World of Horror - Il meglio di Dario Argento (1985)

Country of Origin: Italy
Year of Production: 1985
Running Times: 69 mins 41 sec (UK)     71 mins (USA - DVD)     75 mins (Italy)     77 mins (USA - video; laserdisc)
Format: Technicolor     Telecolor
Ratio:
Sound: stereo

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Dacfilm (Rome)
Production Manager: Fabrizio Diaz

SCRIPT
Script: Michele Soavi

DIRECTION
Director: Michele Soavi
Assistant Director: Claudio Lattanzi

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Gianlorenzo Battaglia, Stefano Ricciotti, Enrico Cortese
Assistant Camera: Aldo Bergamini
Grips: Augusto Pascarella, Giancarlo Moreschini
Electricians: Mario Massaccesi, Maurizio Di Stefano
Laboratories: Luciano Vittori

EDITING
Editor: Piero Bozza
Assistant Editor: Roberto Priori

MUSIC
The Goblins (Sleepwalking; Suspiria; The Wind; Dawn of the Dead; Deep Red; Elena Marcos); Keith Emerson (Inferno; Mater Tenebrarum); Claudi Simonetti, Elsa Morante, Fabio Pignatelli (Tenebre); Simon Boswell (The Maggots); Claudio Simonetti (Demons; Killing; Phenomena); Iron Maiden (Flash of the Blade); Bill Wyman, Terry Taylor (Valley)

SOUND
Sound Editor: Nick Alexander
Sound Mixer: Giancarlo Laurenzi

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Antonio Altavilla

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Titles and Opticals: Aldo Mafera

MISCELLANEOUS
Production Accountant: Renato Rinaldi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks To: Claudio Argento; Salvatore Argento; Titanus - U.I.P. - Merope - Intrafilms; Brando Giordani - R.A.I. and Rete Italia; panavision; Arco 2 Roma; Bixio C.E.M.S.A.; Claudio Simonetti - Giancarlo Meo; Luciano Tovoli; Romano Albani; Sergio Stivaletti; Luciano and Massimo Anzellotti for sound effects; the crews of Suspiria, Tenebre and Phenomena; and all those who have contributed to the making of this film

WITH
Dario Argento (himself)
Luciano Tovoli (himself)
Tom Savini (himself)
Tony Musante (himself)

PLOT SUMMARY

A compilation of scenes from Argento's films up to and including Phenomena (1985), complete with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews.

CAPSULE REVIEW

For the uninitiated, this was probably going to be overwhelming, a catalgue of violent non-sequiturs and strange interviews with the clearly rather odd Argento. For the converted, however, it's a great compilation that tells us little about Argento himself but crams all of his highlights into one easily digestible package.

Italy
Video Distributor: Edizioni Star Video

UK
Video Distributor: Arthouse Productions / Taste of Fear (AHF 2003) (December 1995)

USA
Video Distributor: Trimark Pictures (August 1989)
Laserdisc Distributor: Image Enterianment (ID6701VK) (1989)
DVD Distributor: Synapse (14 July 1998)

Australia
Rating: R

UK
Rating: 18
Inevitably, when the video was finally released in the UK, several scenes were missing:

• The infamous arterial spray following the arm severing from Tenebre (1982)
• Two scenes from Dawn of the Dead (1978) were trimmed
• Ironically, while there are several shots of zombies from Dawn of the Dead chowing down on the guts of dead people, any scenes of them eating living people were cut!
• The scissors through the hand shot from Phenomena (1985) was trimmed
• The knife plunging into the beating heart from Suspiria (1977) was also missing
• L'uccello dalle piume cristallo (1970) is missing the brief shot of the killer cutting off his victim's underpants with a knife and the following shot of the knife caressing the woman's legs.

TIMELINE

1989
August
Day Unknown: USA - video release

1995
December
Day Unknown: UK - video release

1998
July
14: USA - DVD release

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Il mondo dell'orrore di Dario Argento - alternative title
Il mondo di Dario Argento
Dario Argento's World of Horror - UK/US title

LINKS

SEQUELS
Il mondo di Dario Argento 2 (1991)
Il mondo di Dario Argento n.3: Il museo degli orrori di Dario Argento (1997)

INCLUDES FOOTAGE FROM
L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)
Il gatto a nove code (1971)
Quattro mosche di velluto grigio (1972)
Profondo rosso (1975)
Suspiria (1977)
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Inferno (1980)
Tenebre (1982)
Phenomena (1984)

REFERENCES

MAGAZINES

Trauma 4 p.50
review

BOOKS

Art of Darkness pp.294; 299
credits; video data

KEYWORDS

documentary, film making, film history