Dario Argento is one of those filmmakers horror fans either love or loathe. I 
am, personally, a huge Argento fan, yet even I will concede that the guy ain't
workin' on all cylinders when it comes to screenplays. I'll admit, even as a die-
hard fan, I was scratching my head for a good portion of Opera, one of 
Argento's personal favorites, and favorite of his many fans as well. 

Opera is the story of Betty (the gorgeous Marsillach), an opera understudy 
who is given the lead in Macbeth after the star is injured in a traffic accident.
Betty is terrified, not only because this is her big break and she doubts her
abilities, but also because the opera Macbeth is considered cursed (an actual
fact that I was recently made aware of!). Betty's performance brings down 
the house, quite literally in fact, when a lighting rig falls from a private 
box seating area. The show goes on and Betty is suddenly the toast 
of the town. The crew is later informed that a stage hand was killed in the 
accident, however, and Betty's fear of the curse consumes her.

Later that evening, Betty spends the night with her boyfriendUrbano, and while 
he is off fetching the pair some tea, Betty is accosted by a 
masked man who ties her up, gags her, and tapes needles under her eyelids
to make her watch him slice up poor ol' Urbano. After the killer is finished he
frees Betty and disappears, only to reappear and assault her again and again.

That's about it really. The story once again takes a backseat to Argento's 
beautiful camerawork, ingenious death scenes (the one involving a peephole, a 
gun, and a phone is particularly impressive) and lush lighting and visuals, and
for me, that's fine. I don't pop in an Argento film expecting Schindler's List, I pop
in an Argento film and expect Hitchcock as channeled through a music video
director with a large portion of his budget alloted to blood and retractable knives.
On that level, Opera is one of the maestro's finest.

What if you aren't a fan of Argento? Well, that's a different story. The film
has plot holes galore, some dialogue is atrocious, and many of the "actors"
seem as though they were hired as they were walking by the set. Marsillach is
fine as Betty, and the late Ian Charleson is on the money as horror movie 
maverick/ turned opera director, Marco (Argento says the role is semi-auto
biographical), but other players come off as wooden or overact infuriatingly. 
I would suggest one of Argento's more mainstream films like the excellent 
Suspiria first, and if you enjoy that one, Opera will definitely please.

As for the DVD, Anchor Bay's new special edition is dynamite stuff. It's
chock full of extras, including a 36 minute documentary made for the release
and a separate CD of the excellent Claudio Simonetti soundtrack. The film
is also available in a single disc edition for a few dollars less if soundtracks
aren't your thing. 

If you are an Argento fan, get this movie now, because this is one hell of
a package for the money. Non-fans may want to rent or borrow the film first
to see if it's right for them.