Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
A young opera singer is stalked by a deranged fan bent on killing the people associated with her to claim her for himself.
Dario Argento's Opera is a visually stunning giallo that prioritizes style over substance. The cinematography is genuinely exceptional — Argento and Ronnie Taylor deliver some of the most inventive camera movements and compositions in horror history, including the iconic needle-under-eyelid sequences and sweeping opera house shots. The plot, however, is thin and convoluted in unsatisfying ways, with motivations that strain credulity and a climax that feels rushed and disconnected. Acting is functional at best, with performances largely serving as vehicles for set pieces rather than genuine characterization. The ending in particular is widely criticized as one of the weakest in Argento's filmography, with a jarring tonal shift into an almost pastoral coda. Novelty sits above average as it combines grand opera staging with giallo brutality in a distinctive way, though it remains recognizably within Argento's established formula.