Dark Glasses Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		1.5

Dark Glasses Blu-ray Movie Review

Nailing Giallo to a tree.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III February 10, 2023

If you're waiting for his comeback film, keep waiting: Dario Argento's Dark Glasses is a weak and ineffective stab at Giallo resurrection with weak characters, poor pacing, an awful script, and no sense of self-awareness. Only a workable lead performance from Ilenia Pastorelli and a throbbing electronic score by Arnaud Rebotini keep this one from reaching rock-bottom, but it comes awfully close. Try as I might, it's damn near impossible to defend any film whose protagonist accidentally kills a nine year-old's parents and tries to buy back his affections with a bootleg Nintendo Switch.

Said protagonist is assertive sex worker Diana (Pastorelli), who temporarily injures her eyes in an opening scene by staring at a solar eclipse. Other than that dumb decision, Diana is typically well aware of her surroundings, drawing firm boundaries with clients and unafraid to rebuff their more... specialized requests. It's a good thing, too: there's a killer on the loose, one who has garroted several escorts in the area and now has Diana in his sights. After a failed carjacking, the mystery man (Andrea Gherpelli) pursues her in a white van and causes a fatal accident, sending Diana's vehicle into the driver's side of a family car that leaves nine year-old Chin (Xinyu Zhang) as its only survivor. Diana is told she'll be permanently blind and, with the help of care worker Rita (Asia Argento) and badass guide dog Nerea, learns to live with the handicap and even takes Chin under her wing while continuing to be stalked.

If all this sounds terribly unfocused, it is. Nothing makes much sense here: scenes kind of randomly bleed together, character motivations are questionable at best, the story relies on way too many clichés and coincidences, and its main villain has such a weak and sporadic presence that the film never has a chance to gain any kind of real momentum or suspense. An entire subplot involving several police officers goes absolutely nowhere. Even the film's least challenging attempt at true emotional connection -- Diana and Chin's sudden mother-son relationship -- doesn't feel well-earned or even all that moving due to her lack of character development. Yet almost none of the blame can be put on the actors: Ilenia Pastorelli does what she can with this borderline thankless role, trying to squeeze some degree of realism out of a character struggling to cope with tough circumstances. (Dario Argento's daughter Asia also acquits herself decently enough as kindly Rita, who brings a welcome bit of warmth to an otherwise chilly production.)

The electronic score by Arnaud Rebotini -- which was originally assigned to legendary French duo Daft Punk before their untimely breakup two years ago -- pulls its weight nicely, even if it's relied on a bit too often. Likewise, the all-practical special effects are certainly well-done and impossibly gruesome at key moments, yet again Dark Glasses' weak script and pacing all but fully depend on these nightmarish visuals to generate emotion that its story lacks.

In a brief behind-the-scenes featurette included on RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray, Dario and Asia Argento tell us that Dark Glasses was originally conceived all the way back in 2002 but ultimately shelved when producer Vittorio Cecchi Gori's studio went bankrupt. The script was rediscovered in recent years and, with permission from Dario's co-writers Franco Ferrini and Carlo Lucarelli (yes, it took three people to scribble this), put into production. This might normally suggest some level of importance; a lost masterpiece rescued from obscurity and finally released at the right moment. Unfortunately, Dark Glasses tastes more like reheated leftovers, and I doubt even Argento's most rabid and forgiving fans will be able to watch this awkward misfire without picking out its most egregious faults in real time.

Dark Glasses Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dark Glasses is not an attractive-looking film: it somehow makes Rome seem downright ugly at times, with a mushy mid-range and garish colors that cause the city to resemble one big back alley. That alone doesn't make Dark Glasses' 1080p transfer a visual stunner, yet it nonetheless supports its particular appearance fairly well and without incident. Shot on Arri Alexa Mini cameras, it has a distinctly digital aura but without excessive waxiness, sporting respectable fine detail and looking inarguably great during its infrequent daytime scenes. Darker moments don't fare quite so well as suggested above, but only stray amounts of posterization and banding prevent this disc from being a very faithful translation of decent-at-best source material. I've got a feeling that 4K/HDR would have brought out better colors, smoother shadow detail, and deeper black levels, but it's still not a bad effort on Blu-ray by any stretch.

Dark Glasses Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix thankfully preserves Dark Glasses' original Italian language track; no English dub is even offered, which would have made its already-bad script sound even worse. But from a technical standpoint, what we get is right in line with many films from this particular genre: dialogue is up front most of the time, atmospheric effects heighten tension in the rears, and the original score is given carte blanche when it kicks in; it often overwhelms everything else, but this was clearly an intentional decision and works more often than not. Otherwise, this is a nicely balanced sonic presentation that could have only been improved with a full-fledged Atmos track.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature and extras; they translate all of Dark Glasses' key Italian dialogue and even a few important bits of foreground text, but not the credits.

Dark Glasses Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with cover artwork that makes it look a gender-swapped remake of They Live. Only one extra is included; like the main feature, it's in Italian with optional English subtitles.

• Behind the Scenes of "Dark Glasses" (5:40) - Director Dario Argento, actress/producer Asia Argento, lead actress Ilenia Pastorelli, and others briefly speak about the film's inception, delayed production, themes, and a few details about the practical effects. It's more promotional than in-depth but worth a once-over.

Dark Glasses Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dario Argento's Dark Glasses is certainly not a successful comeback film: it's almost as awful as his bad-as-it-sounds Dracula 3D with a weak script, terrible pacing, and other key fundamental drawbacks that suck out most of the tension. Though not without a few modestly bright spots, for the most part it's a banal attempt at genre filmmaking and, if this proves to be the director's last film, a pretty unfortunately way to go out. RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray at least offers decent A/V merits and one brief featurette, but the film's shortcomings make this a rent-if-you-must affair.