 Thank you for checking out this no spoilers movie review. This is for the 1982 Dario Argento film Tenebrae or Tenebrae I don't know however people want to say it when I'm doing this review It is currently streaming on the shutter horror streaming service. So check it out there They also have some other Argento stuff on there. So cool When I'm bringing this up so real quick if people could let me know I've been messing with the audio on my review videos So I cranked up the gain well cranked up I turned up the gain a little bit on this so you might hear a little bit more background noise But you should be able to hear me better so you don't have to crank your volume so let me know down in the comments if it is better in comparison to older videos or Do I need to crank it up more? I don't know just let me know Anyway to Dario Argento's Tenebrae not my favorite. I will say right off the bat. I did enjoy this film It's not my favorite of Argento's films. I think at the moment I really like Suspiria obviously everyone really likes Suspiria. I like demons a lot. It's a lot of fun But I really really like deep red deep red is such a nice giallo film I haven't seen a ton of giallo films, but I'm trying to go through a bunch actually have Everyone I've watched thus far I have a review for on this channel and I'm going through doing like a ranked list of all of them So at the moment, I think deep red is my favorite of all of them And you know if you want to see what other ones I have watched go check out my other videos So this film Tenebrae was done right after Argento had done Inferno and right before he did phenomena Now I have a review up for Inferno. I don't have one for phenomena I haven't watched that yet, but trust that will happen at some point soon So he had I was looking at his IMDB credits And I realized he had a stretch of ten years that were really it was a really good ten years as far as You know what people think of Argento now with his films So within that ten-year stretch it was 1975 to 85 I think it was 75 to 85 Was he released deep red? Suspiria Inferno Tenebrae and phenomena. That's a pretty good run This was his return to giallo by the way Tenebrae was Considering that you know he had done Inferno before it Inferno was a return to well actually Inferno was after Suspiria so it was Suspiria and then Inferno and those were the two which movies he was doing and People thought and I think he thought actually that he was he was going to finish off his trilogy that he had in mind That he eventually did finish off with mother of tears much later But I thought people thought and he thought that he was going to go ahead and just you know make that finish Finish it up, but he didn't because Inferno didn't actually do all that well So he was like well, let me return to giallo people really seem to like that for me and people are kind of asking for it more So let's give that a go try and fix this lighting a little No Yeah, whatever. Anyway, I do it in post. Sorry So this was Return to giallo now. I'm just going through my notes as I have them written down as I was watching the movie So he wrote this actually Based on two things at the moment He was living in LA at the time and there was he wasn't in the best of areas and there was an incident where It was some hotel he was staying at and a person there got Shot in the lobby of this hotel And so he just kind of like started taking note more of how violent and awful La was at that time So he was like he did move and he actually ended up moving because the other part of his experience was that he had this really Obsessed fan who kept contacting him and the it was fine at first But then it's got to a point where the fan was like Saying that he wanted to harm him saying that he wanted to kill him and that because of the work that Argento had done and because he got so much into Argento's work that all of a sudden That was affecting his psyche and making him feel different ways and become more violent and stuff So he wanted to you know exact revenge on Argento in a sense So it got really bad really fast. So that's why he moved but that experience plus the violence He experienced when he was in LA Kind of prompted him to write the script for Tenebrae and throughout the movie if you keep that those stories in mind You really see it in his writing you see him working through it And I think it actually turns into him Mentally working through the issues that he mentally has with those things in his life Through the script just like you can see in the story and how it develops and some of the dialogue how he's working Things out as he's writing the script and I think that's very interesting thing to know when you're going into watching it So I would say if you've already seen the film With this information of mine go back and watch it again and think about that and I mean see if you think I'm right But I think I am with that So several members of Goblin actually came back to do the score for this and you can tell it has that kind of Goblin type sound to it, but it's also extremely 80s at the same time There's sort like some synth things in there and the way they do some of like the bass lines in the music is Very much like an 80s kind of like cop drama type thing. You'll know what I'm talking about if you've seen it or if you do see it So this film actually ended up having moderate success in Italy, but it was Labeled as one of the video nasties in the United Kingdom now for people who don't know the video nasties We're basically films that were banned in the UK because they were considered to be too violent too gory too horrific And I believe the first film that that started the video nasties list in the UK was The original evil dead if I'm not mistaken. I had heard that from Eli Roth on his history of horror Podcast because yes, it was a show, but they also released all the uncut edit unedited interviews as a podcast which the show is very awesome the podcast is very awesome Definitely check those out, but he had said that evil dead was the first of the video nasties So tenebrae got nailed as being one of the video nasties in the UK So it didn't actually end up getting released in the UK until 1999 So 82 to 99 that's a ways to go And then it actually got a release only after two years in the United States in 1984 But it wasn't released as tenebrae It was released as a film called Unsane and it was heavily censored apparently so it didn't do all that well It's popular in the United States is more now Partially because of you know cult films become cult films only over time But also it was so heavily censored and not only in the later years after its original release that it You know, did you get an uncensored version? You got more of the actual film as it was meant to be and people just appreciate that more and it's a better film that way supposedly So, um, Argento has a tendency in a lot of his films to go with more grandiose Settings as far as buildings go when he's shooting in Italy and he did shoot in Rome for this film So