Search - Opera on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Violence, Brief Nudity, Nudity, Not For Children, Gore Movie Release: 1987 DVD Release: 09/11/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 47 mins Studio: Anchor Bay Members Wishing: 7 Genres: Horror, Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Giallo See Also: Opera [Limited Edition], Opera

The polar-opposite worlds of opera and horror collide in this gory giallo film from director Dario Argento. Christina Marsillach (Tom Hanks' romantic interest in Every Time We Say Goodbye) stars as Betty, a beautiful understudy who gets an unlikely break to play the female lead in a contemporary opera of Verdi's Macbeth. Her fear of Macbeth's notorious curse proves to have foundation when a psychopath with a strange connection to Betty murders a stage hand in the midst of her debut and later kills several ravens being used in the opera. Characters introduced at this point who could be the killer include: the show's director, Marco (Ian Charleson); Betty's publicist, Mira (Daria Nicolodi); and the police inspector, Alan Santini (Urbano Barberini). The middle third of the film is devoted to the killer's bloody work which serves to torment Betty. The madman binds her and tapes a row of tiny needles beneath her eyes so that she is forced to watch him butcher a young stage manager and a costume designer, among others. With the police investigation going nowhere and the killer zeroing in on Betty's death, Marco decides to enact his own plan to stop the madman; he releases the ravens (apparently, they always remember their enemies) during a performance. The birds circle wildly before attacking the killer and plucking one of his eyeballs out. He absconds with Betty, but dies in a fire after revealing his demented motivation and his connection to the young singer. A final scene set in the Swiss mountains provides a couple of final shocks. ~ Patrick Legare, All Movie Guide

Christina Marsillach - Betty
Urbano Barberini - Insp. Alan Santini
Daria Nicolodi - Mira
Ian Charleson - Marco
Antonella Vitale

Director Dario Argento's Opera is genuinely considered by fans as the maestro's last great horror film thus far. Since this film was originally released in 1987, Argento's output has been occasionally inspired, but on the whole has lacked the imagination, sadism, and sheer cinematic style that colored his best films. Opera was intended as Argento's return to the brutal style of the giallo genre (his first four films were psychological thrillers of this sort), while incorporating some of the more baroque flourishes of his supernatural offerings (namely Suspiria and Inferno). Anchor Bay Entertainment's disc is a fabulous addition to their Dario Argento collection. Totally uncut and presented in the widescreen format of 2.35:1, the disc is sure to please even the director's most demanding fans. The picture is crisp and sharp throughout, easily making it the best this film has looked on video (it had originally been available as a pan-and-scan VHS tape). Since much of Argento's cinematic power relies on the image as well as sound, it is imperative that his films be showcased in the best possible way for home viewing. The disc has also been remixed with an incredible 5.1 Dolby Digital track, a two-channel Dolby Digital track, as well as 6.1 DTS option. As with the Anchor Bay release of the above mentioned Suspiria, this disc also includes a terrific 36-minute documentary chronicling the sometime tumultuous filming, as well as some of the strange occurrences that transpired during the production. Actress Daria Nicolodi also speaks openly about her uneasiness about filming her character's death scene in the film (and how she almost went blind in the process), since she was not on the best of terms with her ex-husband Dario, while cinematographer Ronnie Taylor, music composer (and founding member of the prog-rock band Goblin) Claudio Simonetti, and others all add their two-cents as well. Required viewing indeed. The disc also contains two theatrical trailers and a daft music video. ~ Derek Hill, All Movie Guide