Occhiali neri (Dark Glasses) – CG Entertainment (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy/France, 2022
Director: Dario Argento
Writers: Dario Argento, Franco Ferrini
Cast: Ilenia Pastorelli, Asia Argento, Andrea Gherpelli, Mario Pirrello, Maria Rosaria Russo, Gennaro Iaccarino, Andrea Zhang

Release Date: May 24th, 2022
Approximate running time: 85 Minutes 35 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: 14+ (Italy)
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 Italian, Dolby Digital Stereo Italian, Dolby Digital Stereo Italian Audio Description
Subtitles: English, Italian
Region Coding: Region B
Retail Price: 17,99 Euro (Italy)

"Rome. The eclipse obscures the Sun on a hot summer day. It is the harbinger of the darkness that surrounds Diana when a serial killer chooses her as prey. The young escort, to escape her attacker, crashes into a car, losing her sight. From the shock Diana emerges determined to fight for her survival, but she is no longer alone. To defend her and to see for her now are Nerea, her German wolfhound and little Chin, who survived the accident. The Chinese child with her big eyes, the sweet voice with a foreign accent, the character of an independent and defenseless little man at the same time, will accompany her in her escape. Obsessed with the blood that surrounds them, they will be united by fear and the desperate search for a way out, because the killer does not want to give up his prey. Who will be saved?" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Occhiali neri (Dark Glasses) comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 20.2 GB

Feature: 19.2 GB

The source looks excellent, which is not a surprise since this film was filmed last year. Colors and flesh tones look correct, the image looks crisp, contrast is very good, and black levels fare well. As good as this transfer looks, giving the main feature a larger file size would tighten up a few areas, most notably black levels and image clarity.

Audio: 5/5 (DTS-HD 5.1 Italian), 4.25/5 (Dolby Digital Stereo Italian)

This release comes with three audio opinions; a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in Italian, a Dolby Digital stereo mix in Italian, and a Dolby Digital stereo mix in Italian with an Italian audio description track. Though the stereo track sounds great, the go-to track for this release is the DTS-HD 5.1 track, which sounds excellent. Dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, ambient sounds are well-represented, and action sequences and the score sound appropriately robust. Included with this release are removable English subtitles and removable Italian subtitles. The English subtitles are easy to follow and appear to be free of any spelling errors.

Extras:

Extras are limited to a featurette titled Backstage (5 minutes, 14 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian, no subtitles).

Summary:

It has been ten years since Dario Argento directed Dracula 3-D, a film that is widely regarded as his worst film. So when it was announced that he was directing Occhiali neri (Dark Glasses), his first film in a decade, optimism was low considering how far he fell with a film like Dracula 3-D. Will he return to form with Occhiali neri (Dark Glasses), or will he somehow make a film worse than Dracula 3-D?

With Occhiali neri (Dark Glasses), Dario Argento returns to the Giallo, the genre which he is most associated with. And though Occhiali neri (Dark Glasses) has most of the elements that are synonymous with the giallo genre, it is easy to see how his more recent works, Gialli, Non ho sonno (Sleepless), and The Card Player, influenced Occhiali neri (Dark Glasses). When it comes to visceral murder set pieces, Occhiali neri (Dark Glasses) is Dario Argento’s most violent film since Non ho sonno (Sleepless). And the look of Occhiali neri (Dark Glasses) bears a striking similarity to the style Dario Argento first explored with The Card Player.

Though Dario Argento has been known to employ far-fetched premises, that is not the case with these Occhiali neri (Dark Glasses). The narrative revolves around a prostitute named Diana who narrowly escapes a killer who is targeting prostitutes. Though she escapes an attempt on her life, while fleeing the killer, her car collides with another car, and in the aftermath she is left blind. The car crash connects her with a boy named Chin, who is orphaned because of the crash, and just like Lori in The Cat o’ Nine Tails, Chin becomes Diana’s eyes.

Throughout his career, Dario Argento would often work with the same people behind the scenes. And though his most frequent collaborator was Goblin and their keyboard player, Claudio Simonetti, with Occhiali neri (Dark Glasses), he would bring in new blood, a composer named Arnaud Rebotini, whose score works extremely well within Dario Argento’s style of cinema. Another first-time collaborator is cinematographer Matteo Cocco, whose cinematography gives Occhiali neri (Dark Glasses) a modern look without taking away from Dario Argento’s unique visual eye.

The cast are all good in their roles, especially Andrea Gherpelli in the role of the killer. He delivers a solid performance that perfectly captures his character's unbalanced mind. Another performance of note is Ilenia Pastorelli’s portrayal of Diana. She does a remarkable job of garnering sympathy for a character that usually gets looked down upon. Also, Asia Argento (The Stendhal Syndrome) makes an appearance in the role of Rita, a psychical therapist who helps Diana after she loses her sight.

Dario Argento has created an impressive body of work that includes a few films that have raised the bar so high that trying to top these films, or the majority of his output, is unrealistic at this point in his career. That said, Occhiali neri (Dark Glasses) features a good premise, a strong narrative that does a fantastic job of maintaining tension, and a very satisfying ending in which the killer's demise is reminiscent of Phenomena's ending. Also, when it comes to muder set pieces, Dario Argento shows that he is still able to deliver gory moments, and these moments are further aided by Sergio Stivaletti’s (The Wax Mask) special effects. If Occhiali neri (Dark Glasses) turns out to be Dario Argento’s last film, it will make a more satisfying swan song than Dracula 3-D. Ultimately, Occhiali neri (Dark Glasses) is a film that fans of Dario Argento should thoroughly enjoy.

Occhiali neri (Dark Glasses) makes its way to Blu-ray via an English-friendly presentation that comes with a solid audio/video presentation, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer