Shudder Secrets: Dark Glasses: Dario Argento Explained

Giallo fans should rejoice. There’s a new Dario Argento film, Dark Glasses. It’s a return to form for the horror maestro, filled with tropes that the director pioneered decades ago. Yet, the feature, Argento’s first in a decade, also varies slightly from his most well-known work of the 1970s and 1980s, making Dark Glasses more than a paint-by-numbers return.

While Dark Glasses isn’t as groundbreaking as Susperia or Deep Red, it’s still an entertaining and engaging feature. It’s certainly one of his better later films, maybe his best since his two entries into the “Master of Horror” series from the mid-2000s. The Shudder original should please long-time Argento fans. It’s also a good starting point for those new to the auteur.

Dark Glasses as a Return to Form

Dark Glasses stars Ilenia Pastorelli as Diana, a high-end escort terrorized by a maniac who murders prostitutes with cello rope. The first 20 minutes are the film’s visual highmark. There’s a foreboding eclipse that draws onlookers to a park, where they stare at the sun with sunglasses. This has an end-of-the-world type vibe. There’s also a grisly strangulation sequence that occurs shortly after this. The murder could have fit into any of Argento’s films from the 1970s or 80s.

The maniac then rams Diana’s car with his white van, causing an accident that blinds her. Eventually, she’s assisted by Rita, played by the filmmaker’s daughter, Asia Argento. Rita works for the Blind Society and helps Diana navigate this new world of darkness. The protagonist also befriends a Chinese orphan, Chin (Andrea Zhang), who helps her beat back the maniac. Oh, and Diana has another bestie, Nerea, a service dog.

While Dark Glasses doesn’t have as many eye-popping visuals and colors as some of the director’s most well-known work, it still has plenty of Argento trademarks. For at least half the film, the killer is never shown fully in frame. We mostly see his gloved hands or outlines of his body. The narrative unfolds like a typical giallo mystery and cat and mouse game on the streets of Italy. Several shots track Diana in tight hallways or fleeing on foot across narrow roads, making her seem like a mouse caught in a maze, desperate to escape the killer. Arnaud Rebotini’s score, meanwhile, echoes long-time Argento collaborators Goblin and Claudio Simonetti. There are Suspiria-like bells, a Gothic organ, and electronic sounds that have a haunting effect. The score doesn’t disappoint.

Dark Glasses and Its Slight Variations of Form

While Dark Glasses is certainly a giallo, it does differ in an important way from the maestro’s past work. For a long time, there’s been one main criticism leveled at Argento’s films, that he values visuals over plot and substance. Dark Glasses, I’m happy to say, has an intriguing female lead and character development, which does make it different from many of his other films.

Pastorelli does a fine job as the lead. Further, her character is fleshed out. Diana is a strong, resourceful protagonist. This is established almost immediately. She tells one of her clients that he stinks. She tells another that she’s not into the weird stuff, and when he refuses to take no for an answer, she sprays him with mace and kicks him. When she’s blinded, she doesn’t sulk. Instead, she survives in the darkness.

This is also a film where the side characters are utilized well. Asia Argento endows her character with empathy and humanity. She helps Diana survive by giving her the tools she needs. Then there’s the unlikely pairing of Chin and Diana. Both need each other. He longs for a mom after his family was killed in the car accident, and she needs someone to help her fight back against the maniac. Who would have thought it would be a kid? Argento, who co-wrote the screenplay with Franco Ferrini, gives these characters time to breathe, thus raising the stakes when they’re put in peril. It’s also rare for the killer to be revealed so early in a Giallo, but his identity is unmasked by about the halfway point here.

Dark Glasses As a Decent Starting Point

If someone is new to Argento, I’d recommend Susperia, Opera, or Deep Red. They’re his masterpieces. However, Dark Gasses would also make a good starting point. Its plot is fairly simple and straightforward, and it’s certainly way, way better than his last film Dracula 3D. Diana makes a great lead character, a plucky and resourceful final girl who refuses to let her disability weaken her. Argento’s latest doesn’t quite have the visual flair of his earlier work, but it does have a banger of an opening, an entertaining cat and mouse game, and some grisly kills. There are some later sequences that are nerve-splicing too, including one scene involving snakes that coil around Diana and Chin’s neck and legs. Yuck!

Let’s be happy that it’s 2022 and we have a new feature from a master of horror. While Dark Glasses isn’t mind-blowing, it’s still a pretty damn good movie from the 82-year-old director. It has bloody kills, a black-gloved maniac, and a final girl worth rooting for. All these years later, Argento can still paint the walls red with style. See for yourself when Dark Glasses lands on Shudder on October 13, and keep updated on the streaming service’s latest releases by following my Shudder Secrets column.