALIAN HITCHCOCK
In 1970 Argento made his directorial debut with The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, a giallo thriller that marked the first in his so-called ‘Animal Trilogy’. Slick, stylish and violent, the film was an international smash, drawing comparisons with Hitchcock from some US critics. Despite frequent forays into other horror subgenres, Argento has kept working within (and reinventing) the giallo framework right up to his most recent film,