you would think oh man, he's gonna go do like some of the big landmarks and Usually he'll do that and he gets like the the very amazing looking beautiful intricate architectures And that's one of the things I've always loved about Argento's films is he shows that it looks so beautiful You get like these wide shots of this amazing architecture in the way he'll just like with the camera work just Go on journeys through these Really interesting looking buildings with the The characters always great. So for this film, he stepped it back a little bit and he went more for showing Not like those big grandiose buildings, but showing the more modern side of Rome Which I think is cool. It's more of like a okay at people kind of like know what Rome's known for Let me show you another side of Rome. It's modern. It's not just classic and and and beautiful and traditional It's also, you know, it's now it's 80s. It's modern And that really did come through in the settings with the film And I'm gonna talk a little bit more about the settings and and I had their camera work and stuff a little bit later Um, so the majority of the kills in this are actually done in bright in light Not at night, which is a a different thing a kind of jarring thing You would think especially then because With horror in general the the deaths and kill scenes typically happen in the dark at night because it's scarier But there's something more jarring about with that's the trend Doing it in daylight And I think that's actually something that the newer film mid-summer did really well Is it is very bright when all the you know horrific stuff ends up happening And so for our Gento to have to done that it have done that back in 1982 It's kind of a very forward thinking thing. It's kind of breaking from the trend And I wonder if he decided to do that because of the the violence that he saw in la because a lot of the violence was Broad daylight type violence. So I wonder if that was kind of where he got part of that from So there's a big. Oh the other thing about the the violent the kills is they're very quick And they're very violent and there's a lot of gore So I understand why it it got hit with video nasties list and I understand why it was heavily censored in the united states For that time, I'm saying I don't say I I'm not saying I agree with it I just understand why that happened at that time Because yeah, it's really violent and um The deaths are quick though, too But well done So there's a there's criticism of sexist writing in this film Which actually seems a lot to me like Argento making a comment about him himself about himself and some of his films Because he has had that That criticism before Um, so he kind of works it out in here as being like, hey, this is just creativity This is entertainment and it ties not as film in the film It ties in as the book to nebrae, which is a large part of the film So I feel like the author in this film with their book is a lot like The embodiment of Argento himself with his films and he's kind of working out this thing of like, okay I've been criticism for being too violent being too sexist So he puts that on his character and that's thrown at them a lot and they're just kind of like I'm you know, I'm Creative this is entertainment like you can't hold me responsible for what people do based off You know what I'm putting out there as as creative consumption Or as creative stuff to be consumed and that kind of goes through the story I was telling earlier about you know that obsessed fan being like, you know I'm so into your stuff and now it's making me want to do things and now I want to kill you So it kind of seemed like throughout the film as he's writing the script like he Argento, he's struggling with this like trying to work out in his head Should I feel responsible for stuff like this? Should I feel responsible if someone sees my films and they take that as Inspiration to be violent or to kill someone or be sexist or whatever So you kind of see like the struggle of him like working it out through the script Which I think is a really interesting aspect of thinking about that while you watch the film So this speaks the idea of books and film making people violent and blaming the creators for that So this is tying into it. So this is actually something that was going on a lot back then too And that's why a lot of the censorship ended up starting Because people started to point to violence in society and say, oh, this is because of horror movies because of violent You know like we're having right now. It's because of violent video games You know This type of thing has always has always been said that the creatives out there who are doing kind of fringe stuff Or what's considered to be fringe stuff at the time are the ones who are giving people ideas and then they're acting upon it as if Stop giving people ideas. It's your fault And this film kind of like Throws a lot of opinions out about that and obviously it ties into what I was talking about before with Argento Kind of struggling with that himself There was a really funny line in this. I really want to bring up real quick I only drink on duty this Investigator like homicide investigator said I thought that was pretty funny I was very caught off guard by it because that he was like offered to drink and someone was like, oh well I assume you don't drink on duty. I'm sorry. He's like, oh, no. I only drink on duty I was like, okay, that's funny And that's the thing like Argento will kind of put like some funny witty things in Here or there but he does it in a way that it doesn't mess things up because horror can really When you're going for something more serious more violent more scary Or drama driven or thriller driven When you throw in Something funny it can really just like mess up the pace and the feel of everything and that doesn't happen with what he does Uh, the the film is extremely sexual It's very very clear that this is not from a female perspective This film and so I think it speaks a little bit more to the sexism of of the time Argento and the time and Argento probably because of the time like that was way more acceptable then and It would actually help you with Getting butts in the seats at theaters to be honest So, you know, and it's still something that horror fans are like, hey, you know, if there's not a good You know, it's not a good story or there's a problem with this just put some nudity in it And I'm good, you know, it's still a thing So I understand So there's a crane shot that they use in this which I I've heard people Refer to before as being used by other filmmakers kind of taking it and being like that's a cool idea I really like the way that shot worked So it's like kind of this crane shot where they're going like around the side of a building and like the Top of it and then coming around and you're seeing through some windows So you're seeing some things that are going on outside of and inside of the building from the outside And it's cool. It's a great concept. It's a really cool