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Dario Argento

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.





What members say | Filmography

Dario Argento - what members say


  • Tenebrae
  • Tenebrae review by kultguy from
    Rated - 5.0 stars Dario Argento’s violent Tenebrae is a visceral visual feast on Blu-ray 5 August 2011
    ...After his shock masterpieces Suspiria and Inferno, Dario Argento returned to his beloved thriller (giallo) genre for Tenebrae, a disturbing psychosexual murder mystery about...   Read customer review
  • Suspiria
  • Suspiria review by McClennan from St Helens, Home of The Challenge Cup Holders
    Rated - 4.0 stars Technically good but not a masterpiece 27 March 2005
    ...Revered Dario Argento horror classic, which I saw for the first time last. Laced with tension and a revamped 5.1 sound mix making it a lot creepier than it would have been. ...   Read customer review
  • Demons
  • Demons review by from London, UK
    Rated - 3.0 stars God, that green stuff is just horrid... 25 February 2007
    ...This is some great 80's cheese right here. 'Demons' was, I believe, produced by Dario Argento, though it's more throwaway than his particular style. What we have here is bas...   Read customer review

Dario Argento - filmography


  • Giallo on DVD (2009)
    Starring: Adrien Brody,  Elsa Pataky,  Emmanuelle Seigner
    Director: Dario Argento
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    2 stars out of 5 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: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    2.5 stars out of 5 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: Certificate: 18
    '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 »
    2.5 stars out of 5 48% from 635 members
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  • Sleepless on DVD (2001)
    Starring: Max Von Sydow,  Stefano Dionisi,  Chiara Caselli
    Director: Dario Argento
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    2.5 stars out of 5 53% from 876 members
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  • Scarlet Diva on DVD (2000)
    Starring: Herbert Fritsch,  Justinian Kf,  Jean Shepard
    Director: Asia Argento
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    2 stars out of 5 38% from 760 members
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  • Wax Mask on DVD (1997)
    Starring: Romina Mondello,  Robert Hossein
    Director: Sergio Stivaletti
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    2 stars out of 5 43% from 166 members
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  • Stendhal Syndrome on DVD (1996)
    Starring: Thomas Kretschmann,  Asia Argento
    Director: Dario Argento
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    2.5 stars out of 5 52% from 697 members
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  • Trauma on DVD (1993)
    Starring: Christopher Rydell,  James Russo,  Asia Argento
    Director: Dario Argento
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    2.5 stars out of 5 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: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    2.5 stars out of 5 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: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    3 stars out of 5 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: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    2.5 stars out of 5 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: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    3 stars out of 5 60% from 63 members
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  • Phenomena - Blu-ray (1985)
    Starring: Fiorenza Tessari,  Mario Donatone,  Francesca Ottaviani
    Director: Dario Argento
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    3 stars out of 5 59% from 337 members
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  • Demons - Blu-ray (1985)
    Starring: Urbano Barberini,  Natasha Hovey,  Fiore Argento
    Director: Lamberto Bava
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    3 stars out of 5 58% from 98 members
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  • Demons on DVD (1985)
    Starring: Urbano Barberini,  Natasha Hovey,  Fiore Argento
    Director: Lamberto Bava
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    3 stars out of 5 59% from 2,104 members
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  • Phenomena on DVD (1985)
    Starring: Fiorenza Tessari,  Mario Donatone,  Francesca Ottaviani
    Director: Dario Argento
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    3 stars out of 5 55% from 1,855 member
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  • Tenebrae on DVD (1984)
    Starring: John Saxon,  Anthony Franciosa,  Daria Nicolodi
    Director: Dario Argento
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    3 stars out of 5 60% from 2,159 members
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  • Tenebrae - Blu-ray (1984)
    Starring: John Saxon,  Anthony Franciosa,  Daria Nicolodi
    Director: Dario Argento
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    3 stars out of 5 64% from 266 members
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  • Inferno - Blu-ray (1980)
    Starring: Veronica Lazar,  Eleonora Giorgi,  Leigh McCloskey
    Director: Dario Argento
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    3 stars out of 5 58% from 436 members
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  • Suspiria (1977)
    Starring: Alida Valli,  Jessica Harper,  Joan Bennett
    Director: Dario Argento
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    3 stars out of 5 63% from 641 members
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  • Suspiria on DVD (1976)
    Starring: Alida Valli,  Jessica Harper,  Joan Bennett
    Director: Dario Argento
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    3 stars out of 5 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: Certificate: 18
    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.
    3.5 stars out of 5 66% from 330 members
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  • Deep Red on DVD (1975)
    Starring: Eros Pagni,  Glauco Mauri,  Clara Calamai
    Director: Dario Argento
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    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.
    3.5 stars out of 5 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: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    3 stars out of 5 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: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    3 stars out of 5 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: Certificate: 18
    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 »
    3.5 stars out of 5 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: Certificate: 15
    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 »
    3.5 stars out of 5 70% from 289 members
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Dario Argento facts

5 most recent films

Giallo - 2.0 stars
Mother of Tears - 2.5 stars
Masters Of Horror - Series 1 - Vol.2 - 3.0 stars
The Card Player - 2.5 stars
Sleepless - 2.5 stars

5 highest-rated films

Once Upon A Time In The West - Blu-ray - 4.0 stars
Once Upon A Time In The West - 3.5 stars
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage - 3.5 stars
Deep Red - 3.5 stars
Four Flies On Grey Velvet - 3.5 stars

5 lowest-rated films

The Interview - Documentary - 2.0 stars
Five Days Of Milan - 2.5 stars
Door Into Darkness - 3.0 stars
Scarlet Diva - 2.0 stars
Giallo - 2.0 stars

Most frequent co-stars

Asia Argento - 18 times - show films
Daria Nicolodi - 17 times - show films
Nancy Brilli - 10 times - show films
Coralina Cataldi Tassoni - 10 times - show films
Gabriele Lavia - 10 times - show films

Most frequent directors

Lamberto Bava - 12 times - show films
Larr - 7 times - show films
Tobe Hooper - 7 times - show films
Takashi Miike - 7 times - show films
George A. Romero - 2 times - show films