Dario Argento

Italian filmmaker Dario Argento made his mark as a superstar of the popular horror subgenre, giallo. Born in Rome, he began working as a film critic while still in high school. After graduating he took a job as a columnist for the Roman newspaper Paese Sera. He began moving into screenwriting, starting with the script for the crime drama "Every Man Is My Enemy" (1967). He continued writing in the busy Italian film industry, including partnering with Sergio Leone and Bernardo Bertolucci on the story for Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968). He ventured into directing with the horror film "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage" (1970), working from his own script about a woman being stalked by a serial killer. The film earned international notice, and set the stage for the work that would make him famous. His next two films, "The Cat o' Nine Tails" (1971) and "Four Flies on Grey Velvet" (1970), continued many of the themes of "Crystal Plumage" and the three films came to be known by fans as the "Animal Trilogy." He didn't stay strictly within horror, though, working in Italian television, as well as writing and directing the dark comedy "The Five Days" (1973). He returned to giallo with "Deep Red" (1975), before capturing the attention of horror fans around the world with his next effort, "Suspiria" (1977). Set in a German ballet school, which houses a coven of witches, it blended terrifying suspense with a vivid splatter palette that became the envy of all filmmakers who would follow. His next directorial effort, "Inferno" (1980), was a loose sequel to "Suspiria," dealing with mysterious deaths tied to an ancient witch in New York. Argento meant for a third film that tied together the witch stories, which he dubbed "The Three Mothers" trilogy. It took 17 years, however, for that film, "Mother of Tears" (2007), to be made. He worked steadily throughout the 1980s, writing and directing horror films, including "Phenomena" (1985) starring Jennifer Connelly. In the '90s, his filmmaking became a family affair when he directed his daughter, Asia Argento, in "Trauma" (1993) -although she had appeared previously in films that her father had written. Father and daughter reunited for the thriller "The Stendahl Syndrome" (1996). He also added a gory slant to Gaston Lereux's famed "The Phantom of the Opera" (1998). After directing Max Von Sydow in "Sleepless" (2001), Argento began working less often. Besides "Mother of Tears," during the next decade, he also made "The Card Player" (2004) and "Giallo" (2009), starring Adrien Brody. Later, he directed his daughter and Rutger Hauer in "Dracula 3D" (2012). After renewed interest in his work as a result of a remake of "Suspiria" (2018), starring Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton, Argento was attached to direct an adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffman's novel, "The Sandman."