Terror at the Opera
Opera
"I think it's unwise to use movies as a guide for reality. Don't you,Inspector?"
- Marco
1987 Color
[STAFF]
Directed by Dario Argento
Produced by : Dario Argento
Produced by: A Cecchi Gori Group-Tiger Cinematografica-A.D.C.Production in collaboration with RAI Radio Televisione Italiana
Executive Producer : Ferdinando Caputo
Distributed by : WB
Written by : Dario Argento, Franco Ferrini, based on an original idea by Dario Argento
Cinematography by Ronnie Taylor
Music by Brian Eno, Roger Eno, Claudio Simonetti,Giuseppe Verdi, Bill Wyman
Production designer: Davide Bassan
Costume design : Francesca Lia Morandini
Edited by : Franco Fraticelli
Nick Alexander .... sound editor
Germano Natali .... special effects
Sergio Stivaletti .... animatronics
Nick Alexander .... sound editor
Franco Casagni .... make-up
Maurizio Garrone .... animal trainer
Germano Natali .... special effects
Rosario Prestopino .... make-up
Sound Mix : Dolby
Film negative format (mm/video inches) 35 mm
Cinematographic process Technovision
Printed film format 35 mm
Aspect ratio 2.35 : 1
time : 97minAUSA:107 (Director's Cut)
[CAST]
Cristina Marsillach .... Betty
Ian Charleson .... Marco
Urbano Barberini .... Inspector Alan Santini
Antonella Vitale .... Marion
Daria Nicolodi .... Mira
William McNamara .... Urbano
Coralina Cataldi Tassoni .... Giulia
Barbara Cupisti .... Albertini
Antonio Juorio
Carola Stagnaro
Francesca Cassola .... Alma
Maurizio Garrone
Cristina Giachino
Gyorivanyi Gyorgy
Bjorn Hammer
Peter Pitsch
Sebastiano Somma
[STORY]
In the Regal Theater of Parma Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth is being prepared, by the protagonist, soprano Mara Cecova, and with the assistance of a famous director of horror films, Mark. On the eve of the debut an accident prevents the indignant Cecova from taking the stage. The proverbial curse of Macbeth comes to mind. Her place is taken by the young Betty, timid and reticent, but the daughter of a big singer and her voice in turn is spectacular. For her there has been success, although there soon follows horrible occurances. A stagehand of the theater is killed, and then a cruel and mysterious hand slaughters the crows used in the opera production and then destroys the costume of Lady Macbeth worn by Betty. But the worst comes when the girl is captured by the assassin, tied up and gagged and, with pins under her eyes held by band-aids, forced to witness a series of brutal crimes: that of her boyfriend Stefano, then of her costume designer Giulia, and finally of her agent and friend Myra.
The young singer then remembers visions of a tied up woman where a child is present and bewildered. The singer only has Mark and the commissioner Alan Santini, her admirer, to help her. It is Mark who has the decisive idea of how to unmask the killer; he introduces a flight of crows in the theatre that from their memory recognize their tormentor in the room. The murderer is no one if not the commissioner Santini. In the past this lover of Betty's mother had been forced by her to rape young women to excite his partner. Now, completely gone mad, Santini wants to take revenge on the daughter of his persecutor. After abducting her and tying her up in an attic, he seems to set himself on fire and is left for dead. Betty is rescued by Mark, but they here learn that really Santini has burnt a mannequin and is still alive. In fact the ex-police officer appears, Mark is killed and he is about to attack furiously on Betty, who he sees as horrible as her mother. The police arrest Santini, and Betty howls at him in her contempt. Left alone, the girl makes herself comfortable on the grass between the flowers and the animals while Argento- already shortly heard in precedence- gives voice to his own intimate thoughts.
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