UHD Review – Tenebrae (Synapse Films)

Director – Dario Argento (Susperia, Inferno)
Starring – Anthony Franciosa (Death House, The Twilight Zone), John Saxon (A Nightmare on Elm St, Nightmare Beach), and Daria Nicolodi (Deep Red, Inferno)
Release Date – 1982
Rating – 3.5/5
UHD Release – 4/5

I absolutely love Italian horror – for the most part. I love the Italian slashers, demons, zombie, religious, and body horror flicks. However, I don’t really care for the jungle cannibal flicks and most of the giallo. There is a few giallo that I enjoy but for the most part they are too much art and not enough substance. A few are worth while, however, like Dario Argento’s Susperia. Susperia is a classic and a main stay for many horror fans. This film has led several horror fans down the Argento path much like myself. Since then I have collected several of this film.

One such film I have bought over the years but never saw of Argento’s was Tenebre. I found the DVD years ago and grabbed it but never actually watched it right away. A few years after I bought it I was sent the blu when Synapse released it. I reviewed it and watched it a few times since then. Recently, my friends over at Synapse sent over the UHD release of theirs for review which gave me another reason to revisit it.

**Spoiler Alert**The film follows author Peter Neal (Franciosa) who is in Rome promoting his newest novel Tenebre. While he is in Rome a young woman is murdered and he receives a strange letter stating that his novel is the basis for her death. The police team up with Neal in order to capture the killer but Neal is unable to offer them insight into the mind of the killer. As the bodies start to pile up Neal gets more hands on trying to catch the killer but things quickly turn around and the truth is finally set free.**Spoiler Alert**

i’m not the most versed in giallo but I’ve seen my fair share over the last few years. A few were Argento’s but the rest were not. Out of the ones I actually liked were Argento’s while the others were pure shit. They were unimaginative and boring as hell. However, Argento’s was not. They were beautiful, well crafted, and full of rich storytelling. Tenebre is no exception. It is no Susperia but it is still a great flick.

The acting in this one is not that bad but it is far from perfect. Anthony Franciosa was solid as the film’s lead but I feel that his performance was just a little stale. It is in my personal opinion that his role should have went to John Saxon with Anthony Franciosa taking over Saxon’s role. My favorite performances belong to the female victims. They all die in beautiful ways while using their faces to express shear fear. I love that. I love that we get close ups of their faces as they die. They milk every second of screen time and I love it. These types of deaths would soon be copied in their American slasher counterparts for the next few years.

The story for this one is not that original and is very predictable. There has been several mysteries, dramas, and thrillers since the 50s that involved an author and someone taking their work too seriously. This is a tale that has fascinated viewer for decades before Argento took it on but very few could copy Argento’s style. The film is beautifully shot and the viewer quickly forgets that the film is predictable and unoriginal.

Finally, the film has some fun kills for the type of film it is but they are not that original nor bloody. These kills are slash and stabbings with effects that was standard in films 30 years before and not in 1982. By this point Tom Savini was reinventing the slasher kills so these type of kills are a little bit of a let down. Overall, Tenebre is a solid giallo. It has some fun acting and mildly entertaining kills. What sold me on the film was the visualization. The film has style and that cannot be denied. I highly recommend checking out this UHD release from Synapse.

Special Features:
DISC 1 (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY) – ORIGINAL VERSION
4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray™ presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio
Original Italian and English front and end titles and insert shots
Restored original DTS-HD MA lossless mono Italian and English soundtracks
English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
Audio commentary by authors and critics Alan Jones and Kim Newman
Audio commentary by Argento expert Thomas Rostock
Audio commentary by Maitland McDonagh, author of Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento
Yellow Fever: The Rise and Fall of the Giallo, a feature-length documentary charting the genre from its beginnings to its influence on the modern slasher film, featuring interviews with Dario Argento, Umberto Lenzi, Luigi Cozzi and more
Being the Villain, a newly edited archival interview with actor John Steiner
Out of the Shadows, an archival interview with Maitland McDonagh
Voices of the Unsane, an archival featurette containing interviews with writer/director Dario Argento, actresses Daria Nicolodi and Eva Robins, cinematographer Luciano Tovoli, composer Claudio Simonetti and assistant director Lamberto Bava
Screaming Queen, an archival interview with Daria Nicolodi
The Unsane World of Tenebrae, an archival interview with Dario Argento
A Composition for Carnage, an archival interview with Claudio Simonetti
Archival introduction by Daria Nicolodi
International theatrical trailer
Japanese “Shadow” theatrical trailer
Alternate opening credits sequence
“Unsane” end credits sequence
Image galleries