I just realized something. Dario Argento's Tenebrae bares several similarities with Carol Reed's The Third Man. Both are about American authors who travel to Europe and become caught up in terrible conspiracies. In The Third Man the author became embroiled in a noir mystery. In Tenebrae the author gets stuck in a murder mystery. Besides a noticeable lack of Orson Welles and the zither, Tenebrae has one other major difference with The Third Man: The former's ending makes no sense whatsoever. And therein lies Tenebrae's biggest problem: the plot is confused and muddled. Now, some would argue that this is merely par for the course with an Argento film. But even for the crazed mind of Dario Argento, this plot makes no sense. Basically, the American author becomes part of a police investigation when a serial killer starts to murder people and claiming that his latest book was the inspiration. Also, this doesn't quite look or feel like an Argento film. Gone are the dazzling, Technicolor-drenched set-pieces and costumes. The murders seem mechanical and matter-of-fact instead of creative and gruesome. And then there's the final twist...it's a stupid one. My opinion? Skip this film and re-watch Suspiria.
5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment