Dario Argento's Deep Cuts - Severin Films (Blu-ray)

Release Dates: Italy, 1973 (La porta sul buio - Door Into Darkness), Italy, 1987/88 (Turno di notte - Night Shift), 1987, Italy (Gli incubi di Dario Argento - Dario Argento's Nightmares)
Directors: Luigi Cozzi, Dario Argento, Mario Foglietti, Roberto Pariante (La porta sul buio - Door Into Darkness), Lamberto Bava, Luigi Cozzi (Turno di notte - Night Shift), Dario Argento (Gli incubi di Dario Argento - Dario Argento's Nightmares)
Cast: Marilù Tolo, Robert Hoffmann, Aldo Reggiani, Paola Tedesco, Riccardo Salvino, Laura Belli, Mimmo Palmara, Glauco Onorato, Gianfranco D'Angelo, Erika Blanc, Umberto Raho, Dario Argento (La porta sul buio - Door Into Darkness), Antonella Vitale, Matteo Gazzolo, David Brandon, Daria Nicolodi, Asia Argento, Mirella D'Angelo, Corinne Cléry, Brett Halsey, Howard Ross (Turno di notte - Night Shift)

Release Date: July 16th, 2024
Approximate Running Times: 58 Minutes 36 Seconds (Il Vicino Di Casa - The Neighbor), 54 Minutes 28 Seconds (Il Tram - The Tram), 61 Minutes 41 Seconds (La Bambola - The Doll), 55 Minutes 44 Seconds (Testimone Oculare - Eyewitness), 14 to 19 Minutes - 15 Episodes (Turno di notte - Night Shift), 2 to 7 Minutes - 9 Episodes (Gli incubi di Dario Argento - Dario Argento's Nightmares)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (La porta sul buio - Door Into Darkness, Turno di notte - Night Shift, Gli incubi di Dario Argento - Dario Argento's Nightmares)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian (La porta sul buio - Door Into Darkness, Turno di notte - Night Shift, Gli incubi di Dario Argento - Dario Argento's Nightmares)
Subtitles: English (La porta sul buio - Door Into Darkness, Turno di notte - Night Shift, Gli incubi di Dario Argento - Dario Argento's Nightmares)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $54.95

"At the peak of his cinematic triumphs, horror legend Dario Argento created projects for RAI TV that broadcast his singular vision of terror into millions of Italian homes: Door Into Darkness is the top-rated 1973 anthology series produced and hosted by Argento, including Il tram directed by Argento, Il vicino di casa directed by Luigi Cozzi, and Testimone oculare co-written by Argento & Cozzi." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5 (Il Vicino Di Casa - The Neighbor, La Bambola - The Doll, Testimone Oculare - Eyewitness), 3.5/5 (Il Tram - The Tram), 2/5 (Turno di notte - Night Shift, Gli incubi di Dario Argento - Dario Argento's Nightmares)

Here’s the information provided about La porta sul buio's (Door Into Darkness') transfer, "three of the four episodes sourced for the first time from the original 16mm negatives."

Il Vicino Di Casa (The Neighbor) and Il Tram (The Tram) come on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.3 GB

Feature: 16.7 GB (Il Vicino Di Casa - The Neighbor), 15.6 GB (Il Tram - The Tram)

La Bambola (The Doll) and Testimone Oculare (Eyewitness) come on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.6 GB

Feature: 17.6 GB (La Bambola - The Doll), 16 GB (Testimone Oculare - Eyewitness)

Il Tram (The Tram) is the only episode not sourced from the original 16mm negatives, and it looks noticeably weaker than the other three episodes. That said, all four episodes are a substantial improvement of the Mya Communication 2009 DVD release.

Here’s the information provided about Turno di notte's (Night Shift's) transfer, "newly digitized from broadcast masters".

Turno di notte (Night Shift) comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 43.9 GB

Feature: 2 to 3 GB Per Episode

Turno di notte (Night Shift) looks like a tape source and not from film. That said, the source has imperfections that vary in severity, and there is noticeable edge enhancement.

Gli incubi di Dario Argento (Dario Argento's Nightmares) comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 22.1 GB

Feature: 16.6 GB (Giallo Argento)

Gli incubi di Dario Argento (Dario Argento's Nightmares) looks comparable to Turno di notte (Night Shift).

Audio: 4/5 (La porta sul buio - Door Into Darkness), 3/5 (Turno di notte - Night Shift, Gli incubi di Dario Argento - Dario Argento's Nightmares)

La porta sul buio (Door Into Darkness), Turno di notte (Night Shift), and Gli incubi di Dario Argento (Dario Argento's Nightmares) all come with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian with removable English subtitles. La porta sul buio (Door Into Darkness) fares best of these three; it sounds clean, clear, and balanced. Range-wise, things sound very good, ambient sounds are well-represented, and the scores sound robust. Though Turno di notte (Night Shift) and Gli incubi di Dario Argento (Dario Argento's Nightmares) sound clear and balanced, they do have some sibilance issues.

