Ania Pieroni, Anthony Franciosa, Carola Stagnaro

An American novelist comes to Rome to promote his latest book, "Tenebre." After his arrival, a shocking sequence of brutal homicides occur which strangely resemble the murders he's written about in h...( read more  read more... )is book ...

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78% liked it

7,612 ratings

Unrated, 110 min.

Directed by: Dario Argento

Release Date: October 28, 1982

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DVD Release Date: March 29, 2005

Stats: 434 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (434)


  • November 9, 2008
    A classic giallo rich in innovative and highly experimental ideas, either for the technical aspect or for the development of plot. The murder scenes, characterized by acrobatic camera movements and memorable close-ups, are truly well-done. The plot is very intricate, but flowing ...( read more)and exciting, and psychologically well thought out. Truly suspenseful and fascinating. Tenebre is one of the most violent and bloody Dario's films: razors, daggers, axes and even paper as murder weapons, used against a dozen victims. Nevertheless, the murders take place in the daylight, or anyway in very bright places, in an unusual Rome, aseptic and almost futuristic. Plus, irony is often present in the dialogues and in several situations.
    Definitely one of the best works directed by Dario Argento, assisted by Lamberto Bava and Michele Soavi, who also have a cameo in the film.
  • October 29, 2008
    "Tenebre" is one of the most well-known titles from Dario Argento, a director whom many either love or hate. I'm rather ambivalent in my feelings towards the director and can definitely see where both sides are coming from. On one hand, Argento is an amazingly talented visual sty...( read more)list, sort of an European counterpart to Brian DePalma. His films are full of truly impressive set pieces and color schemes. In particular, all the murders here are gory, shocking, and really innovative. The man knows how to build a lot of tension by using various camera angles (and rather cheesy yet appropriate music) to create mood. There's several parts here guaranteed to make the audience jump.

    The negative aspect of the film is the same with all of Argento's work. Its really rather dumb. The story and situations are never once believable. Despite being one of Argento's more compelling stories in a film, its still pretty far fetched. Many of the sequences, despite being frightening, are completely implausible when thought of, which definitely lessens the initial shock (the dog chase sticks out in particular). Also, there's not a single interesting or sympathetic character here, which is needed to make the deaths more effective. The acting, outside of the always enthusiastic and watchable John Saxon (who should have gotten the lead role instead of a small supporting one), is very wooden. Apparently Anthony Franciosa was drunk throughout filming and it shows.

    Despite all this, the film is still very suspenseful and moves at a quick pace. One other aspect that I really enjoyed about "Tenebre" was the seemingly self-referential moments. The critics of the main character (who is an author) accuse him of misogyny or attempt to read into subtexts of his work which he knows simply don't exist, both of which Argento went through. "Tenebre" is recommended if far from perfect.
  • October 22, 2008
    As a big fan of Argento, it's easy for me to ramble on about his films. But I'm also aware of the fact that not everyone enjoys them as much as I do, so I won't prattle on too much.

    But if you enjoy a good horror/thriller with lots of woman in perril, cheesy (yet oddly effect...( read more)ive) music and gallons of blood...then this is the film for you!
  • June 3, 2008
    horrible movie. just plain horrible.
  • March 14, 2008
    loads of really hot italian women all butchered... i rest my case. not a smudge on black christmas or the likes of such. i've seen argento's demons and that was better as it had a horror theme to it. tenebrae was missing any thrills
  • November 17, 2009
    This is one of my favorites from Dario Argento. It's such a perfect horror movie. It's got some great brutal death scenes and a great suspenseful plot that keeps you guessing until the end. The style is amazing and some of the shots are just incredible. The amount of planning tha...( read more)t went into this was obvious, if only locking yourself away for three months could create genius like this all of the time.
  • September 30, 2009
    Bloody murders, sexy ladies, intriguing plot, intense, & unpredictable. I liked it!
  • September 19, 2009
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    Tenebre is a film about a killer who is killing people based on a book written by a man named Peter Neal who is in Rome to promote that same book. He is an american writer. basically the whole movie is them trying to find this brutal killer, but they don't know who it is. That is the basic idea of a Giallo, and this is a perfect example of a giallo. Tenebre is directed by horror master Dario Argento, Suspiria and Deep Red, and he shows that he is at the top of his game with building true suspense and delivering the goods in great manners. The ending of this movie is also very good and I didn't see it coming. Really, it is hard to guess.

    The movie co-stars John Saxon who is always good acting, and they others who act in the movie are quite good as well. The story is good, and has later been copied even if not intended (Basic Instinct), and the gore is great, especially at the end with the hand chop :D...The score to the movie is also good and rememorable and I always love a good score, since I love music.

    This my second favorite Argento Giallo next to Suspiria but I still feel this movie is within my top 20 for top horror of all time. And for that reason, I would recommend this movie to everyone, especially slasher and Giallo fans. This movie is great and fairly underrated, definitely check this movie out.

    I give Tenebre a 9/10.
  • September 5, 2009
    Another fine addition to the Dario Argento series, this time in Tenebre. Argento does a great job in casting actors with little emotion to what's going on around them. Most of the time it's a bad thing, but here it works perfectly. I do have one bad thing to say about this...( read more) film, though. The part where Maria gets killed. She is running away from the killer and she throws the evidence she collected from the house at her assailant. I think that could of been left out, but her death did save that part of the movie for me. It's also nice to include some beautiful faces in the death scenes. Argento does have an eye for women. Another music score by Goblin, too. Perhaps my favorite one of all.
  • September 2, 2009
    Esta pelicula es deliciosa!

    Thriller-policiaco Sexy-giallo y Mortal.

    Lo mejor la pareja lesbica que muere, y la muerte del final, es totalmente sublime.

    Actua un john saxon joven y en su plenitud.

    Más que recomendable

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