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Dario Argento
Dario Argento (born September 7, 1940) is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, particularly in the subgenre known as Giallo, and for his influence on modern horror and slasher movies.
Argento was born in Rome, the son of film producer/executive Salvatore Argento and Brazilian-born photographer Elda Luxardo. He started his career in film as a critic, writing for various magazines while still attending high school.
Argento did not attend college, electing rather to take a job as a columnist at the newspaper Paese Sera. While working at the newspaper, Argento also began to work as a screenwriter. His most notable work was for Sergio Leone; he and Bernardo Bertolucci collaborated on the story for the spaghetti western classic Once Upon A Time In The West. Soon after that film's release in 1969, Argento began work on his directorial debut, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, which was released in 1970 and was a major hit in Italy. He's since gone from strength to strength creating dark and disturbing yet beautiful thriller/horror masterpieces.
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Filmography
Dario Argento - what members say
review by kultguy from
Dario Argento’s violent Tenebrae is a visceral visual feast on Blu-ray 5 August 2011
review by McClennan from St Helens, Home of The Challenge Cup Holders
Technically good but not a masterpiece 27 March 2005
review by from London, UK
God, that green stuff is just horrid... 25 February 2007
Dario Argento - filmography
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Giallo
on DVD
(2009)
Starring: Adrien Brody, Elsa Pataky, Emmanuelle Seigner
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate: 
Watch now: Unavailable
Gritty thriller from Italian shockmeister Dario Argento, starring Adrien Brody as an FBI agent on the trail of a serial killer. While travelling to America to meet her sister Linda (Emmanuelle Seigner), model Celine (Elsa Pataky) is abducted in Italy by a sadistic serial killer notorious for ..read more »
 
43%
from 412 members
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Mother of Tears
on DVD
(2007)
Starring: Asia Argento, Cristian Solimeno, Adam James
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
Mother Of Tears is the finale to the saga that began with the international blockbuster Suspiria and continued with the classic Inferno from Italian horror maestro Dario Argento.
In the heart of modern Rome, an urn is found and brought to a young archeologist, Sarah Mandy. But what Sarah doesn't ..read more »
50%
from 929 members
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The Card Player
on DVD
(2004)
Starring: Stefania Rocca, Claudio Santamaria, Liam Cunningham
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
'Giallo'-type detective thriller directed by Italian horror maestro Dario Argento. Police detective Anna Mari (Stefania Rocca) becomes caught up in an Internet poker game, only to realise to her horror that the stakes are higher than she could have imagined: if she loses, the maniacal 'Card Player' ..read more »
48%
from 635 members
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Sleepless
on DVD
(2001)
Starring: Max Von Sydow, Stefano Dionisi, Chiara Caselli
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
Cult director Dario Argento revisits the themes of his earliest movies in this blood-soaked thriller. Insomaniac ex-cop Ulisse Moretti (Max von Sydow) is called out of retirement to investigate a series of violent slayings, all of which bear a resemblance to a case he worked on 17 years ago. ..read more »
53%
from 876 members
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Scarlet Diva
on DVD
(2000)
Starring: Herbert Fritsch, Justinian Kf, Jean Shepard
Director: Asia Argento
Certificate:
Asia Argento directs and stars in her semi-autobiographical and surreal expose of the film industry. Actress Anna Battista (Argento) finds her journey to the top plunges her into the dark-heart of the film industry where she experiences despair, loneliness and degradation while trying to recapture ..read more »
38%
from 760 members
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Wax Mask
on DVD
(1997)
Starring: Romina Mondello, Robert Hossein
Director: Sergio Stivaletti
Certificate:
Andrea, a young journalist, investigates a series of strange and brutal deaths in the cellar of the local wax museum. There she discovers an assortment of scientific apparatus, and models which look frighteningly life-like. A Dario Argento penned remake of the horror classics 'The Wax Museums' and '..read more »
43%
from 166 members
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Stendhal Syndrome
on DVD
(1996)
Starring: Thomas Kretschmann, Asia Argento
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
The title affliction causes sufferers to react to paintings in extreme and bizarre ways. In the case of police detective Anna Manni, she swoons and feels herself entering hallucinatory versions of the artwork she sees. This Italian psychothriller contains dark elements of horror as Manni tries to ..read more »
52%
from 697 members
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Trauma
on DVD
(1993)
Starring: Christopher Rydell, James Russo, Asia Argento
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
Watch now: Unavailable
