Dario Argento
Jenifer

THE REVIEW

That Dario Argento had started to lose his touch for several years was understood, but certainly one did not expect the master of Italian horror to be in such grave difficulty. Indeed, despite a U.S. production, this Jenifer falls in line with the very questionable works that the Roman director has offered us in recent years.

Directed for the American television series "Masters of Horror", which features other episodes made by geniuses such as Carpenter, Hooper, and Stuart Gordon, this one-hour film turns out to be another misstep in the cinematic history of good old Dario.

A girl with a beautiful body but a deformed face is rescued by a policeman who inexplicably becomes her lover. The protagonist slowly begins to lose everything: his loved ones, his family, his job. He then decides to put an end to his problems.

The plot, adapted from a story by writer Bruce Jones, is banal and far from the schemes the director has always adhered to. The film has its brief moments worth watching. As always, in fact, Argento knows how to dispense splatter and violent sequences. For the rest, the movie is to be thrown out entirely and after half an hour, you will ask yourself the question I also asked myself: has Argento started venturing into erotica?

The whole story unfolds in desolating banality, amid dialogues that are nothing short of ridiculous and a flat set design. The attempt to unsettle with the final choice is also useless, serving only as proof of how the ideas have unfortunately run out.

It pains me greatly to admit that Dario has now lost his mark as a great director in favor of films more packaged for audience consumption. I, who have always considered him as one of the greatest Italian directors, must admit that in recent years, he has never convinced. This Jenifer, dated 2005, is the confirmation of that.