Dario Argento

Argento was born in Rome, the son of a Sicilian film producer and executive Salvatore Argento (1914–1987) and a Brazilian photographer Elda Luxardo (1915–2013), who was of Italian ancestry.

While still attending a Catholic secondary school as a teenager, Argento began working as a film critic, writing for magazines and as a columnist for the Rome-based newspaper Paese Sera While working at the newspaper, Argento also began working as a screenwriter.

Dario Argento (born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer.

He co-wrote the screenplay for Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) and served as George A. Romero's script consultant on Dawn of the Dead (1978), for which he also composed the soundtrack with his long-time collaborators Goblin.

His most notable works were for Sergio Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci and his collaboration on the story for the Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western Once Upon a Time in the West in 1968.

His influential work in the horror genre during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the subgenre known as giallo, has led him to being referred to as the "Master of the Thrill" and the "Master of Horror".

His films as director include his "Animal Trilogy", consisting of The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), The Cat o' Nine Tails (1971) and Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971); his "Three Mothers" trilogy, consisting of Suspiria (1977), Inferno (1980) and The Mother of Tears (2007); and his stand-alone films Deep Red (1975), Tenebrae (1982), Phenomena (1985) and Opera (1987).

Argento began work on his directorial debut, the giallo film The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo, 1970), which was a major hit in Italy.

Argento continued to concentrate largely on the giallo genre, directing two more successful thrillers, The Cat o' Nine Tails (Il gatto a nove code, 1971) and Four Flies on Grey Velvet (4 mosche di velluto grigio, 1972).

Along with The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, these three films are frequently referred to as Argento's "Animal Trilogy".

The director then turned his attention away from giallo movies, filming two Italian TV dramas and a period comedy, The Five Days (Le cinque giornate, 1973).

Argento returned to thrillers with Deep Red (1975), frequently cited by many critics as the best giallo ever made.

The film made Argento known internationally and inspired other directors to work in the genre.

Argento's next film was Suspiria (1977), a supernatural horror.

Argento planned for Suspiria to be the first of a trilogy about "The Three Mothers", three ancient witches residing in three different modern cities.

John Carpenter has frequently referred to the influence Argento's early work had on Halloween (1978).

In 1978, Argento collaborated with George A. Romero on Dawn of the Dead, earning a producer credit and also providing soundtrack work for the zombie film.

Argento oversaw the European release of the film, where it was titled Zombi, which was much shorter and featured more of the score written and performed by Goblin.

The second film of the trilogy was 1980's Inferno.

After Inferno, Argento returned to the more conventional giallo style with Tenebrae (1982).

He then attempted to combine giallo and supernatural fantasy in 1985's Phenomena, also known as Creepers, which was one of Jennifer Connelly's earliest movies.

Phenomena also showed Argento's predilection for using new technology, as evidenced by the film's several prowling Steadicam shots.

Both films received a lukewarm reception upon their release (although each has been positively reappraised since).

Argento subsequently took a break from directing to write two screenplays for Mario Bava's son, Lamberto Bava: Dèmoni (1985) and Dèmoni 2 (1986).

Opera followed in 1987.

Set in Parma's Regio Theatre during a production of Verdi's Macbeth, the production was beset by real-life misfortunes that Argento suspected were caused by the supposed traditional "curse" on the Shakespearean play.

Argento's father died during its production, Vanessa Redgrave quit the project before filming began, he had problems working with his former long-time girlfriend and collaborator Daria Nicolodi on-set, and the cast and crew were plagued by several minor accidents and mishaps.

In 1987–88, Argento produced a TV series called Turno di Notte, which had 15 episodes.

Nine of the shows were directed by Luigi Cozzi, the other six by Lamberto Bava.

Daria Nicolodi and Asia Argento starred in several of the episodes.

Argento later produced and wrote the screenplays for two horror films directed by Michele Soavi, The Church (1989) and The Sect (1991).

In 1990, Argento co-directed Two Evil Eyes with George Romero, a two-story anthology film inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe.

In 1992, Argento filmed Trauma, starring his daughter Asia Argento, in Minneapolis, MN.

It is largely a traditional giallo, but in an American setting.

Like many of Argento's films, it contains an optical illusion witnessed by a character stumbling upon a murder, but he or she, like the audience, misinterprets the nature of the crime.

This cinematic sleight-of-hand is one of Argento's recurring motifs.

His 1996 film The Stendhal Syndrome, in which a policewoman (played by Argento's daughter, Asia) who suffers from Stendhal syndrome is trapped by a serial killer in an abandoned warehouse, was the first Italian film to use computer-generated imagery.

Moreover, the film's opening scene was shot in Florence at Italy's famed Uffizi Gallery.

Argento is the only director ever granted permission to shoot there.

The Mother of Tears (2007) concluded the trilogy.