Opera (1987)

DARIO ARGENTO

OPERA/TERROR AT THE OPERA

ITALY, 1987

8/10

"I am nothing like my mother! Nothing like her!"

While the film is rather flawed, I still have a soft spot for Dario Argento's OPERA (1987), also known as TERROR AT THE OPERA. It was the first Italian and Argento film I had ever seen (I think it might even be the first non-US horror film I have ever seen, but that fact I'm less sure of), and so I still love it and forgive its faults. I believe another factor may be the fact that I'm an absolutely massive PHANTOM OF THE OPERA fan (I love the novel, movie adaptations, and musical, I honestly just adore anything Phantom), and this film did remind me of that story. I mean, it has a mysterious murderous man becoming obsessed with a young opera singer, the rest is pretty different but that basic story-line is still the same. The idea of placing needles under a girl's eyes to force her to watch murders occur in front of her was so sick and twisted that it captivated me. I mean, I'm a horror fan, of course I love anything sick and twisted.

The soundtrack for me was hit and miss. I absolutely adored the opera soundtrack, and I thought that to have something like that featured in a horror film was just so new and so fascinating. Yet the heavy metal just felt completely out of place, and I actually feel it dumbed down the murders. I'd love it if the murders occurred while an opera piece is playing, as I think the beautiful music would provide a wonderful contrast with the horrors occurring on scene. I'd like to get off track for a minute and talk about another film I love, BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974). If you've seen the film, you no doubt remember a scene in which (I will not be using names to not spoil anything) a character opens the door to find a group of young children singing Christmas carols, while another character was being violently murdered within the sorority house. This is one of my favorite scenes from the movie, because cutting to the peaceful group of children, singing songs while the snow falls and then to the horrifying act inside captivated me. I feel, if OPERA got rid of the heavy metal score, the film's rating may have increased to 8.5/10.

Like many other Argento films, the storyline isn't amazing (though, as mentioned earlier, the story in this captivated me), the acting is nothing to write home about, and the dubbing is pretty abysmal, but the colors are beautiful, and in this film there are multiple above-average murder sequences (there is an unforgettable shot involving a peephole in the middle of the movie), and even with all its flaws, OPERA still comes together to form a wonderful, enchanting movie. 

I do believe the final twist ending is slightly unnecessary (I am going to refrain from giving too much information here), but the final shot of Betty, speaking about insects is incredibly crucial to the entire film and ties all of Betty's character development together, despite it seeming weird at first glance, so I forgive what really felt like an afterthought of an ending. 

If anyone has not seen OPERA yet, I would highly recommend it. Another reviewer on IMDb commented this, and I'd like to add that Betty is not a normal girl, and her reactions to the murders are not normal, because of what she's witnessed in the past. If you have not seen it, or disliked it initially, I urge to go back and watch the film, keeping this in mind. I did, and I ended up enjoying the film a lot more. Overall, OPERA is a great film with some setbacks, but I have a soft spot for it, and it is a personal favorite. If you have liked Argento's previous work, I highly recommend it.