TERROR AT THE OPERA

(A.k.a. OPERA; DARIO ARGENTO'S OPERA)

I reviewed Argento's 1987 flick OPERA for the site previously when Anchor Bay released it onto American disc back in October 2001. The synopsis and opinions on the film below are largely taken, albeit updated here and there, from that review.

The story is still a pretty uninspired one: Betty (Christina Marsillach) is the young understudy to a famous opera singer. When - during rehearsals for a lavish production of Macbeth - the prima donna star has an accident, Betty is called upon to fill her shoes.

Just as Betty's career seems to be taking off, an insane fan commits a series of brutal murders, all of which Betty is forced to watch. The killer binds her in rope and tapes pins to her eyelids in order to keep them open. They then leave the scene of each crime as Betty struggles to make sense of what she's witnessed each time.

Her boyfriend is the first to bite the dust, suffering a blade through the jaw. Later, Betty's costume designer's rib-cage is cut open in an effort by the killer to retrieve a vital piece of evidence she happens to have swallowed. Both sequences are nicely staged, but unfortunately are somewhat hindered by the use of Brian Eno's terrible Euro-metal score.

Sergio Stivaletti's gore FX, however, are definitely up to scratch in these scenes. They, along with Argento's insistence on zooming in and occasionally even slowing the film down (particularly during a show-stopping bullet-through-the-eye sequence), help mark this out as one of the director's most violent pictures.

All the usual Argento motifs are here too: Daria Nicolodi turns up in a supporting role; the black gloves are in evidence; the theme of opera; the lousy dubbing of peripheral characters; the camera walking through red show-curtains; flashbacks that explain the killer's past without giving anything away (a'la TENEBRE); the killer's POV shots; the heroine ambling through rainy streets at night ...

But, as always with Argento, it's the camera that's truly the star. Argento's control of each frame is meticulous, ably aided on this outing by cinematographer Ronnie Taylor and assistant director Michele Soavi.

The most astounding set-pieces in a film filled with remarkable moments include when ravens provide a roving overhead view of the opera house audience; the scene where our killer breaks into the dressing room in the dead of night to steal a bracelet from Betty's dress, only to be attacked by said ravens; and the aforementioned nicely lit scenes of a soaked Marsillach walking through the pouring streets of Rome.

The whodunit storyline offers a few suspects along the way - portrayed by some interesting actors including Nicolodi as Betty's manager and the late Ian Charleson as concert director Marco - but relies more on atmosphere and visual delights than plausibility or logic. Such is the cinema of Argento (I often wondered how the killer in SLEEPLESS got the prostitute's mobile phone number - and knew that she would be on that particular train ...). While the plot moves along in typically mechanical fashion, aesthetically the film is a triumph and the prospect of a keenly crafted grisly murder is never far away.

And - Brian Eno's naff metal soundtrack aside - Claudio Simonetti's operatic tunes add nicely to proceedings.

Aside from Eno's ill-placed metal music and a few dodgy performances from supporting characters, OPERA's big drawback is a terrible tagged-on ending that doesn't sit pretty with the rest of the film. It's also the weakest, least satisfying finale to any of Argento's films.

But the good outweighs the bad.

Arrow have released OPERA on UK DVD before. In March 2003, to be more precise. That release, while lacking the extras that featured on Anchor Bay's earlier US offering, was noteworthy for including an Italian audio track with optional English subtitles. It also featured an English 2.0 mix, but unfortunately this was what's come to be known as "the Cannes film track" - an early festival dubbing that was later changed at the request of the original American distributors following poor feedback from test screenings.

For this release, Arrow have really made an extra effort. This 2-disc affair offers both the International version of the film, and the US edit.

Disc 1 is home to the International version, which clocks in at 102 minutes and 59 seconds and bears Italian credits (although the onscreen title is "Terror At The Opera").

The uncut film looks very good in an anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer that is just as nice as Anchor Bay's THX-assisted presentation from 2001. Colours are slightly warmer here, but the images are just as sharp and clean.

Audio is presented in three mixes. An English 5.1 mix is okay but not a patch on the DTS track that Anchor Bay offered. More well-rounded are the two 2.0 mixes - an Italian track and the English "Cannes dub". I should point out that the English 5.1 mix is the re-dubbed version. Optional English subtitles are also provided.

An animated main menu leads into a static scene-selection menu offering 12 chapters.

Extras include a photo gallery, a 16x9 enhanced presentation of the original US trailer, the International trailer, the terrible 5-minute music video of Simonetti's band Demonia performing the film's main theme, a quick-link to the film's "top six gore scenes" (including, bizarrely, the relatively bloodless slaying of a theatre usher), and biography/filmography notes on Argento.

The best extra is a "Dario Argento Trailer Reel" which includes no less than 18 trailers over the course of 39 minutes. The films featured are THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, THE CAT O'NINE TAILS, FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET, THE FIVE DAYS OF MILAN, DEEP RED, SUSPIRIA, INFERNO, TENEBRE, PHENOMENA, OPERA, TWO EVIL EYES, TRAUMA, THE STENDHAL SYNDROME, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, SLEEPLESS, THE CARD PLAYER, THE MOTHER OF TEARS and Argento's European cut of George A Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD.

Over on disc 2, we get the US edit of the film. Again graced with a spiffing anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer, this is a pleasingly clean and bright presentation.

Audio this time around is provided in two English 2.0 mixes: the original Cannes dub, and the preferred re-dubbed variant.

This edit of the film runs for 91 minutes and 33 seconds, and opens with the Orion Pictures logo. Largely inconsequential storyline snippets have been excised by Orion (who gave the film a limited theatrical release in the States), meaning that although this is a shorter cut of the film, all the gore and even the silly ending remain intact. It is, however, inferior to the lengthier International alternative.

Technical specifications for disc 2 include an animated main menu page and a static scene-selection menu allowing access to the US edit via 12 chapters. There are no additional extras.

Packaged in Arrow's now-customary white keepcase, both discs are region 0 encoded. The packaging also includes double-sided cover art (a newly commissioned piece by Ricky Melton on one side; the original Italian poster art on the reverse), a poster of Melton's handiwork with details of Arrow's increasingly impressive catalogue of horror titles on the back, and an 8-page booklet with liner notes from Alan Jones.

The booklet is a nicely designed piece, with good colour film stills and some informative text from Jones. Some of it comes across as arrogant, but there's no denying that it's a beneficial read that at least attempts to make up for the absence of the stories of a troubled production that highlighted Anchor Bay's excellent "Conducting Dario Argento's Opera" documentary.

A nice package all round for one of Argento's better films. Moments of sheer brilliance are undermined by sloppy plot inconsistencies, some poor music choices and a shit ending, but TERROR AT THE OPERA remains a very good proposition regardless. It's not up there with TENEBRE, DEEP RED or THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, but it's not too far behind.

Review by Stuart Willis