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Dario Argento: Doors Into Darkness
Delve into a world of dreams and disorientation from the Italian horror maestro.
For over five decades, Dario Argento has crafted some of horror’s most beautifully nightmarish imagery, pushing the boundaries of the genre with elaborate works that would feel equally at home in an art gallery as they would in a fleapit cinema.
The textures, tones and reverberations of Argento’s visions are so evocative, the mere mention of his name can transport you to a psychotropic German dance academy, or send you soaring over a brutalist apartment building in the dead of night. After more than 50 years crafting a body of work so distinctive and singular, the comparisons with Hitchcock that accompanied his early works are no longer necessary. If there is one filmmaker whose name speaks for itself, it’s Dario Argento.
- Michael Blyth, season curator
SuspiriaSuspiria
Horror1977101 minsDirector: Dario Argento
Dario Argento’s phantasmagoric gothic nightmare blends operatic violence, disorienting dream logic and hyper-real visuals to create a horror classic.
StageFrightStageFright
Horror198790 minsDirector: Michele Soavi
Dario Argento's protégé, Michele Soavi, made his directorial debut with this deliriously stylish slasher opus.
The SectThe Sect
Horror1991117 minsDirector: Michele Soavi
Michele Soavi's delirious and surreal satanic horror follows a teacher drawn into the schemes of an evil cult.
Four Flies on Grey VelvetFour Flies on Grey Velvet
Horror197198 minsDirector: Dario Argento
Unavailable for many years, the once lost finale of Argento’s so-called Animal Trilogy is a thrilling hint of things to come.
The ChurchThe Church
Horror1989102 minsDirector: Michele Soavi
A librarian discovers an ancient evil lurking underneath a cathedral, in this spectacular gothic horror co-written and produced by Dario Argento.
OperaOpera
Horror1987107 minsDirector: Dario Argento
Boasting quite possibly his most iconic single image, almost certainly his most spectacular death scene, and indisputably his most insane ending, this is essential Argento.
Watch the Italian horror maestro on the big screen at BFI Southbank