Extras:

Extras on disc one include a documentary titled Dario Argento: My Cinema, Part 1 (58 minutes 23 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles),a documentary titled Dario Argento: My Cinema, Part 2 (63 minutes 32 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with Mondo Digital's Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth, author of Murder by Design: The Unsane Cinema of Dario Argento for Il Tram (The Tram).

Extras on disc two include a documentary titled Dario Argento: Master of Horror (87 minutes 23 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with screenwriter/director/producer Dario Argento titled A Streetcar Named Fear (19 minutes 51 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with screenwriter/director Luigi Cozzi titled On the Other Side of the Door (33 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with Nathaniel Thompson And Troy Howarth for Testimone Oculare (Eyewitness).

Extras on disc three include an interview with actress Antonella Vitale titled Calypso 9 (6 minutes 43 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti titled Big Giallo Taxi (12 minutes 7 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with director Lamberto Bava titled Taxi Drivers (10 minutes 56 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with director Luigi Cozzi titled Giallo on the TV (18 minutes 51 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), and an interview with producer Dario Argento titled TV Nightmares (9 minutes 31 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles).

Extras on disc four include a TV program hosted by Dario Argento titled Giallo Argento (85 minutes 10 seconds, DTS-HD mono Italian and English with removable English subtitles).

Summary:

La porta sul buio (Door Into Darkness): By the early 1970s, the Giallo genre would reach the height of its popularity due in part to the success of Dario Argento’s Animal Trilogy. In 1973, RAI, Italy’s only major television network at the time, approached Dario Argento about making a series of episodes for TV based on the same style and themes he used for his Animal Trilogy.

Il Vicino Di Casa (The Neighbor): A young couple arrives at their new villa, and right away things start to go wrong. Their They get caught in mud, so they decide to go inside their new villa, only to find out the electricity hasn’t been turned on. Later, while watching TV, they discover a stain that is growing in size on the roof. They go upstairs to their neighbors to investigate the stain, and when no one is home but the door is open, they let themselves in. They soon discover that the stain was caused by the overflowing water flowing from the bathtub. After they turn off the water and turn on the lights, they soon discover something that will forever change their fate.

Il Tram (The Tram):When a beautiful blonde named Monica Rini’s corpse is found on a tram the next day while it is being cleaned. Inspector Giordani, who has been assigned to the case, decides the best way to solve this case is to do a full reenactment with all the passengers. When Giordani’s investigation leads to the wrong man being sent to prison, he soon comes up with another plan to save the man that may cost Giordani his life.

La Bambola (The Doll): A patient escapes a mental institution, and the police launch an all-out manhunt. A mysterious man carrying a black bag walks around town looking for a woman with red hair. The police intensify their search when Elena Moreschi, a fashion designer, is found murdered at her place of business. Will the police catch this psychopath before more are killed?

Testimone Oculare (Eyewitness): Roberta Leoni, while driving tired and alone one night, nearly hits a woman who jumps in front of her car. Roberta, after she gets out of her car, soon learns that the woman has been murdered, and when the murderer comes towards her, she runs to a tavern near Buy. When the police arrive and search the scene, no victim or sign of blood is found. Had Roberta imagined everything, or was someone trying to make her look like she was crazy?

The first episode, Il Vicino Di Casa (The Neighbor), is more of a thriller in the style of Alfred Hitchcock than what we have come to expect from Italian thrillers. Early on, we know who the killer is, and the tension builds as more people discover his secret. This episode also loosely resembles Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, in which, like Luigi Cozzi’s The Neighbor, the narrative revolves around nosy neighbors who, through their investigations, get in over their heads. Mimmo Palmara, who plays the psychopath upstairs, strangely resembles Lars Thorwald played by Raymond Burr in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window.

The second episode, Il Tram (The Tram), and the fourth episode, Testimone Oculare (Eyewitness), are the two strongest of the four episodes. These two episodes were both directed by Dario Argento, and they both follow the standard Giallo rules more than the other two episodes. In Il Tram (The Tram), Dario Argento takes the simplest idea—a passenger murdered on a tram in front of witnesses—and he manages to build the suspense until it reaches its peak in the finale. The Tram contains scenes that were originally written for The Bird with the Crystal Plumage but were never filmed. In Testimone Oculare (Eyewitness), he mixes things up a little by twisting what is real and what is not before a final reveal that ranks up there with some of his best payoffs. Dario Argento’s two episodes are the most stylish and the best written out of the four in this series.

