Fingers crossed — firmly. We here at the Scariest Things Podcast wish nothing but goodwill towards one of, and possibly, the greatest horror directors of all time. But, sadly, Dario Argento has slipped in recent years. Mother of Tears, Dracula 3D , Giallo, and, well, you get the idea. Contrasted with his earlier work you get the maddening sense that father time has finally caught up with this giallo genius.
Hopefully we’re wrong about all this and 2022’s Black Glasses (AKA Occhiali Neri) will be Argento’s triumphant return to blood-soaked brilliance.
Black Glasses follows a clash of cultures where a blind Italian prostitute (we’ll assume she has a heart of gold) rescues a young Chinese boy and the two set out to unmask a deranged serial killer. Not exactly a run of the mill plot line, nor does it appear to be as weird and unnecessarily complicated as its gallo forefathers.
Maybe not as sad as Argento’s cinematic decline is the fact that Daft Punk, once slated to score Black Glasses, backed out of the project. Of course Daft Punk is no more, but one can only imagine the trance-like Euro-beats that could have been the bloody backdrop to this stab-fest. But alas, this horror-EDM mashup was not meant to be.
Now with a trailer, a poster, his daughter Asia, and an actual release date (February 24), Black Glasses is a fully formed project — with or without Daft Punk. Obviously, Black Glasses will never compare to Tenebre, Suspiria, Bird with the Crystal Plumage, et al. But that doesn’t mean Argento’s tapped out, nor does it mean the Scariest Things Podcast won’t be firmly parked in the front row of our local cinematic haunt.
C’mon Dario. You can do it!
Black Glasses has been acquired by Shudder and will be released for streaming in the fall of 2022.