Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

"Opera" known as 'Terror at the Opera' in the United States, was amongst Argento's most commercially successful films in his homeland of Italy. Verdi's opera 'Macbeth' is historically known for bringing bad luck to its casts, a fact that is not lost on Argento. Betty takes the lead only after the great 'Mara Czekova' fights with the film's director and breaks her leg (Czekova, who remains unseen throughout the film, was originally to be played by Vanessa Redgrave, who had been in Antonioni's 'Blow-Up' an influence on Argento). Once Betty takes to the stage as Lady Macbeth, a monster from her mother's past is awakened and the killings begin. The crows in the film only screech in the presence of a familiar evil, however the identity of the film's killer is of little consequence; Argento's focus is on the way the Santini forces Betty's gaze. 'Opera's' memorable gimmick has Santini placing a row of needles below Betty's eyes, forcing her to watch the grueling deaths of her friends, the most absurdly over the top being when Giulia is killed and swallows a bracelet in the struggle, forcing Santini to perform an 'autopsy' on her with a pair of scissors. Reinforcing his obsession of sightlessness, Betty's vision is temporarily blurred after she applies some eye drops. Opera's infamous keyhole set piece reinforces Argento's fascination with seeing as a terror mechanism. The finale whilst becoming too silly by half, does link it to its predecessor, with Betty's adventures in the countryside and her encounter with a lizard recalling Jennifer's psychic relationship to insects in 'Phenomena'. Made in 1987, 'Opera' is the end of Argento's influential period. He has made 12 films since of which 'The Stendahl Syndrome' in 1996 is worth a look.

Reading Alan Jones excellent book Dario Argento: The Man, the Myths & the Magic,I noticed Jones mention that despite the title being a box office disaster,that co-writer/ (along with Franco Ferrini) directing auteur Dario Argento's Opera is his last true classic,and also a coda for the final wave of the Giallo sub- genre.With having saved the movie (which came out the year I was born!) for a special occasion,I decided that I would use my birthday as the day that I would witness the last rites of the Giallo.The plot:After lead actress Mara Czekova is injured in a car accident,budding actress Betty gets her hands on the role that she has been dreaming of,when Betty's agent Mira phones up to reveal that stage director Marco has offered her the lead role in his avant-garde opera staging of Macbeth. Ignoring whispers of the production being "cursed" Betty sets her sights on following in her mums footsteps,and becoming the leading diva of the opera world.During one of the first performances,a light from the auditorium comes crashing to the ground.Checking the lighting equipment after the show,the crew discover that an usher has been ruthlessly murdered.Shaken by the experience,Betty attempts to relax with her boyfriend,after receiving some rather strange fan mail.Waiting for her boyfriend to return,Betty is grabbed by a masked stranger,who ties her up,and put needles under the eyes,so that Betty can't look away from what is taking place.Brutally killing her boyfriend,the killer reveals that after being mesmerised by her performance in the opera,that he is going to put on a deadly special show,that Betty will be unable to take her eyes off of.View on the film:For the last big budget Giallo,Dario Argento makes the genres curtain call one which concludes all the themes which he had started in his debut.After taking a look at the effect that violence has on its creators in 1982's Tenebre,the writers here turn their attention to the audience,with the writers superbly using Betty's forced viewing of the murders to slyly suggest that no matter how horrific the killings are,that the viewer is unable to turn their gaze away from the dazzling onslaught,and also showing the level of obsession that fandom can reach.Whilst the "controversial" ending does come a bit from the left-field,the writers make the coda one which sums up topic that Argento had been progressing on since his debut,where animals have a strong connection to the lead ammeter detective,due to them offering an escape route/answer to what the character is searching for.Although the title does mark the end of an era for Argento's major themes,the writers smartly make sure that the title never turns into a mere summarisation,thanks to the film offering harsh Horror lyrics with a Film Noir composition.Keeping the movie to Betty's point of view,the writers show her being dragged into a gritty Giallo word,as Betty finds her glamorous stage life being destroyed in her bullet ridden flat.Pushing Betty's nerves right to the edge,the writers create an extremely creepy atmosphere,with Betty being surrounded by a trusted group of people on the stage,whose image begins to blur,as Betty finds the killer getting literally under her skin.Ignoring all of the myths about "the Scottish play",the 15 week production turned out to be a complete nightmare,(with the disasters being….(deep breath!) 1:original studio Titanus dropping the title due to a major corporate takeover taking place.2:Dario's dad Salvatore dying a month before film.3:co-star Ian Charleson (who would tragically die from AIDS a year later) being involved in a near-fatal crash.4:Vanessa Redgrave signing on to play Mara Czekova,only to turn up to Italy asking for extra cash,which led to Redgrave taking the next flight out of Italy! 5:Dario having furious rows with star Cristina Marsillach,to the point where during a scene involving fire,Marsillach got left with burn marks,and to top it all off 6:Dario treating ex-girlfriend Daria Nicolodi with a vile that would lead to them not working together again for 20 years)yet despite all of the issues,Argento directs the title with an explosive energy.Opening with a breath taking first person tracking shot,Argento and cinematographer Ronnie Taylor unleash a paranoid atmosphere,thanks to Betty's fall into terror being matched by scattering crane shots and knife-edge tracking shots.Basking the stage in vivid, minimalist black & white,Argento and Taylor decay Betty's glamorous life with a brittle,Film Noir bleakness,as Betty finds herself trapped in a Giallo flat,with no sign of light.Whilst her shouting matches with Argento have become legendary, Cristina Marsillach gives a tremendous performance as Betty,which contrasts a diva beauty with a tomboyish attitude,as Marsillach shows Betty being desperate to stay on the acting ladder,whilst also setting her eyes on stopping the murderer from bringing the opera down on a killer note.