idea I like how it works for the most part, but I feel like it also takes way too long Which makes it kind of boring. They have a really large portion where they're showing you just shingles on a roof So I feel like they should have just like moved it a little faster or just sped up the film At that point to move it a little faster. I don't know, but Um cool idea There's some really good stuff about it, but it also gets really boring and seems a little too long, but you know For the time, great idea So there's a bunch of use of sound of water in this and actually when I say a bunch I'm like three times maybe Um, the there's one in particular where it's kind of like bubbles under water Which I think just sounds very pleasing and interesting And that's another thing that I feel like Argento does really well in his films He has a lot of good foley work in all of his films for these Interesting sounds that that he brings to the forefront that they can help with the mood. It feels weird It feels kind of creepy. Ah, you know, it His foley work is always really good his his Auditory effects should I say and then another one was just like running water that also sounded very interesting But there was a tie-in and there was later like a weapon ends up in water I'm not gonna say too much about it because I'm not giving things away So but the the use of water and it was really interesting in the sound that it made very interesting Uh, because it's because it's actually like kind of soothing But what's going on at the time when it's soothing you is also Messed up and disturbing. So it's kind of this You know these opposing forces at the same time So the pov killer camera work that's been done in giallo films all the time including argentos Just like usual works quite well in this film. I like it What is argentos obsession with animals attacking people? He does this a lot There is a dog attack in this movie. Sorry. It's kind of a spoiler that uh other movies I've watched of his He has birds attacking people. He has cats attacking people. He has rats attacking people It's always about animals attacking people. What is with him? It's an obsession. It's just weird Um So argentos has an awesome knack for interesting locations Choosing interesting locations to shoot at but not just doing that but showcasing them extremely well Because of the lighting that he uses and the camera work that he uses This is what I was talking about a little bit earlier before I feel like He just picks really interesting locations whether it's outside or inside usually buildings And he takes his time in them. He lights them in a very interesting way So you can see what is interesting about that location? And then he has the characters interact with them in an interesting way and go slow enough not too slow But slow enough that you as an audience member can really take in The setting and he just has such an amazing knack for that and I really really love it And for that reason the way he executes all those things It kind of makes it feel like a journey Um when you're going through these locations and it's a good thing because with these giallo films in particular Uh, it's an investigation And so it kind of adds to that investigative feel because you go into this new location as an audience member Sometimes the characters are going in for the first time as well And it's very exploratory and it just comes across so well in the film And that's one of the things I love about how argento does film So, uh It's kind of like By writing the script argento was trying to figure out if he thought His movies made him responsible for the actions of those people obsessed with them or not I was kind of saying this earlier, but Like I said watch it again and think about that. It's very interesting. Watch it that way Um Like any good giallo, there are a solid number of characters introduced in this So it really does keep you guessing. Who is the killer? There are a lot of twists to it I feel like that aspect of it is probably the best portion of this film In addition to all the like the technical things I was talking about that argento does and creative things Um as far as the story goes I think the best thing is that You keep guessing like there's so many characters that are introduced that At many times you're kind of like well, I kind of think it could be this person Well, now I kind of think it could be this person Well, now I think it could be this person and it keeps you guessing until the end pretty much some people might see it coming but I It took me quite a while until I saw it coming and it was pretty close to the end when I saw it coming So I was just like, okay, here we go. So Well done Uh, there there is one scene towards the end actually where the gore is over the top It is very graphic. It is there's a ton of blood and I was just like, whoa He really went for it on that when he was just like You want gratuitous? Here's gratuitous And uh, it makes for an interesting scene. It's kind of fun In a way for that But that's one where I'm just like, yeah that that is probably what they pointed to for the video nasties list And that is probably one of the things that got edited in the us cut as insane um, so yeah There's a good twist at the end But there are a few things that are actually very unrealistic about the twist and unbelievable for the world that's been set and making it seem realistic. It just doesn't It doesn't come together. So overall I liked how it wrapped up. I like where the story went I like how it ended But there were some aspects of how things played out in the end where I was just like that's not realistic That's not believable If those things would have been taken out if things would have been a little more believable I would have liked it even more But overall I did like the film. I mean, there's a lot to like when Argento is doing film. So That said, that's all my stuff I covered. I it's pretty long actually. Um But giving it a five star rating Out of five stars with half stars in play I like it. I don't like loving a ton Where am I on this? I don't know. I feel like I gotta give it a four And story-wise, I don't think it gets a four on its own But I think with all the creative flair and extra things that come with an Argento film It just kind of bumps it to a four. So I give it a four rating. Obviously, that's a pretty good recommendation for me See it If you haven't seen to knee break see it also see other Argento films, especially as giallo's Deep red. Like I said, I really like deep red. I've actually been thinking about rewatching that. I liked it so much So anyway, but thanks everyone for checking this out. Put some comments down there. Have you seen this film? Have you not seen it? Do you want to see it? What are your thoughts? Please help me out do that subscribe because that's the way you can repay me It literally takes you a second totally painless And it encourages me to keep doing this because it's a good time But thanks everyone for checking this out until next time. Keep it brutal