Dark Glasses is horror maestro Dario Argento’s first film in a decade. It might not rank among his best, but it serves as a strong reminder of what the master can do when financiers give him a movie camera. Hopefully, he doesn’t wait so long to make another one.
Things kick off with a great opening scene where an eclipse foretells impending doom. A hooker named Diana (Ilenia Pastorelli) damages her eyes when she looks directly into the eclipse and has to wear sunglasses. Meanwhile, a maniac is going around murdering prostitutes. While chasing Diana, he causes an automobile accident that permanently blinds her, forcing her to wear the shades full time. After the crash, Diana befriends a young boy (Xinyu Zhang) who was orphaned in the accident. When the killer comes after her again, she uses to kid to help her stay one step ahead of the madman.
While Dark Glasses never quite kicks into fourth gear, it is nevertheless a solidly entertaining thriller. Some may be disappointed that Argento doesn’t give the film his trademark visual splendor. In the past, his lavish, colorful, stylish sequences were only there to compensate for a lack of plot. This time, he doesn’t have to get crazy with the over-the-top kill sequences since the story is so sturdy to begin with.
He still manages to do some interesting albeit subtle things with the camera. When Pastorelli is alone, on the run, or in peril, the screen is usually dark, or objects/people in the background feel further away than they are. It’s a good way to keep the audience as off guard as its heroine without resorting to the typical black screen or overuse of sound effects on the soundtrack.
Pastorelli’s performance also helps to anchor the film. She cuts a captivating figure in skimpy outfits and sunglasses, and remains a tough and feisty heroine throughout. She refuses to be a victim and stands up and fights, despite being robbed of her sight. Her bond with the kid is sweet too. They make for a good team, and the movie works mostly because you buy their friendship and her need to protect the kid at all costs, even though she is blind.
It might be a little dry for an Argento flick, but he still delivers at least one solid strangulation/throat slicing. This time around he seems to be favoring suspense over gore, and it works more often than not. While the climax may not be as well-crafted as everything that came before, Dark Glasses has enough going for it to quality it as another winner from the maestro.
AKA: Black Glasses.
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