Occhiali neri

The return of Dario Argento did not turn out well. In the 1980s he reigned supreme, now he's stagnating and it's amazing how poorly he made a Giallo, the genre that made him famous. The Last Matinee two years ago was considerably better in every way. The overseas reviews already suggested that it would be nothing significant and they were right. Dark Glasses is thankfully only 80 minutes long, but given that nothing much happens, it comes across as lengthy. The film has a simple plot about a prostitute who loses her eyesight, we watch her struggle with this disability for half an hour, and the other half hour we watch a little Chinese boy guide her while they run away from a killer who is introduced quite early on, which again is a mistake. There are only two gore scenes and that's in the opening and the ending, so very weak, a killer who doesn't murder – great. There is only one nude scene and the styling looks low budget. There is no attention to detail, no beautiful colours, no pure Giallo elements (maybe the opening with black gloves and a rope), the atmosphere doesn't work, the suspense doesn't work either, overall a useless, very weak and naive horror film. Story 1/5. Action 2/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 2/5, Fun 2/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 3/5, Atmosphere 2/5, Suspense 2/5, Emotion 2/5, Actors 2/5. 35% (17.05.2022)

It's a bit heavy-handed and crass, but Argento manages to duplicate the atmosphere of the older giallo films quite nicely, and especially thanks to Arnaud Rebotini's pulsating score, Dark Glasses is a stylish spectacle from a fan for the fans. And thumbs up for the practical effects. (18.10.2022)