Opera

1987 Directed by Dario Argento

obsession. murder. madness.

A young opperata is stalked by a deranged fan bent on killing the people associated with her to claim her for himself.

Cristina Marsillach Ian Charleson Urbano Barberini Daria Nicolodi Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni Antonella Vitale William McNamara Barbara Cupisti Antonino Juorio Carola Stagnaro Francesca Cassola Maurizio Garrone Cristina Giachino György Gyõriványi Michele Soavi Dario Argento

Alternative Titles

Opera - Terror in der Oper, Terror at the Opera

horror mystery thriller

107 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Allison M. ★★★½ 8

GIALLOTHON: Film 1 of 4
"Good luck, little snake."
I've had Opera on my watchlist for a long time, but have never found the right circumstances to watch it. The Egyptian programmed it and they had an uncut print.
Cristina Marsillach was great as the lead: Betty. She looked a ton like Irène Jacob that I was fascinated throughout the film, convinced that they must somehow be related.
I could see how this highly influenced Paul Verhoeven's Elle. The cinematography from Ronnie Taylor was also gorgeous: especially the pull-away shots with Giulia the costume designer (Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni) trying to repair a dress.
Also, I love Betty's relaxation tape that she listens to. I could definitely use it.
All in all,…
Review by Hollie Horror ★★★★ 4

What sets Opera apart from other Argento films in the 1970s and 1980s was that it had a very cruel streak to it. Most of his films have intricate death scenes but there is always something overly lovable in the movie to soften some of the rawness, in Phenomena there's the monkey, Deep Red: Daria Nicolodi and her junk car, but that was missing from Opera. Some could say that, the lead, Betty was the cute factor but I don't think it offsets the cruelty. This isn't a complaint, by any means.
One thing I would complain about is the ending, I can't say I'm a fan of the final 10 minutes. I find the final scene to be completely…
Review by claire 👁️⭐👁️ diane ★★★★★ 17

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

distillate of heavy metals. bleached & flattened of color. an old stone staircase worn both from long use and long service in dreams as you ascend/descend again and again and again.
they cannot be degraded or destroyed.
they cannot be degraded or destroyed.
******
"I think it's unwise to use movies as a guide to reality, don't you Inspector?"
"Depends on what you mean by reality."
******
a movie about a horror movie director making an opera made by a horror movie director making an Opera in which the Daughter rejects her Mother's appetite for causing pain.
the inexorable orbit of CAN'T LOOK AWAY.
******
"I just wanted to forget, to cancel it from my mind. Not see anything, not feel…
Review by Ian West ★★★★ 11

Sweepingly beautiful camera work with graphically intense murder sequences (If you've seen the cover art for this, you know are fucked), Argento crafts a doozy of a giallo against the backdrop of an Opera production of MacBeth and the soundscape of pulsating metal. ‘Blessed Ravens, never forget’
Even though I like Argento’s previous 7 films better, I have very few critiques of Opera, it really is a wonderfully tense thrill fest of blood, and the keyhole scene is a 10/10 and one of the best said scenes in cinema.
The new Scorpion Releasing/Code Red blu (I mention both because the case says Scorpion but the disc says Code Red, Lol those crazy Olsen brothers) looks and sounds fantastic! The color correction job they spent 45 million hours doing really shows, I saw colors in this that I never knew were there! Bravo!
Review by Brundle Fly ★★★★½

Marco: "Run, run! He's here!"
Me: "...holy shit"
Opera's ending sequence is one of the wildest most funniest things I've ever seen in a giallo (a sub-genre rife with unintentional comedy). You have a panic-stricken Betty singing her ass off whilst scanning the theater for her deadly pursuer, only to have a massive metal enclosure crash through the set unleashing dozens of pissed off vengeance-seeking killer crows onto the audience; crows hungry for human flesh. The scene ends with a close-up of one, frantically choking down an eyeball as his crow pals squawk their fucking minds out. And then as if it couldn't get any crazier, the film closes with a violent Argentonian take on that scene from The Sound…
Review by Faethor Ferenczy ★★★★ 5

