Dark Glasses Teaser: The Gruesome Return Of A Giallo Giant

Dario Argento is back, baby. The Italian "Master of Horror" has a decades-spanning career in the horror genre, enjoying especially great notoriety in the 1970s and '80s with his visually striking and exquisitely violent giallo films. From the Animal Trilogy — "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage" (1970), "The Cat o' Nine Tails" (1971), and "Four Flies on Grey Velvet" (1971) — to his Three Mothers Trilogy, consisting of "Suspiria" (1977), "Inferno" (1980) and "The Mother of Tears" (2007), to once-banned Video Nasties "Deep Red" (1975) and "Tenebrae" (1982), Argento's work has influenced modern genre filmmakers from Eli Roth to James Wan. Argento has stayed fairly active since the giallo heydey, though his last feature film was back in 2012, when he took on Bram Stoker's classic work with the widely-panned "Dracula 3D." Now, the "Phenomena" filmmaker has re-emerged with a new thrilling story, one that fans hope heralds a return to form or a beautiful, bloody swan song.

"Dark Glasses" (in Italian Occhiali neri) concerns itself with Diana (Ilenia Pastorelli), an Italian sex worker whose run-in with a serial killer leaves her blinded. As she escapes, Diana meets Chin (Andrea Zhang), a young boy who acts as her eyes while she evades death. A teaser trailer has dropped and it looks like Argento has indeed brought buckets of blood and plenty of moody lighting.

This teaser is a flurry of quick-fire images, but the giallo staples are all there. Fleeing women in peril! Artfully staged corpses! A black-gloved assailant! A bladed weapon getting plenty of use! Car chases! Brutal death via animal! Argento co-wrote the script with "Once Upon A Time in America" scribe Franco Ferrini, who also wrote Argento's "Phenomena." In addition to the two leads, the film also stars Argento's daughter and frequent collaborator, Asia Argento. "Dark Glasses" is first set to premiere at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival on February 11, 2022, before going theatrical in Italy on February 24, 2022.

The secondhand sight element seems to be popular these days. It can also be seen in "See For Me," a 2021 thriller directed by Randall Okita ("The Lockpicker") and starring Skyler Davenport as Sophie, a visually impaired teen whose housesitting gig is interrupted by a trio of robbers; Sophie relies on a phone app with the same name as the title, which connects her to Kelly (Jessica Parker Kennedy), who must use the app guide Sophie to safety. The movie is currently on VOD.

"Dark Glasses" has no international release date yet announced, but arrives in Italian theaters on February 24, 2022.