Dario Argento's World Of Horror is a vintage documentary covering the legendary director's career. Dario Argento started his filmmaking career as a screenwriter, which includes co-writing the script for Sergio Leone's classic 1968 western Once Upon A Time In The West and Cemetery Without Crosses. Argento later moved behind the camera for a series of stylish "Giallo" thrillers in Italy, including The Bird With The Crystal Plumage and Four Flies On Grey Velvet. His stylish, artful direction and talent for creating elaborate death sequences singled him out as a filmmaker to watch.
His 1975 thriller Deep Red took things to the next level, with the murder sequences being ridiculously lavish and gruesome. He next swerved into supernatural territory with Suspiria, where an American student travels to a German dance academy which may be run by witches. Suspiria is considered Argento's masterpiece, which is hard to disagree with. Argento was soon being compared to other major names in the horror genre around this period, including John Carpenter and George A. Romero.
He continued his winning streak well into the 1980s, which is around the time the documentary Dario Argento's World Of Horror was produced. This doc was directed by Michele Soavi, who collaborated with Argento on many projects and later directed films like Dellamorte Dellamore starring Rupert Everett. The documentary was produced while Argento was helming 1985's Phenomena starring a young Jennifer Connelly (Alita: Battle Angel) and producing future cult gem Demons.
Dario Argento's World Of Horror features behind the scenes footage from those productions, in addition to long, uncut clips from the most gruesome scenes from his previous films, including Suspiria and Tenebrae. The soft-spoken director also talks about how his childhood and dreams influence his work, how he uses his camerawork to draw viewers into the story and why he often plays the hands of the killers in his work. He also states why he views his murder setpieces as "beautiful" and draws a link between death and sex in his work.
Dario Argento's World Of Horror is an intriguing look at a filmmaker during the peak of his powers. That said, the doc has an irritating lack of focus, often hoping between clips and behind the scenes footage with little sense of rhythm, such as the brief section covering Argento producing 1978's Dracula 3D being especially poor. Hopefully his planned next film Black Glasses will prove to be a return to form.