Italian horror maestro Dario Argento's tale begins at a grim séance which ends in blind panic as a voice, possessed by evil, proclaims there is a murderer present. Terrified, a young girl (Asia Argento) watches as her parents flee from the scene. The next time she sees them they are dead - their ..read more »
51%
from 979 members
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Two Evil Eyes
on DVD
(1990)
Starring: Adrienne Barbeau, Harvey Keitel, Sally Kirkland
Director: George A. Romero, Dario Argento
Certificate:
Watch now: Unavailable
Two well-known directors each adapt stories by Edgar Allen Poe in this horror drama. George Romero's The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar tells how the wife of an elderly, wealthy man and her lover--who also happens to be the husband's private physician--scheme to control his assets. Dying before ..read more »
51%
from 745 members
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Terror At The Opera
on DVD
(1988)
Starring: Cristina Giachino, William McNamara, Cristina Marsillach
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
A Dario Argento horror along the lines of 'Phantom of the Opera'. Betty (Christina Marsillach), a young understudy at the opera house, finds herself in demand when the female lead in Verdi's Macbeth falls ill. Whilst on stage, her fears about the curse of Macbeth begin to ring true as a stagehand ..read more »
61%
from 1,108 member
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Demons 2
on DVD
(1986)
Starring: Coralina Cataldi Tassoni, Virginia Bryant, Asia Argento
Director: Lamberto Bava
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
The demons are back, spreading through the television screens of a modern apartment building, turning the residents into fanged, clawed monsters. The exits are sealed, the power has been cut off, and the number of human survivors grows smaller with every passing minute.... This is director Lamberto ..read more »
54%
from 936 members
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Demons 2 - Blu-ray
(1986)
Starring: Coralina Cataldi Tassoni, Virginia Bryant, Asia Argento
Director: Lamberto Bava
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
Time has passed but the Demons have waited. Entering a high-rise apartment block through TV sets, they turn Sally day's birthday party into an event of unspeakable horror. When Sally's hands become claws , her teeth fangs, her veins bulge and her eyes turn yellow, black corrosive blood seeps from ..read more »
60%
from 63 members
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Phenomena - Blu-ray
(1985)
Starring: Fiorenza Tessari, Mario Donatone, Francesca Ottaviani
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
Un-cut version of Dario Argento's gore-fest, originally released in America as 'Creepers'. Jennifer Corvino (Jennifer Connelly) is the new girl at school, taunted by her classmates and unnerved both by her stern headmistress and the fact that a series of murders has recently taken place. However, ..read more »
59%
from 337 members
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Demons - Blu-ray
(1985)
Starring: Urbano Barberini, Natasha Hovey, Fiore Argento
Director: Lamberto Bava
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
Lamberto Bava, son of Italian horror-maestro Mario Bava, directs this tale of a bunch of cinemagoers with invitations to a special film show. The film in question is a gruesome slasher flick, and as the screening progresses members of the audience begin inexplicably transforming into hideous blood-..read more »
58%
from 98 members
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Demons
on DVD
(1985)
Starring: Urbano Barberini, Natasha Hovey, Fiore Argento
Director: Lamberto Bava
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
Lamberto Bava, son of Italian horror-maestro Mario Bava, directs this tale of a bunch of cinemagoers with invitations to a special film show. The film in question is a gruesome slasher flick, and as the screening progresses members of the audience begin inexplicably transforming into hideous blood-..read more »
59%
from 2,104 members
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Phenomena
on DVD
(1985)
Starring: Fiorenza Tessari, Mario Donatone, Francesca Ottaviani
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
Un-cut version of Dario Argento's gore-fest, originally released in America as 'Creepers'. Jennifer Corvino (Jennifer Connelly) is the new girl at school, taunted by her classmates and unnerved both by her stern headmistress and the fact that a series of murders has recently taken place. However, ..read more »
55%
from 1,855 member
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Tenebrae
on DVD
(1984)
Starring: John Saxon, Anthony Franciosa, Daria Nicolodi
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
Watch now: Unavailable
King of Grand-Guignol bloodbaths Dario Argento directs this notorious horror flick from 1982. Peter Neil (Anthony Franciosa) is a mystery writer in Rome to promote his new novel. His stay is disturbed by a crazed maniac who begins a terrifying murder spree, stuffing his victims' mouths with pages ..read more »
60%
from 2,159 members
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Tenebrae - Blu-ray
(1984)
Starring: John Saxon, Anthony Franciosa, Daria Nicolodi
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
Watch now: Unavailable
King of Grand-Guignol bloodbaths Dario Argento directs this notorious horror flick from 1982. Peter Neil (Anthony Franciosa) is a mystery writer in Rome to promote his new novel. His stay is disturbed by a crazed maniac who begins a terrifying murder spree, stuffing his victims' mouths with pages ..read more »