Opera is a film I've been wanting to see for a while. It's directed by Dario Argento and many agree that this is his last great film before his decline. It's another black gloves giallo movie and centres around a young opera singer performing at an operatic production of Macbeth. It's not long before the killings start, and the young opera star is forced to watched them by having a strip of needles taped to her lower eyelid (see the movie image for an example).
As with all Argentos films, the dialogue and acting is bloody awful! That's enough said about that, let's move onto the good stuff.
I love Argentos camerawork, it's so inventive and influential. A joy to…

Recent reviews

Review by collin ★★★★

Dario Argento is a mad man. I love giallo films because they have no boundaries, restrictions or rules. It's a section of horror where anything can happen and all conventions are broken. Opera was a total treat and something I've been meaning to catch up on for a while. There is alot to love here from the soaring and technical impressive cinematography and the atmosphere of the opera to the Sound of Music inspired ending played over metal. One of the funniest scenes I've seen in a while comes near the end of act 3 with the birds (don't want to give away much but it had me dying laughing) Overall this was a great time and probably my 3rd favorite Argento so far behind Deep Red and Suspiria.
Review by Zach Milne ★★★

This was as bizarre a movie as Dario Argento could make.
For the most part it is another italian horror movie but with an operatic backdrop.
It does have some very cool camera work and visual moments but is bogged down by a tripped out non-sensical ending.
It does start to feel a little long as it nears the end but it has some awesome gory death scenes like the gun shot through the peep hole, ladies head and into the phone, as well as the knife into the mouth of the first lover.
Very little nudity and some randomness in the story.
Review by Tim Jones ★★★½

My kink is brutal death scenes soundtracked by heavy metal
Review by mosquitodragon ★★★★

It seems to be a view universally held that the late-career output of Dario Argento suffers greatly in comparison to his early career - and many regard Opera as his last great film. Personally, and similarly as with Fulci, I find Argento's later films to be rather sloppily conceived and executed, and I wonder if at some point he simply lost enthusiasm for his craft.
Well, there's no hint of waning enthusiasm in Opera. In many ways, this is Argento's most exuberantly expressive film. There's barely a static shot - I can't remember the last time I saw a film with so many long and convoluted tracking shots. Are they always necessary or effective? Possibly not, but damn it, he's…
Review by Allison M. ★★★½ 8

GIALLOTHON: Film 1 of 4
"Good luck, little snake."
I've had Opera on my watchlist for a long time, but have never found the right circumstances to watch it. The Egyptian programmed it and they had an uncut print.
Cristina Marsillach was great as the lead: Betty. She looked a ton like Irène Jacob that I was fascinated throughout the film, convinced that they must somehow be related.
I could see how this highly influenced Paul Verhoeven's Elle. The cinematography from Ronnie Taylor was also gorgeous: especially the pull-away shots with Giulia the costume designer (Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni) trying to repair a dress.
Also, I love Betty's relaxation tape that she listens to. I could definitely use it.
All in all,…
Review by horrorheathen97 ★★★★★

Not at all to compare the two because they are great in their own respect, but this was like a more brutal Italian Scream. At the opera. Loved it
Review by Brundle Fly ★★★★½

Marco: "Run, run! He's here!"
Me: "...holy shit"
Opera's ending sequence is one of the wildest most funniest things I've ever seen in a giallo (a sub-genre rife with unintentional comedy). You have a panic-stricken Betty singing her ass off whilst scanning the theater for her deadly pursuer, only to have a massive metal enclosure crash through the set unleashing dozens of pissed off vengeance-seeking killer crows onto the audience; crows hungry for human flesh. The scene ends with a close-up of one, frantically choking down an eyeball as his crow pals squawk their fucking minds out. And then as if it couldn't get any crazier, the film closes with a violent Argentonian take on that scene from The Sound…
Review by James McGann ★★★★

Like many of the best gialli, Opera has its moments of goofiness, but the highlights are jaw-dropping. The camerawork is graceful, dizzying and endlessly inventive. It's easy to root for Cristina Marsillach's endearing Betty; she goes from being terrified of blowing her debut to being suffocated with attention before she even faces the murderer. And when the murders start, ohhh boy. These set pieces are nasty works of art.
The thing that keeps me from rating it higher is the last ten minutes, which felt like they came from a different, tamer movie. Compared to all the wild shit leading up to this point - the cat-and-mouse in the apartment, the zany plan to ID the killer - that the…
Review by Scott Nye

See, like...the camerawork in something like 1917 is fine, but if you're gonna go for it, man, just freaking go for it already.