Popular reviews

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  Review by Tony the Terror ★★★ 6

  They really left out the later part of his filmography while simultaneously confidently portraying Argento as one of the great geniuses of our time and they’re not wrong at all, but given the tendency for people to dismiss his later works, that left me conflicted.

  The best moments are Argento himself which I wanted a lot more of, but I’m never going to dislike a film about our lord and savior. I did want to point out…

  
  “My favorite thing to do was go to the video store and rent horror films. That’s when I saw Suspiria. As they say with any drug, the first time you try it, the second time you’re hooked, and that really became my long…

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  Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★

  Nice little documentary on the life of the iconic Italian director. There are some interesting stories and anecdotes both about the director and the movies spread throughout the film, especially the reasoning behind why many believe Argento’s movies are no longer as great as they used to be, not only because they seem like harder to find investment but also the personal place in which the filmmaker finds himself in. At 90+ minutes, the film rushes through some movies, all while not providing enough details and information about many other of the director's work. Maybe new filmmaker fans will get more out of this.

  TODAY SCHEDULE
  Dario Argento: Panico
  Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist
  One Second
  Blink Twice
  Hunt

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  Review by Nathaniel Thompson ★★★½ 4

  Given how many Argento docs are out there (officially one by Michele Soavi and two lesser ones by Luigi Cozzi), not to mention a slew of interviews, it's a relief that this one shot in the wake of his return to form with Dark Glasses is not only justified but essential viewing if you're a fan of Italy's last active flag-waving horror maestro. This one tips its hat to the major films in his catalog, though shockingly, The Five Days and Trauma get substantial coverage while almost everything starting with Sleepless is skimmed over.

  The framing device here is Argento's latest hotel sojourn to write his new screenplay, a process that always proves difficult (and, as we see in vintage…

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  Review by donthitpause ★★★½

  "My dreams, they've changed, they've... they've changed because I've changed.

  I think that I will continue to explore my depths, my dark half... my dark half that is in reality the true reason why I do cinema in this way".

  *camera pans in slowly, Argento's visage shifts from a stoic seriousness to an almost childlike, cheeky smirk...

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  Review by Gentry ★★★★

  “I still have the sweetish smell of make-up in my nose.”

  Everything in Argento’s movies is trying to kill you.
  — Guillermo Del Toro

  Dario Argento and his screaming women, his intrusive thoughts, his desire to be loved.

  There’s a moment in the third act of this fantastic documentary by Fulci for Fake director Simone Scafidi, where the interviewer asks Cristina Marsillach, the star of Dario Argento’s 1987 film, Opera, “Who is Dario Argento?” Her face falls, she shakes her head, and clearly struggling with some sort of inner, emotional pain, she says, “I do not know who Dario Argento is.”

  Prior to this, Marsillach had spoken in glowing terms about working with Argento, her admiration is intercut with a…

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  Review by deMicha ★★★½ 2

  Hallo Filmjahr 2025, hallo Letterboxd Community. Mal sehen was uns das Jahr bringt.

  
  In einem abgelegenden Hotel, will Regieseur Dario Argento sein neustes Drehbuch zu Ende schreiben. Der Dokumentarfilmer Simone Scafidi, Interviewt ihn dabei.

  
  Britisch/Italienische Dokumentationen aus dem Jahr 2023, über das Leben von D.Argento, von Regieseur S.Scafidi.

  
  Hier kommen zu Wort:
  Dario, Asia, Fiore und Floriana Argento.
  Desweiteren:
  M.Soavi, C.Simonetti, N.W.Refn, G.Noé, G.del Toro, L.Bava und L.Cozzi.

  
  In dieser ca. 97 Minütigen Doku, bekommen wir einen Einblick in das Leben und Schaffen des Regieseurs. Er selbst, seine Familie, Weggefährten und Bewunderer kommen hier zu Wort. Ein paar Archiv Aufnahmen, Interviews und Making of's, sehen wir hier auch.

  
  Der Name, das Gesicht und seine Filme sind mir bekannt. Finde seine…

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  Review by Dennis ★★★

  Horror by definition is the emotion of pure revulsion. Terror of the same standard, is that of fearful anticipation
  - Dario Argento

  Panico is a documentary about Dario Argento that offers some information, but never tries to dive deeper under the surface.
  Dario Argento seems to be an interesting guy, but almost anytime when it seems to get more intriguing, the film changes the subject.
  Especially the relationship to his daughter Asia was of interest to me, she was a bold actress in his movies and she starts to talk about how awkward it was at times, but then again the film switches to the next chapter.

  Also disappointing was that they ignores everything Dario directed after Phantom of the…

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  Review by Matt Winfield ★★★ 2

  I’m kind of disappointed this turned out to be just another talking head puff piece. The premise was fantastic with Dario going into seclusion to write his next film while confronting his deepest fears, and there’s some camerawork and acting that feels so stilted and out of place like a strange dream being woven from the threads of a tortured past. I was so hoping this would dive into some Cat in the Brain film-within-a-film REAL introspection, but the style ends up being for naught. A missed opportunity.

  As a simple career retrospective though, it’s fine. A small chunk of time for almost every film, and I like that the focus is mainly on his family and the impact his…

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  Review by HalloweenH ★★★

  Would've liked it to focus more on his post- Opera career. But, it's fine. I'd recommend the superior Dario Argento's World Of Horror (1988) directed by Michele Soavi. If you find yourself wanting to know even more about Argento and his films, I HIGHLY recommend Maitland McDonagh's essential book, Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams Of Dario Argento.

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  Review by Jason Lee ★½

  More a celebration of the man himself than his films, still a nice insight into the mind and life (so far) of the weird little fu#%er who gave us some of the best thrillers ever made.

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  Review by Bob McCully ★★★½ 4

  With Dario Argento being one of my all time favourite directors of... all time... I realized early on in this documentary that I've read so much about him already: his autobiography Fear, Alan Jones's extensive biography Profondo Argento, L. Andrew Cooper's thesis on Argento, as well as a handful of books on Italian horror & Gialli. So it donned on me... I might not extract anything new from this.

  Sure enough, every anecdote lined up with a page out of one of these books, but what I was left with was connecting to the human experience of Argento. Not just what happened, but how it resonated through his peers, his followers, his family, etc. The talking head segments, of which this…

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  Review by Mark Costello ★★★½

  For most hardcore Argento fans who have picked up some of the excellent releases of his classics, there's a lot here in this documentary about the great director you'll already know. Typically spending more time on the likes of Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Inferno and even Opera, there's very little mention of his post 1990 output, outside of working with his daughter...which may be a good thing for some, or a huge gap for others.

  However, there's some interesting nuggets dropped along the way that will interest even the most hardened Argento head - his early childhood with his artistic and industry parents is given significant room and plays nicely into the establishment of so much of what he…