In the third episode, La Bambola (The Doll), it opens up with a series of quick cuts from the point of view of the killer that are meant to show the instability of this character. This episode feels padded and tends to drag at times, and the rapid editing cuts at times seem unnecessary. La Bambola (The Doll) is the weakest of the four episodes in this series; still, it does have a moody performance from Euro regular Robert Hoffmann of Grand Slam and Spasmo fame. The twist ending, like most Giallo, is supposed to be a surprise, and in La Bambola (The Doll), the final reveal is spoiled too early.

Dario Argento had a falling out with composer Ennio Morricone while working on the film Four Flies on Gray Velvet, which would lead to the hiring of Giorgio Gaslini for La porta Sul buio (Door Into Darkness). Giorgio Gaslini would also work with Argento on the Five Days of Milan and the main theme for Profondo rosso (Deep Red). His music for this series at times resembles Ennio Morricone, but he still manages to help reshape the series through his rhythmic backbeats that add tension throughout the series. Dario Argento’s influence is felt throughout the entire series. Luigi Cozzi even mentions in an interview how they were short on a camera operator, so Dario Argento stepped in. Dario Argento has created a cinematic landscape that many have tried to imitate over the years, and with La porta Sul buio (Door Into Darkness), he successfully makes the transition from film to television without diluting his original vision.

Turno di notte (Night Shift): Dario Argento’s involvement in this series was limited to a producer; he did not direct any episodes. Lamberto Bava directed the first six episodes, while the remaining nine episodes were directed by Luigi Cozzi. The premise features taxi drivers who become amateur sleuths who solve cases for the police. Anyone familiar with the Giallo genre will recognize this trope.

E' di moda la morte (Death is in Fashion): A model falls to her death, and the clue to her killers is inside a teddy bear lying next to her.

Heavy Metal: A taxi driver witnesses what appears to be a murder, which sets in motion an actual murder.

Buona fine e miglior principio (A Good Ending and a Better Beginning): A man in what appears to be a locked room is murdered.

Giubetto rosso (Red Jacket): A knife-wielding maniac is on the loose in the park.

Il bambino rapito (The Kidnapped Child): A woman’s six-month-old child was abducted from her home.

Babbo Natale (Santa Claus): Someone kills a man dressed like Santa Claus.

L'impronta dell'assassino (The Killer's Fingerprint): A woman is murdered in a sauna.

Ciak si muore (Lights, Camera, Death): An actress is killed when a prop knife is switched for a real one.

Sposarsi è un po' morire (Getting Married is a Bit Like Dying): A bride rushing to the airport is murdered by a killer in a passing car.

Delitto in rock (Murder Rock): A woman who is in possession of an unreleased Jim Morrison song is murdered.

L'evasa (The Fugitive): A taxi driver is abducted by a fugitive.

La casa dello Stradivari (The House of the Stradivari): A woman uses a fake Stradivari to lure a thief who stole the real one from her.

Giallo Natale (Christmas Giallo): Two daughters try to find their estranged father before their mother murders him.

Via delle Streghe (Wicthes Road): Wanting to uncover who killed her sister, a woman holds a costume party on the one-year anniversary of her murder.

Il taxi fantasma (The Ghost Cab): Two taxi drivers uncover the truth behind the ghost taxi.

In the opening episode, there is a ghost taxi, which appears throughout the series. Though not as gory as one would expect from a Giallo, once Luigi Cozzi took over as director, things got considerably more gory. A wide variety of weapons, like scissors, an ax, hot rocks in a sauna pressed against a face, and other weapons of opportunity. That said, despite the seriousness of most of these stories, there is some tongue-in-cheek humor. Also, throughout the series, it uses music cues from Dario Argento films like Profondo rosso (Deep Red) and Suspiria, and one episode has music from Psycho.

Anyone expecting to be wowed by Turno di notte (Night Shift) is sure to be let down. The three main people behind this series—Dario Argento, Lamberto Bava, and Luigi Cozzi—all of them have made a lot better films. And though Turno di notte (Night Shift) has many elements that fans of this genre are sure to enjoy. The briefness of each episode does not allow for much to happen, and the end result is something that is too formulaic.

Gli incubi di Dario Argento (Dario Argento's Nightmares): These are all brief segments that feature Dario Argento describing what is about to unfold. Though they feature many elements that are synonymous with his films, their brevity does not allow them to really go anywhere. More of a curiosity for Dario Argento fans than some long-lost, missing part of his legacy.

The fact that most of Dario Argento’s television work has been collected for this release is a cause for celebration. And though the sources are not in the best of shape, this is as good as they are ever going to look. That said, when viewed as a complete package, Dario Argento's Deep Cuts is an essential purchase if you're a fan of Dario Argento and highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer