4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Today is not just Labor Day!  Today is also Dario Argento’s birthday!

The maestro of Italian horror is 80 years old today!  Needless to say, we’re going to celebrate with 4 Shots From 4 Films.  It was a real struggle narrowing it down to only 4 shots.  Argento is one of the most visually impressive directors of all time.

You’ll notice that, with one exception, the four shots below are from the first half of Argento’s career.  Don’t read anything into that.  I’m a fan of Argento’s work, period.  There’s a tendency among some cultural critics to be dismissive of Argento’s post-Tenebrae films and I think that’s a bit unfair.  In fact, it’s so unfair that I think I’ll devote at least a bit of our upcoming October horrorthon to defending the later works of Dario Argento.

Finally, do you remember that movie Juno?  Most people were shocked when Jason Bateman’s character turned out to be a sleaze but I knew it was going to happen as soon as he said that he thought Herschell Gordon Lewis was a better director than Dario Argento.  I mean, Herschell Gordon Lewis was great but c’mon …. ARGENTO!

For now, here are….

4 Shots From 4 Dario Argento Films

Suspiria (1977, dir by Dario Argento)

Inferno (1980, dir by Dario Argento)

Tenebrae (1982, dir by Dario Argento)

The Stendhal Syndrome (1996, dir by Dario Argento)