The most important thing we must note about Dario Argento out of the gate is that the man's work is unique. These films are obsessed with leather, violence, rock and roll, beautiful women, art, murder and hiding the body.
In many films it is not often focused on how a killer hides a body and it feels important to note that Argento wants us to know the weight of the body and how it feels when you need to drag a body to the next location. He wants us to consider how we would hide a body. This is a critical point to note because it speaks to his passions as a filmmaker.
Leather gloves are a trend in his killers who mostly remain masked and unidentified until the end. Point of view is heavily used and rock and roll underscore the climax of a kill.
If you have not seen much of Argento, it is important to see some of it because I am betting your reaction would be quite strong and that reaction is also an important part of the work itself because it is certainly not for everyone. Part time giallo sexy slasher part time psychological artistic endeavor the work is quite extraordinary for being exactly what it is, OPERA is something different.
You can draw parallels to Alfred Hitchcock and others but at this time the torture element of OPERA is quite shocking and visceral. Pins taped to your eyelids...just consider for a moment that proposition...and it begins to paint the picture of this film. It is brutal and sexy? Why? Are we twisted too? Or maybe the sexual desire of the killer and our seeing the world through their perspective is quite effective. We feel the alluring nature of the film, not necessarily of the insane act committed (I hope you don't) but of the desire to pursue this beautiful lover which is a basic human need after that it becomes a twisted perverted nightmare scenario and the rock and roll seems to smack us into this, the terror that sex itself is dangerous or at least the act of courting a stranger.
Strange rock and roll is almost out of place, no wait its exactly right! That is how it should be and we accept it. This is not quite reality but instead a surreal slasher sex fantasy with incredible cinematic flare. I love it because it is passionately made and scary.
The film has its faults and I certainly do not love all Argento, some of it is just a little to abstract for my taste, but I can certainly appreciate the excellent and sleek thriller quality - so rock on OPERA.