Tenebre (1982)

Director:

Dario Argento

Writer:

Dario Argento (writer)

Release Date:

February 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Terror Beyond Belief

Plot:

An American writer in Rome is stalked by a serial killer bent on harassing him while killing all people associated with his work on his latest book.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Death | Serial Killer | Police | Author

Cast

Anthony Franciosa	...	Peter Neal
Christian Borromeo	...	Gianni
Mirella D'Angelo	...	Tilde
Veronica Lario	...	Jane McKerrow
Ania Pieroni	...	Elsa Manni
Eva Robin's	...	Girl on Beach (as Eva Robins)
Carola Stagnaro	...	Detective Altieri
John Steiner	...	Christiano Berti
Lara Wendel	...	Maria Alboretto
John Saxon	...	Bullmer
Daria Nicolodi	...	Anne
Giuliano Gemma	...	Detective Germani
Isabella Amadeo	...	Bullmer's secretary
Mirella Banti	...	Marion
Ennio Girolami	...	Department Store Manager (as Enio Girolami)

Also Known As:

Sotto gli occhi dell'assassino
Tenebrae
Under the Eyes of the Assassin
Unsane (USA)

Runtime:

110 min | USA:91 min (edited version) | 101 min (director's cut)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | New Zealand:R16 | West Germany:18 (cut) | Sweden:(Banned) | Italy:T (edited TV version) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Sweden:15 | Australia:R | Canada:R | France:-16 | Germany:16 (cut version: 2002) | Italy:VM18 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | USA:Unrated (director's cut) | West Germany:(Banned) | Netherlands:12 (DVD rating) | Iceland:(Banned) | Finland:K-18 (2005) (uncut) | Finland:K-18 (1988) (cut) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Sigma Cinematografica Roma

Trivia:

Director trademark: [Dario Argento] Character recalls clues from memory.

Goofs:

Factual errors: On the telephone, the killer tells Peter Neal that "you wrote those words, page 46," but in fact the words quoted would have had to be on an odd-numbered page of the book TENEBRAE, given the placement of the text we see in the opening sequence.

Quotes:

Peter Neal: I've been charged, I've tried building a plot the same way you have. I've tried to figure it out; but, I just have this hunch that something is missing, a tiny piece of the jigsaw. Somebody who should be dead is alive, or somebody who should be alive is already dead.
Detective Germani: Explain that.
Peter Neal: You know, there's a sentence in a Conan Doyle book, "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)

Soundtrack:

Take Me Tonight

One of Argento's best.

I first saw Tenebr(a)e under the moniker "Unsane" (which is supposedly missing ten minutes of gore and some extensive camera-work). I really enjoyed the film, so I bought the rerelease print from Anchor Bay, and I must say, the restored, uncut, letterboxed print looks and sounds wonderful.

There's no need to go into the plot other than to say Anthony Franciosa stars as American horror novelist Peter Neal and, while he's in Rome on a book tour, murders are being committed by one of his crazed fans. I read somewhere that Argento is king of stringing together a plot and cheating audiences just so they can't guess the identity of the killer, and with this as evidence, I agree 100%. It's nearly impossible to figure out this plot before it's fully explained.

Luciano Tovoli's camera-work/cinematography is brilliant, especially the luma crane shot (which goes up one side of a building, over the roof and down the other side in one unbroken taken). There's also an extremely well-photographed and directed sequence featuring a girl being pursued by a rabid Doberman. Now they would do those two scenes with computers, and I think that obliterates the charm of the hands-on film-making process.

In short, this film puts Hollywood thrillers like "Copycat" "The Bone Collector," and "Se7en" to shame, and it's apparent all three films stole ideas from this one (and from other films in Argento's oeuvre).