Opera (1987 film)

Opera (also released as Terror at the Opera) is a 1987 Italian giallo film directed and co-written by Dario Argento and starring Cristina Marsillach, Urbano Barberini, Daria Nicolodi, and Ian Charleson. The film's plot focuses on a young soprano (Marsillach) who becomes involved in a series of murders being committed inside an opera house by a masked assailant. The film features music composed and performed by Brian Eno, Claudio Simonetti, and Bill Wyman.

Released in Italy in December 1987, Opera was a commercial success, grossing 4.737 billion lire. The film failed to receive theatrical release in most other countries, though it did receive minor regional theatrical engagements in the United States in 1990, after Orion Pictures dropped the film from a planned American distribution.

When Mara Cecova, star of an avant-garde production of Verdi's Macbeth at the Parma Opera House, is injured after being hit by a car during an argument with the director, Cecova's young understudy Betty is given the role of Lady Macbeth. Despite her apprehension, Betty's performance is successful. An anonymous figure watches Betty's performance from an empty box. When a stagehand discovers the intruder, he is murdered against a coat hook.

While Betty is at her boyfriend Stefano's apartment, a masked assailant gags her, ties her to a pillar, and tapes needles under her eyes to force her to watch Stefano's murder. The killer unties Betty and flees. Betty reports the murder to the police and describes the ordeal to her director, Marco. She says the killer resembles a figure in her childhood nightmares.

Inspector Alan Santini questions the opera house staff about Stefano's murder and an attack on the production's ravens, three of which were found dead after the show. Betty meets with the wardrobe seamstress, Giulia, to restore her slashed costume. Giulia sees a gold bracelet with an anniversary date on the costume. The killer appears and restrains Betty in the same manner as before, then stabs Giulia, who swallows the bracelet. The killer cuts her throat to retrieve it before again untying Betty and fleeing.

Santini promises to send Inspector Soavi for Betty's protection. Betty admits a man that she presumes is Soavi into her apartment. Betty's agent Mira arrives and says she talked to Soavi in the lobby. Betty and Mira hide while the figure claiming to be Soavi takes a phone call. Someone claiming to be Soavi knocks at the door. As Mira uses the peephole, the figure fatally shoots her and breaks into the apartment. Betty encounters the real, mortally wounded Soavi and escapes through a ventilation shaft.

Betty meets with Marco, who has a plan to identify the killer the following night. Betty has a recurring nightmare in which she discovers her mother bound to a railing in a dilapidated room, smiling at her reflection in a mirror as a woman screams then falls silent, after which Betty glimpses the masked figure.

The following night, Betty takes the stage as Lady Macbeth. Marco unleashes ravens into the audience. Recognizing their attacker, the birds swoop down on him, gouging out one of his eyes. The murderer, revealed to be Inspector Santini, shoots at Betty, then abducts her.

Santini reveals that he was the lover of Betty's mother, a sadist who had him torture and murder young women for her gratification. Betty partially witnessed one of the murders, which haunted her nightmares. Santini eventually killed Betty's mother due to her escalating demands. Betty's resemblance to her mother revived Santini's bloodlust. Santini blindfolds Betty, binds her to a chair, and stages his suicide by setting the room on fire. Betty breaks free and escapes.

Betty and Marco withdraw to Marco's house in the Swiss Alps. Marco sees a news broadcast indicating that a mannequin, not Santini, was burned in the fire, and that a manhunt is underway for Santini. He discovers that his housekeeper has been murdered, and shouts for Betty to flee. Betty runs from the house pursued by Santini. Marco tackles him, only to be stabbed to death. Betty bashes Santini on the head with a rock and the police arrest him. Betty finds a trapped lizard and helps it escape.

• Cristina Marsillach as Betty
• Ian Charleson as Marco
• Urbano Barberini as Inspector Alan Santini
• Daria Nicolodi as Mira
• Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni as Giulia
• Antonella Vitale as Marion
• William McNamara as Stefano Brini
• Barbara Cupisti as Signora Albertini
• Michele Soavi as Inspector Daniele Soavi (uncredited)

Critic Patrick Taggart, writing for the Austin American-Statesman in 1990, interpreted the film as a metaphor for "the death of classical arts by a society consumed by pop culture and cheap, ephemeral pleasures."^[5] Taggart cited that the use of heavy metal music in the film's violent murder sequences contrasted against the "grand and sweeping" scenes of operatic performance.^[5]

In early 1985, director Dario Argento was entrusted by Sferisterio di Macerata with a production of Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto , which was to be Argento's debut as an opera director. Argento's version would have included horrific overtones and gimmicks, such as devices in seats throughout the theatre that would release voltage during thunderstorm scenes.^[6] The theatre did not approve of Argento's ideas, leading him to eventually back out of the project.^[7] Further problems for Argento occurred when he and Daria Nicolodi were arrested for drug possession, after police had found hashish in their home.^[6] According to Michele Soavi, Argento spent two years working on the script for Opera, noting that early drafts "went beyond the limitations of gore which any country, apart from Japan, would have found unacceptable" and that early drafts of the film were "far too long and rather incomplete in certain areas."^[8] During pre-production, Argento learned of his father's death on April 19, 1987, after he had been suffering from a long illness.^[9]

