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Rating: Country: Italy Release Date: August 15, 2006 Distributor: Anchor Bay Director: · Dario Argento Cast: · Elio Germano · Elizabetta Rocchetti · Chiara Conti · Cristina Brondo Related Sites: ·IMDb ·Argento approved fan site
Grade: C-
When I was a kid, there was no drug that I preferred more than gore. The gore found in bloody, gross, over-the-top, horror
movies. And one of my favorite dealers was Dario Argento. With "Suspiria" as his recognzied magnum opus, he has also
contributed faves "Deep Red" (Profondo Rosso), "Tenebrae", and "Creepers" (Phenomena), featuring a young Jennifer Connelly.
Some would say that he's lost his way over recent years, bottoming out with his abysmal adaptation of "Phantom of the
Opera". The last film of his that I liked was "The Stendhal Syndrome" made in 1996. But I'll always hold a place for this
master of horror in my heart, which is why I was willing to give "Do You Like Hitchcock?" a chance.
"Hitchcock" was not a theatrical release, but an Italian made-for-TV pilot for a potential series of films set to pay homage
to Alfred Hitchcock. Argento has been called the "Italian Hitchcock" and I would tend to agree on the terms of more style
than substance and plot over characters but Hitch had better actors to play with.
Utilizing framing devices and homages to "Rear Window", "Dial M For Murder", and "Strangers on a Train" among others, this
film is basically about a film student named Giulio (suspiciously close to Giallo, a pulp genre Argento has excelled at) who
has the tendency to peep on his neighbors and this time it gets him into trouble, entangling him into the web of a murder.
For an Argento flick, this movie is tame, but that's not surprising as it's a TV movie. The acting's fine, but he
incorporates that darn Italian tradition of dubbing. The actors are speaking English, but it's overdubbed with native
English speakers in post - drives me crazy. The music reflects an obvious tribute to Herrmann, with none of the subtlety. Overall, it's not his worst film, but if you haven't seen Argento's oeuvre, go check out one of his past greats.
The DVD is bare bones with no commentary, a few Argento trailers such as "Suspiria" and "Trauma" (which I saw in Italian in Florence!), and a backstage docu that's really just a bunch of behind-the-scenes footage with no structure or narration.
P.S. - Argento fans will be happy to know that Dario is finally attending to the last film in his Three Mothers trilogy (following "Suspiria" and "Inferno") and will feature his daugther Asia and her mother Daria Nicolodi.
