The Door Into Darkness

It must have been a mixed bag for Italians in the early 1970's, on one hand most Italians only had one black and white TV channel to view but on the other hand around 1973 around 30 million unsuspecting Italian TV viewers sat down to watch four teleplays presented by upcoming modern genre director Dario Argento called 'La Porta Sul Buio'…'The Door Into Darkness'.

Long known and spoken of but believed long out of viewing reach by Argento's dedicated legion of fans, it was with some disbelief and shock that the news that Dragon Films in Germany were to release this series onto a double disc DVD set but here it is at last and now Argento fans the world over can see what 30 million Italian TV viewers got hot under the collar about!

Playing very much like Argento's giallo spin on the tried and tested 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' formula, 'Door Into Darkness' is a stunning hidden treasure and this release presents one of the finest DVD packages to be delivered to genre fans in quite some time. But let's first look at the films themselves…

The first episode 'The Neighbour' (brought to us by lifelong Argento friend Luigi Cozzi) sees a young couple and their newborn child arrive at their new desolate beach residence, a small double home shared with an older married couple. On arriving late at night to find their electricity disconnected they decide to see if their neighbours can offer some assistance, only to make a shocking discovery of a females body dead in the bathroom. They swiftly surmise that she's been murdered by her husband and attempt to cover their tracks. Said solemn faced husband soon returns and realises that his handiwork has not gone unnoticed…will this force his hand to take care of his intrusive neighbours or will our luckless young family find a way to get themselves to safety? 'The Neighbour' is a cracking start to the series and although actually filmed second you can appreciate why Argento decided that this should in fact be screened first. Very tense and atmospheric, the film has a very foreboding and almost modern gothic feel to it making for great late night suspense viewing.

Episode 2 will see Argento fans go into almost orgasmic throes with his self-written and directed production simply called 'The Tram'. Originally written as a sequence for 'Bird with the Crystal Plumage' but never filmed due to time/script length constraints, 'The Tram' is a delightful if insular story of a murder on a late night tram journey. The premise being the simple scenario of although the same people can travel on the same tram journey home each night not one of them witnessed or could explain just how a fellow passenger could have been murdered without anyone noticing! Cue one dogged police detective who is determined to solve the case. With 'The Tram' Argento is in full on Hitchcock mode delivering a massively entertaining short thriller, full of suspense and the sort of wittiness that would have had Sir Alfred chuckling with delight and hence will not disappoint Argento's fans.

The 3rd episode 'Eyewitness' is perhaps the weakest of the four, seemingly rushed together by Argento and Cozzi at the last minute following the dismissal of the original director (Argento hated what he had filmed and reshot it all) the film kicks off with a young woman traveling home at night in her car only to be halted in her tracks following the witnessing of the murder of a young blonde girl. Things get more distressing for the luckless witness when the police arrive at the scene and cant find any body! Our heroine soon starts to wonder about her sanity but stands firm on what she has seen, only for her belief to be reassured when it looks as though the killer is out to get the eyewitness. 'Eyewitness' is a pleasing enough film but is perhaps the one that giallo/mystery fans will be less sated with as the twist ending isn't such a surprise with most hardened viewers seeing what's coming early on in the story. That said, it does have some nice enough moments of old Italian fun but more in line with a lesser Bava feature than the then modern feel of Argento. It's also interesting to note that the lead female role was at one point linked with one Daria Nicolodi, before she and Dario properly met!

Although Argento seemingly had virtually little to do with the final episode of the series (outside of his regular introduction), don't let that out you off enjoying 'The Doll' as it is surprisingly one of the strongest in the series (albeit with some bewildering plot flaws). 'The Doll' concerns an escaped detainee of an insane asylum (which we intentionally see through their perspective) and the race by police to track them down. Like 'Eyewitness' though it is one of those delightfully formulaic giallo treatments where you know early on that you are going to be tested on your powers of deduction (and not be tested to harshly if we are to be honest). Where 'The Doll' does deliver in spades in a much better manner than 'Eyewitness' though is with the excellent direction throughout, in fact for the one episode that Argento doesn't have a hand in it's also the episode that plays most like his work (long sweeping flowing camera movements etc) and hence even for all its plot faults is a delightful viewing experience (and there's even an appearance by Erika Blanc that will appease her many fans!)

Each episode (running around an hour in length) though filmed in colour was in fact created with black and white viewing in mind and even though you'll immediately kick back to view these in their presented colour variations it is worth watching at least 'The Neighbour' with the colour turned down (adding to that great modern gothic atmosphere).

Whilst some will be simply ecstatic to see this collection on DVD at all they will simply jump for joy once they sit down and actually view this presentation. The films themselves look far better than I was expecting for something so old and wildly obscure. Of course their not the pristine pin sharp perfect that many anal DVD 'collectors' come to demand these days, in fact there is at times some grain evident along with some print crackles but the image is strong and artifact free. But where Dragon excel themselves with this stunning package is with the stacks of bonus interview footage with the Argento's series comrade Luigi Cozzi. Now some may think 'so what' but this really is some of the most informative interview footage I've seen in any genre release. As well as a segment where Cozzi discusses the series as a whole each of the individual films has a lengthy and engrossing introduction by Cozzi who rhymes off anecdote after fascinating anecdote of stories from the time that will be a joy for any Argento devotee to hear. All this spread over two discs wrapped in a cool fold out digipack set (complete with a colour booklet that will interest any German friendly fans!)

With 'The Door Into Darkness' we get the very welcome opportunity to see another piece of the jigsaw in the career of Dario Argento. Following countless re-releases of Argento's cinematic work this package from Dragon should be rightly applauded not only for what it brings us but also for the care that Dragon have made in presenting it to us. For me this is one of the finest releases for some time, seeing these episodes is one of the most exciting genre viewing experiences I've had in some time. Fans of Argento and the giallo genre as a whole should not waste another moment in considering picking this up, lovely stuff!

Review by Alan Simpson