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Dario Argento

Highest Rated: 100% Dario Argento Panico (2023)

Lowest Rated: 0% Phantom of the Opera (1998)

Birthday: Sep 7, 1940

Birthplace: Rome, Lazio, Italy

Italian filmmaker Dario Argento made his mark as a superstar of the popular horror subgenre, giallo. Born in Rome, he began working as a film critic while still in high school. After graduating he took a job as a columnist for the Roman newspaper Paese Sera. He began moving into screenwriting, starting with the script for the crime drama "Every Man Is My Enemy" (1967). He continued writing in the busy Italian film industry, including partnering with Sergio Leone and Bernardo Bertolucci on the story for Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968). He ventured into directing with the horror film "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage" (1970), working from his own script about a woman being stalked by a serial killer. The film earned international notice, and set the stage for the work that would make him famous. His next two films, "The Cat o' Nine Tails" (1971) and "Four Flies on Grey Velvet" (1970), continued many of the themes of "Crystal Plumage" and the three films came to be known by fans as the "Animal Trilogy." He didn't stay strictly within horror, though, working in Italian television, as well as writing and directing the dark comedy "The Five Days" (1973). He returned to giallo with "Deep Red" (1975), before capturing the attention of horror fans around the world with his next effort, "Suspiria" (1977). Set in a German ballet school, which houses a coven of witches, it blended terrifying suspense with a vivid splatter palette that became the envy of all filmmakers who would follow. His next directorial effort, "Inferno" (1980), was a loose sequel to "Suspiria," dealing with mysterious deaths tied to an ancient witch in New York. Argento meant for a third film that tied together the witch stories, which he dubbed "The Three Mothers" trilogy. It took 17 years, however, for that film, "Mother of Tears" (2007), to be made. He worked steadily throughout the 1980s, writing and directing horror films, including "Phenomena" (1985) starring Jennifer Connelly. In the '90s, his filmmaking became a family affair when he directed his daughter, Asia Argento, in "Trauma" (1993) -although she had appeared previously in films that her father had written. Father and daughter reunited for the thriller "The Stendahl Syndrome" (1996). He also added a gory slant to Gaston Lereux's famed "The Phantom of the Opera" (1998). After directing Max Von Sydow in "Sleepless" (2001), Argento began working less often. Besides "Mother of Tears," during the next decade, he also made "The Card Player" (2004) and "Giallo" (2009), starring Adrien Brody. Later, he directed his daughter and Rutger Hauer in "Dracula 3D" (2012). After renewed interest in his work as a result of a remake of "Suspiria" (2018), starring Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton, Argento was attached to direct an adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffman's novel, "The Sandman."

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Highest rated movies

100% 82% Dario Argento Panico
Watchlist
96% 94% Once Upon a Time in the West
Watchlist
94% 83% Suspiria
Watchlist
93% 85% Deep Red
Watchlist
92% 72% Vortex Watchlist
91% 90% Dawn of the Dead
Watchlist
90% 93% Ennio Watchlist 90% 79% Opera Watchlist
85% 80% The Bird With the Crystal Plumage
Watchlist
85% 86% Friedkin Uncut Watchlist

Filmography

Movies

Credit
100% 82% Dario Argento Panico Self - 2023
52% 39% Dark Glasses Director,
Screenwriter
- 2022
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Glance of Music Self $79.1K 2022
No Score Yet No Score Yet Black Glasses Director - 2022
90% 93% Ennio Self - 2021
92% 72% Vortex Lui (Character) - 2021
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Last Movie Painter Self - 2020
No Score Yet No Score Yet All the Colors of Giallo Self - 2019
85% 86% Friedkin Uncut Self - 2018
No Score Yet No Score Yet Cult of Terror (Culto al Terror) Unknown (Character) - 2017
No Score Yet No Score Yet Blood on Méliès' Moon Unknown (Character) - 2016
20% 14% Argento's Dracula Director,
Screenwriter
$3.1K 2012
No Score Yet 14% Giallo Director - 2009
No Score Yet No Score Yet Dead On: The Life and Cinema of George A. Romero Unknown (Character) - 2008
48% 27% Mother of Tears Director,
Writer,
Producer
$54.9K 2007
No Score Yet 31% Do You Like Hitchcock? Director,
Writer
- 2005
22% 21% The Card Player Director,
Writer,
Producer
- 2003
55% 51% Sleepless Director,
Producer,
Writer
- 2001
52% 52% Scarlet Diva Producer - 2000
0% 22% Phantom of the Opera Director - 1998
No Score Yet 25% Wax Mask Writer,
Producer
- 1997
70% 51% The Stendhal Syndrome Director,
Writer,
Producer
- 1996
No Score Yet No Score Yet Il Cielo E'Sempre Piu Blu Man Confessing To Fransiscan Monk (Character) - 1996
50% 41% Trauma Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
- 1993
63% 39% Two Evil Eyes Director,
Writer,
Executive Producer
- 1990
90% 79% Opera Director,
Writer
- 1987
No Score Yet 42% Demons 2 Screenwriter,
Producer
- 1986
73% 67% Phenomena Director,
Producer,
Writer
- 1985
71% 65% Demons Producer,
Writer
- 1985
No Score Yet 63% Dario Argento's World of Horror Unknown (Character) - 1985
81% 78% Tenebrae Director,
Writer
- 1982
63% 60% Inferno Director,
Screenwriter,
Executive Producer
- 1980
91% 90% Dawn of the Dead Original Music - 1978
94% 83% Suspiria Director,
Screenwriter,
Original Music
- 1977
93% 85% Deep Red Director - 1975
No Score Yet 23% The Five Days Director,
Screenwriter
- 1973
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Five Days Director,
Screenwriter
- 1973
57% 60% Four Flies on Grey Velvet Director,
Screenwriter
- 1971
81% 54% The Cat o' Nine Tails Director,
Screenwriter
- 1971
85% 80% The Bird With the Crystal Plumage Director - 1970
No Score Yet No Score Yet Probability Zero Screenwriter - 1969
No Score Yet 36% Commandos Screenwriter - 1968
96% 94% Once Upon a Time in the West Writer - 1968
No Score Yet 54% Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die Screenwriter - 1968

TV

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs: Joe Bob's Helloween Writer 2023
63% 79% Masters of Horror Director 2005-2006