[Kill of the Week] Hacked With an Axe in Argento’s ‘Tenebrae’
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Every week, we spotlight a kill that we just can’t get enough of. This is Kill of the Week.
The discovery of Suspiria led me to dive deep into the filmography of Dario Argento in my teenage years, which of course brought a handful of gems into my world. On the heels of Suspiria and Inferno, Argento released one such gem, Tenebrae (or Tenebre, if you prefer) in 1982, an Italian Giallo film that most consider to be one of his best.
Without giving away too many plot details for those who haven’t yet seen it, Tenebrae centers on Peter Neal, an American horror writer who arrives in Italy to discover that a mysterious killer, inspired by Neal’s own books, has recently embarked on a murder spree.
Like all of Argento’s films, Tenebrae is home to some memorable sequences of bloodshed, and the one that made the biggest impression on me involves an axe and an arm. Jane, Peter Neal’s ex-wife, is brutally murdered in her home by the killer, who slams an axe through her window… then straight through her arm… and then into her back.
There’s something decidedly unrealistic about the effects work, in hindsight, but the image of Jane’s stump spewing arterial spray all over the walls of her home is one that I’ve never quite been able to get out of my head; Quentin Tarantino would tell you the same thing, I can only assume, as Kill Bill features a very similar moment of gory arm trauma.
Typical for Argento, the murder of Jane isn’t just a cool kill scene, it’s a work of art.
Hollywood is serious about landing the next Backrooms. Hot on the heels of a Siren Head feature announcement, Deadline reports that a new movie based on viral YouTube series The Mandela Catalogue is in development.
It also has some Hollywood heavy hitters behind it.
Amblin Entertainment’s Steven Spielberg, United Artists’ Scott Stuber (Frankenstein), and Amazon MGM Studios are set to produce, emerging victorious after a highly competitive 11-studio bidding war.
Launched in 2021, the YouTube series is set in the fictional Mandela County, Wisconsin which is “invaded by shape-shifting, nearly immortal creatures called Alternates. The Alternates are led by a false depiction of the Archangel Gabriel and their aim is to wipe out the human race by psychologically torturing them to the point of suicide. The Alternates are known for manipulating AV media, TVs, computers and GPS systems.”
The movie will be directed by the series’ creator, Alex Kister, based on a screenplay he adapted with Tyler Clifton.
The Mandela Catalogue has racked up an impressive 100 million views across its official episodes alone, solidifying it as one of the largest original analog horror franchises on YouTube.
Spielberg and Holly Bario are producing for Amblin Entertainment alongside Aaron B. Koontz for Paper Street Pictures and Stuber and Nick Nesbitt for United Artists. Kister and Clifton are also producing. Annie McCreery will oversee the project for United Artists. Maria Fortese will oversee for Amblin.
Get acquainted with The Mangela Catalogue below while we wait to learn more.