Opera (1987): Argento’s Blood-Soaked Visual Revolution in Giallo Horror

In the gilded halls of Milan’s Teatro Regio, a young soprano’s triumph becomes a descent into madness, where every spotlight hides a blade and every aria masks a scream.

Dario Argento’s Opera stands as a pinnacle of Italian horror, blending the opulence of grand opera with the visceral thrills of the giallo genre. Released in 1987, this film captures the maestro’s obsession with visual poetry, turning the stage into a slaughterhouse of innovative terror. For retro enthusiasts, it remains a collector’s gem, its Blu-ray editions and posters evoking the raw energy of 80s horror cinema.

  • Argento’s groundbreaking use of lighting and POV cinematography elevates murder sequences into artistic spectacles.
  • The film’s fusion of Puccini opera with savage kills creates a unique auditory-visual horror symphony.
  • Its legacy endures in modern slashers, influencing directors who chase that perfect blend of beauty and brutality.

The Opera House of Doom: Setting the Stage for Slaughter

The film opens in the lavish Teatro Regio in Parma, a real location that Argento transforms into a character unto itself. Betty Störring, played by Cristina Marsillach, steps in as the understudy for the lead in Giacomo Puccini’s Macbeth after the diva Giulia fakes a leg injury. This substitution unleashes a killer who fixates on Betty, forcing ravens to peck needles into her eyes in a scene that has seared itself into horror history. The opera house, with its velvet curtains and crystal chandeliers, contrasts sharply with the blood that soon stains them, amplifying the genre’s tension between elegance and savagery.

Argento draws from his giallo roots, where anonymous killers stalk glamorous victims, but elevates it through the theatrical setting. The backstage labyrinth of corridors and dressing rooms becomes a maze of peril, lit by stark primaries that recall Suspiria. Every creak of a floorboard or flutter of a raven’s wing builds dread, rooted in the superstitions of the performing arts world. Collectors prize the film’s Italian poster art, with its raven-eyed silhouette, a staple in 80s horror memorabilia hunts.

Betty’s journey from naive ingenue to haunted survivor mirrors the opera’s themes of ambition and downfall, but Argento infuses it with supernatural hints. Crows invade her apartment, prophecies from a psychic lover foreshadow doom, and the killer’s ritualistic murders invoke ancient curses. This blend of psychological thriller and occult horror positions Opera as a bridge between Argento’s earlier supernatural works and his later, more grounded slashers.

Ravens, Needles, and Nightmares: Iconic Kill Sequences Dissected

No discussion of Opera skips the raven scene, where during a rehearsal, birds swarm Giulia, stabbing long needles into her eyes as she screams. Argento’s camera work here is revolutionary: tight close-ups on the punctured corneas, slow-motion feathers against flesh, and a dolly zoom that pulls the audience into the agony. Trained ravens, sourced from a specialist, executed the attack flawlessly, a testament to the director’s meticulous preparation amid Italy’s practical effects era.

Another standout is the killer’s assault on Betty at her door, nails hammered into his eyes to mimic her trauma, allowing him to strike blindly yet precisely. This motif recurs, symbolising blinded vision and voyeurism central to giallo. Argento’s use of subjective POV shots, masked by black gloves and the killer’s breath fogging the lens, immerses viewers as complicit predators. The innovation lies in the lighting: gels casting blood-red and electric-blue hues, turning gore into abstract art.

The opera within the film culminates in a finale where Betty performs amid mounting body counts, her voice soaring over stabbings. Sound design marries Puccini’s score with stabbing synth stabs by Claudio Simonetti, formerly of Goblin, creating a sensory overload. These sequences influenced 90s horror like Opera‘s echoes in Scream‘s meta-theatrics, proving Argento’s visuals transcended their time.

Visual Poetry in Blood: Argento’s Cinematic Innovations

Argento pioneered horror visuals in the 70s, but Opera refines them to perfection. His collaboration with cinematographer Ronnie Taylor employs extreme wide-angle lenses for distorted opera hall shots, compressing space into claustrophobic traps. Coloured filters dominate: crimson for kills, cyan for pursuits, evoking the emotional palette of expressionism updated for VHS-era audiences.

Movement defines the style. Steadicam glides through crowds like a phantom, anticipating found-footage techniques. Macro lenses capture needle tips piercing skin in hyper-real detail, a practical effect prefiguring digital gore. Argento’s editing rhythms sync cuts to music beats, making murders balletic. This innovation stemmed from his theatre background, treating the screen as a proscenium arch for horror opera.

Compared to contemporaries like Lucio Fulci’s gore spectacles, Argento prioritises aesthetics over splatter. Opera‘s shower kill, with steam-lit blades and shattering glass, rivals Hitchcock while surpassing it in stylisation. For collectors, laserdisc versions preserve the uncut European print’s intensity, a holy grail amid censored US releases.

Fate, Art, and the Female Gaze: Thematic Depths

At its core, Opera explores destiny through prophecy and performance. Betty’s rise parallels Macbeth’s ambition, punished by a killer embodying her guilt. Argento subverts giallo’s male gaze; Betty confronts her tormentor, stabbing him in a reversal that empowers her. This feminist undercurrent, rare in 80s slashers, arises from script input by Daria Nicolodi.

The film critiques the art world’s vampirism, where talent feeds predators. Superstition permeates: black cats, broken mirrors, and the opera’s curse. Nostalgia ties to Italy’s 80s economic boom, when grand theatres hosted modern horrors. Themes resonate in collecting culture, where fans hoard memorabilia symbolising reclaimed childhood fears.

