By Dario Argento

FAB Press, out now

The Italian thriller and horror movie maestro lets us into the darkest recesses of his mind with an honest reflection on his life and loves and the behind the scenes making of pictures.

When Alan Jones interviewed Dario Argento last week at the book launch event for this autobiography at 2019’s FrightFest he stressed that he was amazed by how much new information he had gleaned about him. To put this into context, I thought that Jones knew everything there was to know about the director and so it’s high praise indeed that there is indeed so much new to discover.

Jones has written countless articles and tomes on Argento and we can thank him for taking the original Italian 2014 translation of this work and then adapting, editing, annotating and illustrating it for the English language version. Right from the outset we find a man in distress, who has asked hotel staff to place a wardrobe in front of the window to prevent him from throwing himself out. It’s this honesty that comes through in abundance, the director describing how he felt about his family members, film leads and lovers. And while he has met so many amazing people in life (Sergio Leone, John Huston, The Beatles) at times he struggled to get through to the next day.

We learn that he started his adult working career as a film critic, which took him to Cinecitta studios, working on screenplays and eventually directing his own work. Some familiar themes are addressed – violence against women, censorship – but what comes across strongly is his passion to deliver his vision, whatever the cost. We learn of his insecurities of sleeping with a stranger, why he wouldn’t let anyone cut his hair, where his story ideas come from and how he coped with a drugs arrest.

The sections on Deep Red and Suspiria are particularly fascinating, as is his candid remembrance of his on/off relationship with his frequent co-star (and mother of his daughter Asia) Daria Nicolodi. I hadn’t realised that he had been courted for the movie versions of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot and The Stand, and that he once went on a road trip round New England looking for the Maine man. Oh, and Phenomena once had the title of The Killer Monkey – good job they dropped that one!

Verdict: An essential purchase for Argentophiles, it’s also a fascinating look back at nearly 50 years of movie-making, the highs, the lows and the unkindest cuts. Even the biggest fan will find something new here and maybe appreciate even the less successful films that still bear the mark of an auteur. 9/10

Nick Joy