Another day, another Dario Argento movie. This one is from 1987, which is apparently getting near the end of his creatively successful period, but I think still falls inside it.

The basic premise of the movie is, as you might expect, that there are goings-on at an opera house. It feels a little bit like he’s trying to capture that Suspiria magic, though it doesn’t get close to that level — it’s much more grounded and… well, not “realistic” in general but in comparison, yeah okay: realistic.

Still, it’s not that realistic, and the killer’s whole thing here is that he ties up the victim (er, I guess not quite the victim, but: the protagonist) and tapes a row of pins to her lower eyelid forcing her to keep her eyes open and not blink as she witnesses his killings. This doesn’t quite work — when you think about the logistics of it, you immediately have questions, and the way it’s filmed doesn’t in any way address your mental reservations about it — but it’s a good concept at least.

Probably the biggest failure of the movie is just that there aren’t that many characters, so when they’re trying to set up a big mystery about who the killer is, you’re like “well, it’s one of these two people, obviously.” It’s not really a whodunnit mystery, so that’s not a fatal flaw, but it does make it a little obvious.

Still, it’s an enjoyable movie with some memorable bits in it. Minor Argento, but still recommended to Argento fans.