Sexuality intertwines with violence, from bondage-tinged kills to voyeuristic lenses. Argento balances titillation with terror, influencing erotic thrillers. The film’s ambiguity—dream or reality?—invites rewatches, a hallmark of giallo’s psychological layers.

Behind the Curtain: Production Tales and Challenges

Filming in Parma’s Teatro Regio halted live seasons, costing a fortune, but authenticity paid off. Argento broke his leg early, directing from a wheelchair, mirroring the plot’s injury. Budget overruns from raven wrangling and custom needles pushed releases: Italy 1987, US as Terror at the Opera in 1989, censored heavily.

Simonetti’s score, blending classical samples with prog rock, faced rights issues but endures as a vinyl collector’s delight. Nicolodi’s script refined Argento’s visuals-first approach. Marketing leaned on gore stills, cementing its cult status amid Friday the 13th dominance.

Cast dynamics shone: Marsillach, daughter of theatre legends, brought operatic authenticity despite limited acting chops. Urbano Barberini as Marco added heartthrob appeal, his psychic visions grounding the surreal.

Legacy in Lights: Influence on Horror and Collectoria

Opera inspired Gaspar Noé’s hallucinatory style and Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria remake. Its visuals echo in music videos and games like Until Dawn. Restored 4K editions revive its lustre for Blu-ray hunters.

In collecting, original soundtracks fetch premiums, posters adorn home theatres. Fan theories on Reddit dissect killer identities, perpetuating discourse. Argento’s return to form after Phenomena solidified his legacy.

Director in the Spotlight: Dario Argento

Born February 7, 1940, in Rome to filmmaker Salvatore Argento and actress Lidia Montesi, Dario grew up amid cinema’s golden age. Influenced by Mario Bava’s gothic horrors and Alfred Hitchcock’s suspense, he started as a film critic for Paese Sera before scripting Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). His directorial debut, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), birthed modern giallo with its whodunit flair and stylish kills.

Argento’s career exploded with The Cat o’ Nine Tails (1971), a procedural thriller, and Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1972), completing the Animal Trilogy. Deep Red (1975) elevated progressive rock scoring via Goblin and introduced piano-wire murders. The Three Mothers Trilogy followed: Suspiria (1977), a witch coven nightmare; Inferno (1980), New York occult frenzy; and Mother of Tears (2007), a belated close.

The 80s saw Tenebrae (1982), a meta-slash on American horror, and Phenomena (1985), aka Creepers, with insect horrors and Jennifer Connelly. Opera (1987) marked a giallo peak. Later works include Trauma (1993), his US production with Asia Argento; The Stendhal Syndrome (1996), exploring art-induced psychosis; The Phantom of the Opera (1998), a gothic musical; Non ho sonno (2001), aka Sleepless, reviving the Three Faces of Fear; The Card Player (2004), cyber-thriller; Do You Like Hitchcock? (2005), TV homage; Giallo (2009), self-referential; and Dracula 3D (2012), gothic adaptation. His daughter Asia starred in many, blending family legacy with controversy. Argento’s influence spans From Dusk Till Dawn nods to Italian horror revivals, cementing him as godfather of stylish terror.

Actor in the Spotlight: Cristina Marsillach

Cristina Marsillach, born October 4, 1963, in Madrid, hails from a theatrical dynasty: father Albert Marsillach directed Spain’s National Theatre, mother María Romero directed soaps, siblings also performers. Trained at Madrid’s RESAD drama school, she debuted on stage in Racine’s Federico (1980) and TV’s Los gozos y las sombras (1982). Her beauty and poise led to modelling before cinema.

International breakthrough came with Opera (1987), Argento’s muse as tormented soprano Betty. Her operatic training shone in arias, enduring grueling shoots. Post-Opera, she starred in Jess Franco’s Faceless (1988), La secta (1990) by Bigas Luna, and Enzo G. Castellari’s Barbarossa (1990). Theatre triumphs included La Celestina (1992) and Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler.

1990s TV work: Brigada central, Primer plano. Films like El juego de los mensajes cifrados (1992), La reina anónima (1995). Stage: Las criadas (2000), Genet adaptation. 2000s: Los protegidos TV, La duquesa (2010). Recent: Cuéntame cómo pasó (2010s), El secreto de Puente Viejo. Voice work in animations. Awards: Spanish Theatre Union nods. Marsillach embodies giallo grace, her Opera performance a collector’s touchstone in horror retrospectives.

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Bibliography

Albano, M. (2012) Dario Argento: The Man Behind the Bloodstained Glass. Midnight Marquee Press.

Grist, R. (2009) Dario Argento. Wallflower Press.

Jones, A. (1999) Ten Giallo Films to Die For. Creation Books.

Knee, M. (2003) ‘The Giallo Tradition’, in Italian Horror Cinema, ed. I. Conrich. Edinburgh University Press, pp. 57-72.

McDonagh, M. (2010) Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento. Sunburst. Available at: https://www.stonebridgepress.com (Accessed 15 October 2023).

Simonetti, C. (2015) ‘Scoring Opera: An Interview’, Fangoria, Issue 345, pp. 44-49.

Sparks, D. (2021) ‘Argento’s Visual Innovations in the 1980s’, Eyeball Compendium. Eyeball Press. Available at: https://www.eyeballcompendium.com/articles/argento-80s (Accessed 20 October 2023).

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