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| Welcome to the largest site on the internet dedicated to Dario Argento - one of the most stylish and visually imaginative director's alive today. This is not intended to be a sycophantic 'shrine' to him but a place for information and enlightenment and hopefully you will leave knowing more than when you came. There are all sorts of cool things within these pages - reviews, filmographies, biographies, interviews, slideshows, video/audio downloads and a forum. For an attempt at explaining why I like his films, click here |
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'taking trash seriously' explanation
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A message from Xavier that he wanted me to post:
"Dear Nick,
I just wanted to drop you a long overdue email to thank you and all the readers of Dark Dreams for all the support you are giving to the Nouveaux Pictures-Cine-Excess label and our forthcoming January DVD and Blu-Ray release of Suspiria on 18th January.
As you know, we are trying to do something new with all our releases, by promoting them to both cult film fans and the academic market. As a result, the documentary extras we include offer a more serious examination of the filmmakers/genres under review, finally giving them the in-depth analysis that these landmark movies deserve. As one of our headline movies, Suspiria is no exception and we had the first public screening of ‘Fear at 400 Degrees’ (one of the 4 documentary extras included on the release) at Brunel last week. It was extremely well received and I can’t wait for fans to see it when the Blu-Ray and DVD of Suspiria are released in January.
Just to reiterate what you recently said on the site, we are indeed listening to the fans and I do hope they will be really pleased with what they see and hear in January! Alongside re-mastered image/soundtracks and the 30 minute ‘Fear at 400 Degrees’ documentary, the release also includes 3 shorter documentaries in which cult filmmakers and theorists discuss the influence that Suspiria had on their work. Having sat in on the recording of Alan and Kim’s audio commentary, I can also say it is the definitive audio analysis of Suspiria and we are extremely proud to include it on our release.
In terms of also listening to fans, I just wanted to end by resolving some confusion and anxiety that the label tagline 'Taking Trash Seriously' may have caused some readers. Just to be absolutely clear, the tagline does NOT simply a negative value judgement on the part of the label, but is being used to denote a series of films we are releasing that were initially seen as 'excessive', 'trashy' or 'difficult' before later being reclaimed as art cinema.
In that respect, we are taking those films initially dismissed as trash seriously and giving them a much deserved restoration and re-evaluation for a generation of fans and students. Indeed, when you watch 'Fear at 400 Degrees' documentary on the new release, you will see that we do very much argue that Suspiria is an art-movie, but initially it was received in a very different 'trashy' light (mainly due to its depiction of female suffering).
Finally, the reason why we chose 'trash' over another term to describe what we are doing is to draw parity with the extremely influential article 'Trashing the Academy' in which the theorist Jeff Sconce argues that cult and trash movies contain innovative and subversive qualities which distinguish them from mainstream cinema. With its fusion of art and shock tactics, Suspiria certainly fits the bill.
I hope the above makes sense. It had come to my attention that some fans were unhappy with this tagline and I wanted to resolve any fears about our intended usage of this term.
We shall send you regular updates on the progress of the release and thanks once again for all your support.
Best,
Xavier" |
posted on 25 Nov 2009 by Nick
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uk suspiria press release
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Here is the press release and sleeve for suspiria:
"A STUNNING MAKEOVER FOR ONE OF THE GREATEST HORROR FILMS EVER MADE." – DAVID EDWARDS, DAILY MIRROR.
Dario Argent's horror classic SUSPIRIA comes to DVD and, for the first time ever, Blu-ray in January 2010 having undergone a brand new high definition transfer courtesy of Nouveaux Pictures and Cine-Excess. Digitally remastered from HD, this brand new presentation has already led critics to claim, "Suspiria has never looked better. It has never sounded as good, either." (John Millar, Film Critic, Sunday Mail) and to hail it as "a stunning makeover for one of the greatest horror films ever made." (David Edwards, Daily Mirror).
Both formats also come with a host of newly commissioned extras including a brand new documentary featuring director Dario Argento and composer Claudio Simonetti and a feature length audio commentary by Argento experts Alan Jones and Kim Newman.
Inspired by Thomas De Quincey's Suspiria de Profundis and co-written by Argento and his long-term partner Daria Nicolodi, SUSPIRIA is Argento's undisputed masterpiece of Grand Guignol horror, hitting new peaks of terror through its stunning photography (courtesy of Luciano Tovoli), eye-popping production design and terrifying atmosphere of dread and death.
Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper) is an American ballet student, travelling to Germany to study at an exclusive dance academy in the Black Forest. After one of the students and her friend are hideously murdered in the first of Argento's breath-catching set-piece killings, Suzy discovers that the academy has a bizarre history and, as the body count rises, she gets involved in a hideous labyrinth of murder, black magic and madness.
Utilising complex lighting systems, intense film processing techniques, wire-guided cameras and multi-layer music recording (highlighting a superb Goblin score), Argento paints a masterpiece of terror on a technically impeccable canvas.
SUSPIRIA (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£tbc) and Blu-ray (£tbc) by Nouveaux Pictures on 18th January 2010. Special Features include: "Fear At 400 Degrees: The Cine-Excess Of Suspiria" documentary featuring director Dario Agento and composer Claudio Simonetti; audio commentary by leading Dario Argento experts Alan Jones and Kim Newman; "Suspiria Perspectives" featuring Claudio Simonetti, Norman J. Warren and Patricia McCormack.
source: cine-excess.co.uk |
posted on 18 Nov 2009 by Nick
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suspiria uk bluray!
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It looks like the guys at cine-excess and nouveaux pictures are going the whole way with this release due in january 2010. It remains to be seen (and heard) if Xavier Mendik has indeed been listening to what the fans want. At least we know it will have a commentary by Alan Jones and Kim Newman.
suspiria release
source: screeningroom |
posted on 13 Nov 2009 by Nick
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NEW WEBSITE URL!!!!
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PLEASE NOTE:
As from 22nd November, this website URL will be www.dark-dreams.co.uk.
The old www.darkdreams.org will cease to work. The new url works already so please update any bookmarks you may have.
Thanks. |
posted on 10 Nov 2009 by Nick
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forum open again
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The dd forum is now open again... enjoy! |
posted on 25 Oct 2009 by Nick
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