Development of Opera was announced in mid-1986. Argento declared that the film would initially be shot at Teatro Carignano and star Giuliana De Sio, who was at the peak of her popularity in Italy following the release of Let's Hope It's a Girl . Neither plans materialized, with the film being shot at Teatro Regio in Parma and the lead being cast by the Spanish actress Cristina Marsillach.^[6] Argento had initially wanted Jennifer Connelly to play the role of Betty in the film, but changed his mind as he did not want comparisons between this film as Phenomena (1985). He then attempted to cast Mia Sara, the star of Legend (1985), but changed his mind when fashion designer Giorgio Armani suggested Marsillach.^[10] Much of the cast had previously worked with Argento, such as Barberini and Zinny appearing Argento's productions of Demons , Tassoni in Demons 2 , and Mirella D'Angelo starring in Tenebrae .^[11]

Filming began in April 1987.^[12] The film was Argento's most expensive to date, initially budgeted at 10 billion lire, but was later reduced to seven billion.^[6] The scene shot from the ravens point of view around the theatre cost 1 billion lire on its own.^[13] Initially, the film was to be produced by Goffredo Lombardo, the head of Titanus. A corporate split between Titanus away from distribution lead to a split in interest in backing the film. Backed by the production company from Mario and Vittorio Cecchi Gori; the brothers had ties to Italy's national television network RAI, allowing them to organize a presale for the film that gave Argento a larger budget than he had usually worked with.^[14] Additional filming took place in Lugano, Switzerland with interiors shot at De Paolis Studios in Rome.^[14] Argento had written the role of Mara Cecova for Vanessa Redgrave, who dropped out shortly before production began, leading to Nicolodi being cast in the part, and the character's role in the film being severely reduced.^[13] On set, Alan Jones reported that Opera had been an "arduous 15 week shoot".^[11] Marsillach stated she received real burns from the multiple takes she needed during the scene where she is tied to a chair in a burning room.^[15]

Opera was released in Italy on 19 December 1987 by CDI Compagnia Distribuzione Internazionale,^[1] the Italian division of the U.S.-based Orion Pictures.^[3] The film was initially going to be released in the United States through Orion Pictures in a truncated cut that eliminated almost thirty minutes of footage, including the ending in the Swiss Alps.^{[16] [17]} Orion ultimately scrapped the theatrical release for American cinemas, and the film also failed to find a theatrical release in the United Kingdom.^[17] Despite Orion's backing out of distribution, Opera did eventually receive limited releases in the United States, premiering at the New Community Cinema in Long Island, New York on 26 July 1990,^[18] followed by small regional theatrical engagements in Helena, Montana on 10 August 1990,^[19] in Austin, Texas on 31 August 1990,^[5] and in Santa Fe, New Mexico on 18 September 1990.^[20]

Opera was released on home video in Australia, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom as Terror at the Opera.^[21]

Anchor Bay Entertainment released the film in a limited edition multi-disc DVD set featuring the film's original score on compact disc in 2001. A standard edition was issued on 30 October 2001 after a recall on the former edition due to a defective disc in some pressings.^{[22] [23]}

In 2018, Scorpion Releasing issued the film on Blu-ray in the United States.^[24] A deluxe collector's edition Blu-ray was released by Ronin Flix on 25 March 2019.^[25] On 7 July 2024, Severin Films released a limited five-disc set featuring both 4K UHD Blu-ray and standard Blu-ray editions, including the original score on compact disc.^[26] The film's restoration for the release was undertaken by cinematographer Karim Hussain.^[26] Severin issued a three-disc standard edition of the 4K UHD Blu-ray on 28 January 2025.^[27]

Film critic and historian Roberto Curti wrote that the film was a box-office success in Italy, with 706,000 spectators 4,737 million lire grossed.^[6]

Opera was critically well-received in Italy.^[6] American critic Patrick Taggart of the Austin American-Statesman praised the film as "very smart" but noted that its sequences of graphic violence often overshadowed subplots and some character development.^[5]

From retrospective reviews, Adrian Luther-Smith in his book Blood and Black Lace echoed the film as an "exceptional visual experience" and referred to it as a return to form for Argento after the release of Phenomena.^[21] Luther-Smith only lamented the use of heavy metal music and what he saw as a "weak ending" to the film.^[21]

Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine awarded the film a score of four out of four stars, calling it Argento's "last full-fledged masterpiece" and praising the "operatic attention to death and the way in which the film's killer forces Betty's gaze" as "genius".^[28]

Patrick Legare of AllMovie awarded the film two-and-a-half out of five stars, calling it "a decent, fairly typical Argento film that is worth watching primarily for its above-average murder sequences."^[29]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 90% of 22 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Opera house location gives plenty to work with for director Dario Argento, who hits his decadently bloody high notes here."^[30] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 68 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

• Curti, Roberto (2022). Italian Giallo in Film and Television. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-8248-8.
• Jones, Alan (March 1988). "Opera". Cinefantastique . Vol. 18, no. 2/3. ISSN 0145-6032.
• Luther-Smith, Adrian (1999). Blood and Black Lace: The Definitive Guide to Italian Sex and Horror Movies. Liskeard, England: Stray Cat Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9533-2611-2.
• Paul, Louis (2015). Italian Horror Film Directors. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-48749-3.

• Opera at IMDb
• Opera at Rotten Tomatoes

• 1987 films
• 1987 horror films
• Italian horror films
• 1980s Italian films
• 1980s Italian-language films
• Films directed by Dario Argento
• Films scored by Claudio Simonetti
• Films about opera
• Films based on The Phantom of the Opera
• Films set in Emilia-Romagna
• Films set in opera houses
• Films shot in Italy
• Films shot in Switzerland
• Films with screenplays by Dario Argento
• Giallo films
• Italian serial killer films
• Italian slasher films

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