Betty (portrayed pathetically by Cristina Marsillach) is an up-and-coming opera singer, who gets her big break after the star diva breaks her leg. Promoted from understudy she becomes the breakaway star of Guiseppe Verdi's "MacBeth", an opera with a long history of bad luck. During the opening night a murder is committed. Even later that evening a masked man gags Betty and forces her to watch him gut the stage manager after which he lets her go unharmed. Who is the murderer and what wicked game is he playing? Dario Argento during the years mastered his trademarks, which include long travelling shots, exquisite classic-inspired sumptuous settings as well as the use of colour (with a specific obsession with red ochre) to instill an unrelenting all-engulfing atmosphere. This time however Dario exaggerated and overused the long shots making his typical slow pace virtually stop to a halt. Almost nothing happens during over 100 minutes, albeit when it finally does occur it is engrossing and damn near to perfection.Sadly this movie has probably one of the worse scores in any Argento movie, save for the absolutely classical and unmistakable captivating beauty of Verdi's "MacBeth". The remaining music however consists mostly of loud and severely outdated heavy metal, that cruelly rape the ears and kill visual enjoyment.Additionally this is probably Argento's 'easiest' movie in the sense, that the script is severely underdeveloped and lacks the prerequisite mystery. Shortly after the first murder it becomes quite apparent that there is only one possibly killer. I naturally expected some twist to turn the events upside down (however illogical the twist), but none happened and the only possible culprit does not fail to not surprise. At the same time he must be one of the stupidest Argento murderers ever with plotting and ideas so thinly planned out, that were it not for the even more imbecilic victims he would have been caught within 30 minutes. But when victims fail to finish him off after knocking him unconscious with an iron or policemen require several days to differentiate a corpse from a mannequin this villain gets more screen time than he deserves.The only mystery worth finding out concerns the reason to the murderer's killing spree, which is suitably wicked and Argento-style twist. Also the ending itself is devious, albeit a lot of substance lost due to the terrible Marsillach, who lacks enough vibrant emotion to convey the terrible truth. All in all not a bad movie, but I fail to find anything worth note in this ultimately repetitive and flawed Argento thriller.

After the lead actress of the opera is killed in a car accident, her young understudy, Betty, is brought to the forefront. That's very lucky for her, with one problem: she has an admirer that has decided he will kill all her friends and make her watch. What is his connection to the opera, and what is his fascination with Betty? I love Dario Argento with every part of my body. And I'm not an orthodox fan, I think. Many people, particularly critics, praise his earlier work ("Suspiria" and "Deep Red") but really frown on later films, such as "Sleepless", which I liked. My favorite, "Phenomena", is usually vastly underrated. "Opera" tends to fall somewhere in between. Some consider it one of his last great films, others see it as part of his so-called decline. I loved it.The picture is crisp, the music is great (unlike other critics, I love the metal soundtrack), the female lead is someone I can feel for (not unlike Jennifer Connelly from "Phenomena"). And the imagery... wonderful. Great cinematography, and some amazing kill scenes. The concept of taping needles to a person's eyes so they cannot blink... brilliant. My assistant Tina thinks this looked fake, but even if it does, the idea is more than enough to pay off. And some great effects, like a knife blade coming up inside a man's mouth? Awesome.Jim Harper calls the film "stunning" and calls attention to the "innovative cinematography, well-constructed shots and exceptionally violent murders." I agree with this completely -- one shot follows the camera through winding tunnels, and there is a very interesting visual use of crows throughout the story. Mike Mayo likewise calls it "visually fascinating eye-candy" and lauds the "crisp editing and flowing camera-work". It's really a wonder that this is not one of Argento's more highly-praised works.Argento returned to the opera with "Phantom of the Opera", which was a bit of a failure despite the casting of his daughter Asia and Julian Sands. Even more interesting, this same year offered the release of Michele Soavi's "Stagefright", which (like "Opera") has a killer loose inside a theater killing off the people involved with the presentation. Both are great films, with Soavi's more on the slasher side. (Soavi actually served as second unit director on "Opera"... you can make your own conclusions.) My only complaint with this film is the length and pacing. While it is very beautifully shot and the kill scenes are glorious, they are not as frequent as they should be. The first one takes over a half hour, and then we get down times between them. The lead actress should be in constant terror, but she is given time between kills to calm down as if everything is normal again. Not cool, Dario. We need to keep the suspense low and the intensity high.