Sunday, August 02, 2009

Stuff: Dario trio.



S'up, Screamers and Screamettes?

Quick news bit: The newest calendars for the Brooklyn Academy of Music's cinema have come out and horror fans might want take a gander at the first week in September. Starting on Friday, September 4, BAMcinématek is running what they're calling a "mini-retro" of Italio-horror master Dario Argento.

Friday, there will be two showings of his 1971 thriller 4 Flies on Grey Velvet. Then, on Saturday, there are three showings of the magnificent Suspiria. Finally, Sunday afternoon and evening, there are two showings of the second flick in the "Three Mother's" trilogy, the utterly inexplicable Inferno.

While Inferno is barely worth the celluloid it's printed on, the opportunity to see Suspiria on the big screen makes this a notable event for Brooklyn horror fanciers.

I'll probably be giving 4 Flies a pass too, but Dario-philes might find reason to make time. Long considered a "lost" film due to its unavailability on Region 1 DVD, an uncut and remastered version of 4 Flies has been making the rounds since Mya Communication Company issued there admirable R1 DVD in February. I can't imagine there will be tons of opportunities to see it on the big screen.

5 comments:

Aaron White said...

I've only watched it once and so have no lucid critical case to make for it, but I LOOOOVED Inferno. Someone (Mamet?) said we like stories that emulate out dream lives, and Inferno nailed mine. FWIW.

CRwM said...

Aaron,

Your dream life has a big finish that features a person in a Costco-grade "grim reaper" outfit?

I kid.

Inferno definitely has its defenders. In fact, I might be in the minority in thinking it doesn't stack up. But I've always found that, unlike Suspiria which can distract from the nonsense of its plot with superior visuals, Inferno lacks the visual power to make me forget that the story is horrible.

Aaron White said...

Actually I only remember (and probably only responded to) fragments of Inferno, but a cheep Grim Reaper in my dreams wouldn't surprise me. My dream life has a low budget.

Zane Grant said...

The first scene in Inferno is great. C'mon, the swimming scene! Four Flies... is great. I'm psyched about this. Why not Deep Red?

CRwM said...

Zane,

The swimming scene is the high point of the flick, and I'll admit that it is pretty awesome.

I can't answer why they're not doing Deep Red. Though they may get to it someday. BAM has a fixation on the Argento clan. Last year they did a survey of Asia Aria Anna Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento's flicks. I bet will see more Argento from BAM in the future.