Lancoor A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Charles Camp Another entertaining giallo by the master himself. Decidedly less style-obsessed and visually inventive as some of his best work, but makes up for it with a suitably tangled murder mystery and some great kill sequences. The movie gets off to a somewhat clumsy start (and again there is that stilted acting and awkward dialogue that is almost part of the appeal of these movies once you're endeared to them), but steadily improves as it progresses. The climax really elevates the rest of the film and ends things on a high note. I also enjoyed the somewhat meta quality of the film, as it's about a giallo writer who provides some well-placed wink-and-a-nod dialogue that comments on the movie itself. Not a masterpiece, but a fun film with an unpredictable plot and a number of memorable sequences that make up for its shortcomings.Decent 4/5

crystallogic Argento madde a couple of "weirder" movies with "Suspiria" and "inferno", and I don't know if it was the circumstance around the latter film, but with "Tenebrae", he returned to something rather traditional. If you're a fan of the typical '70s giallo style of storytelling, this won't be a bad thing, but it's hard to escape the feeling that by 1982 he was already a bit past this.I watched this movie a couple of times years ago before this recent viewing, and my memory of the denouement was somehow totally different from what actually happened. I think maybe I somehow got its wires crossed with Argento's much earlier "Four Flies on Grey Velvet", where the character the audience mostly followed was a musician. Here it's a writer of horror/crime thriller novels. he's played well, but everyone seems a bit underused, somehow, and this goes especially for guys like Saxon and Steiner, who seem barely present but for a few scenes. The story also commits the worst offense of the bad mystery novel: the killer turns out to be someone we have barely spent any time with in the story, and thus the reaction is less one of surprise than one of "oh, that guy? Huh...."Or is it? This being a giallo, there's a weird twist at the end. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me and I think I like the memory of the story I had a little better. I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone though, so i won't explain. Sorry!You know that with a vintage Argento film, you are going to get lots of stylishness, possibly at the expense of substance, and this is no exception. I happen to think "inferno" was possibly his best movie, and rather than contribute to the atmosphere as they do in th at film, i think maybe the excesses do hurt this movie a little bit. There are scenes that drag on seemingly for the sole purpose of letting us hear more of Goblin's admittedly cool funky/disco music. Specifically, and this is something commented on by many -- a really, really long shot that goes all the way around a building that will seem totally pointless unless you are really willing to just embrace the film on its own terms and are happy to let Argento take you on this slightly superfluous tour. The music is cool, but for the first time, doesn't always seem to fit and can even be a bit distracting. At first I thought maybe this was because Goblin started to embrace 80s electronic music here and I wasn't as into that, but in the intervening years I think I've found more affinity for such music, and no, I guess there's just too much of it sometimes here.So, all-in-all, this is a nice throwback to the glory years of the giallo (those being past and done, largey, by '82, i think), complete with a story that doesn't seem to totally hang together. A neat murder story, but I definitely prefer "Deep Red", and for sheer fever dream madness, "Inferno" can't be beat.

trashgang A perfect example of a Giallo with all points that make a Giallo like for example POV of the murder weapon, mostly you see a gloved hand with the murder object. Was it all that good, no it wasn't. For me it was a bit outdated. The effects didn't work all the time. The axe going in someone's head is ridiculous easy done and it shows. Still, some killings are brutal and the most famous is of course the hand being axed. The problem is naturally the overdubbing of the voices done in English to get a worldwide release. Some sentences are so funny which wasn't intended or doesn't make a sense at all. So it's better to watch it in Italian with the subs you want. Above mediocre due some scene's clocking in too long. Still, a classic.Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 1,5/5 Effects 2/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

callanvass An American writer named Peter Neal is stalked by a mysterious serial killer that is using Neal's novel as inspiration for his murders. Neal is immediately suspected of murders by the police. I've seen this three times. Every time I've watched it, my opinion on it hasn't changed. I think it is a "good" , but not great film. It moves a little too slowly for my liking at times. Argento's direction is as wild and stylish as ever. His use of colors, POV shots, among other crafty things, never fail to astound me (Check out that amazing chase scene involving a rabid dog) , I just wish he paced this film better. When it is good, it is very good. When it isn't, it turns into tedium. The gore is very explicit. An arm is chopped off in very bloody detail, the finale is loaded with blood as well. I'm not going to spoil all the goodies for you. You'll be satisfied, trust me. Argento also has a penchant for the bizarre as well. Wait until you see a dream sequence that commences periodically in the film. The killer at the end is actually somewhat surprising. It was a twist I didn't expect. The acting is fine for this sort of thing. Anthony Franciosa is solid as the lead. John Saxon has a part in this well, adding some class to the proceedings. Overall, I do like this movie. it has more than enough good things to make it worth your while, I just don't put it anywhere near the level of Suspiria or Deep Red like others do7.3/10