64%
from 266 members
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Inferno - Blu-ray
(1980)
Starring: Veronica Lazar, Eleonora Giorgi, Leigh McCloskey
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
Stylish horror from Italian director Dario Argento, conceived as a follow-up to 'Suspiria' (1980). When Rose (Irene Miracle) is murdered after stumbling across the secret of a group of satanists in a New York City apartment building, her brother Mark (Leigh McCloskey) comes to New York to ..read more »
58%
from 436 members
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Suspiria
(1977)
Starring: Alida Valli, Jessica Harper, Joan Bennett
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper) is an American ballet student, travelling to Germany to study at an exclusive dance academy in the Black Forest. After one of the students and her friend are hideously murdered in the first of Argento's breath-catching set-piece killings, Suzy discovers that the ..read more »
63%
from 641 members
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Suspiria
on DVD
(1976)
Starring: Alida Valli, Jessica Harper, Joan Bennett
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
Dario Argento directs this Grand Guignol horror-fest. Susy Banyon (Jessica Harper) is a young American ballet student who arrives at a German dance academy. The violent and bloody murder of one of the students and her friend opens Susy's eyes to the history of the mysterious academy. As the body ..read more »
59%
from 5,544 members
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Deep Red - Blu-ray
(1975)
Starring: Macha Méril, Eros Pagni, Glauco Mauri
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
Stylish horror film from the Italian maestro, Dario Argento. A man on the trail of a sadistic killer must delve into the psyche behind the gory and symbolic murder scenes he examines. Meanwhile the death toll mounts alarmingly.
66%
from 330 members
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Deep Red
on DVD
(1975)
Starring: Eros Pagni, Glauco Mauri, Clara Calamai
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
Stylish horror film from the Italian maestro, Dario Argento. A man on the trail of a sadistic killer must delve into the psyche behind the gory and symbolic murder scenes he examines. Meanwhile the death toll mounts alarmingly.
68%
from 1,751 member
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The Cat o'Nine Tails
on DVD
(1971)
Starring: James Franciscus, Rada Rassimov, Catherine Spaak
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
Italian master of horror Dario Argento's second directorial effort (and the centerpiece of the 'animal trilogy' of giallos--or mystery/thrillers--which includes BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE and FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET) is a suspenseful murder mystery infused with the filmmaker's trademark ..read more »
60%
from 827 members
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The Cat O'Nine Tails - Blu-ray
(1971)
Starring: James Franciscus, Rada Rassimov, Catherine Spaak
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
Early Dario Argento thriller. Karl Malden plays a former newsman, Franco Arno, who has been blinded in an accident, but his thirst for solving puzzles has never been quelled. He overhears a blackmail plot and teams up with an investigative journalist to uncover the truth behind a sinister chain of ..read more »
62%
from 105 members
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The Bird with the Crystal Plumage - Blu-ray
(1970)
Starring: Renato Romano, Umberto Raho, Tony Musante
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
Dario Argento made his directorial debut with this Hitchcockian horror yarn. American writer Sam Dalmas (Tony Musante) is out walking in Rome when he passes an art gallery and witnesses a mysterious man in a black leather raincoat attempt to murder the gallery owner's wife. The police question Sam, ..read more »
66%
from 250 members
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The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
on DVD
(1970)
Starring: Renato Romano, Umberto Raho, Tony Musante
Director: Dario Argento
Certificate: 
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
Dario Argento made his directorial debut with this Hitchcockian horror yarn. American writer Sam Dalmas (Tony Musante) is out walking in Rome when he passes an art gallery and witnesses a mysterious man in a black leather raincoat attempt to murder the gallery owner's wife. The police question Sam, ..read more »
70%
from 289 members
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Once Upon A Time In The West
on DVD
(1968)
Starring: Paolo Stoppa, Gabriele Fer, Gabriele Ferzetti
Director: Sergio Leone
Certificate:
Sergio Leone's epic spaghetti Western starring Charles Bronson and Henry Fonda. Frank (Fonda) is a sadistic outlaw hired by a crippled railroad baron (Gabrielle Ferzetti) to murder a farmer named Brett McBain (Frank Wolff) and his family in order for his boss to inherit the land. When McBain's new ..read more »
72%
from 15,430 members
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Dario Argento facts
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...After his shock masterpieces Suspiria and Inferno, Dario Argento returned to his beloved thriller (giallo) genre for Tenebrae, a disturbing psychosexual murder mystery about...
