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roller-coaster ride packed with fast and furious murders" and that he
"shouldn't resist what [his] hardcore audience wanted". [6] He added that he
had also become irritated that in the years since his last giallo so many
other directors had made films derivative of his own genre-defining works.
[34] Argento said that Tenebrae was directly influenced by two distressing
incidents that occurred in 1980. [6] On a break from filmmaking after Suspiria
' s surprise success, Argento was spending time in Los Angeles, where an
obsessed fan telephoned him repeatedly, [33] to talk about Suspiria ' s
influence on him. [21] According to Argento, the calls began pleasantly enough
but before long became more insistent, eventually menacing. [34] The fan
claimed that he wanted "to harm Argento in a way that reflected how much the
director's work had affected him", [33] and that because the director had
"ruined his life", he in turn wanted to ruin Argento's. [34] Although no
violence came of the threat, Argento said he found the experience
understandably terrifying and felt unable to write. [52] At the advice of his
producers, Argento fled to the coastal city of Santa Monica, where he felt
safe enough to resume writing. However, after a few weeks, the fan found
Argento and resumed his calls, issuing more threats. The director decided to
return to Italy. [34] Argento felt the escalating nature of the fan's threats
were "symptomatic of that city of broken dreams" with its "celebrity stalkers
and senseless crime". The second incident occurred during Argento's stay at
The Beverly Hilton , where a Japanese tourist was shot dead in the hotel
lobby. Later hearing of a drive-by shooting outside a local cinema, Argento
reflected on the senselessness of the killings: "To kill for nothing, that is
the true horror of today ... when that gesture has no meaning whatsoever it's
completely repugnant, and that's the sort of atmosphere I wanted to put across
in Tenebrae ." [6] Casting [ edit ] Argento reportedly offered the lead role
of Peter Neal to Christopher Walken , but eventually, it went to Anthony
Franciosa . [6] Kim Newman felt that Franciosa's casting was fortunate, as he
was capable of bringing more to the role than the script asked of him. He also
believed that if Walken had been cast, it would have been more obvious that he
was the killer. [46] According to Jones and Daria Nicolodi , the relationship
between Franciosa and Argento was a fractious one. [6] [53] In addition,
Nicolodi and Argento were romantically involved at the time, but their
relationship had suffered over a disputed story credit during the filming of
Suspiria . Nicolodi therefore only agreed to a brief appearance in Tenebrae .
[6] By her own account, she originally asked for the small role of Jane
McKerrow—which ultimately went to Veronica Lario . [53] Nicolodi was,
according to Alan Jones, cast as the woman on the beach in Neal's flashback.
[6] Conversely, Thomas Rostock states that Nicolodi was never intended for
that role, only that of Jane. Transgender actress Eva Robin's was later hired
to play the woman on the beach. [32] Clockwise, from top left : Daria
Nicolodi, Anthony Franciosa, John Steiner, John Saxon When the American
actress who had been hired to play Anne dropped out just before the start of
principal photography, Argento convinced Nicolodi to take on this larger role.
[32] Nicolodi found Anne to have a different personality than her own, and
much preferred the characters she had played for Argento previously, who she
said had much more personality than Anne. She said the role required little
energy or imagination, but liked the novelty of playing neither killer nor
victim. [53] Newman and Alan Jones agreed that Nicolodi had very little
character to play, as written. Newman added that this lack of character
stretched to all the Italians in the film, and that only the American
characters had discernible personalities. [35] Nicolodi later claimed that
although filming began well enough, Argento became angry when she and
Franciosa bonded over playwright Tennessee Williams and their experience in
theatre, leading the director to make sure their shared scenes "were an ordeal
to endure". [6] The charged atmosphere culminated with Argento reportedly
telling Franciosa, "leave my woman alone!" [15] Nicolodi said she channelled
her frustrations with the situation into her character's last scene in the
film, where Anne stands in the rain and screams repeatedly, continuing over
the film's end credits. [6] She had been directed to scream only a little, but
knowing it was the last day of filming and her last scene to complete,
Nicolodi screamed loudly and for a long time, much to Argento's and the crew's
surprise. [53] Nicolodi said the scene was her "cathartic release from the
whole nightmare". [6] Although Tenebrae was an Italian production, most of the
cast spoke their dialogue in English to increase the film's chances of success
in the United States. For domestic audiences, the film was dubbed into
Italian. The English-language dub retained Franciosa's, Saxon's and Steiner's
natural voices. [54] However, Nicolodi's voice was dubbed by Theresa Russell ,
Giuliano Gemma's was dubbed by David Graham , and most of the female voices
were dubbed by Adrienne Posta . [35] Michele Soavi – frequent Argento
collaborator, second assistant director on Tenebrae and later a noted director
in his own right – acted alongside Robin's in the second flashback scene. [48]
Another of Argento's collaborators, Fulvio Mingozzi cameoed as a hotel porter.
[21] In common with several other Argento films, close-ups of the killer's
gloved hands were Argento's own. [14] In the film's Italian-language dub,
Argento also provided the opening voice-over, reading aloud descriptions of
murderous actions from Neal's fictitious novel, Tenebrae . [23] Filming [ edit
] The first flashback scene was filmed at Capocotta beach, south of Rome.
Filming began on 3 May 1982 and took ten weeks [6] shot mostly on location in
Rome. Kim Newman described the Rome of Tenebrae as unlike the one showed on
television and in films, with none of the usual historical landmarks. Newman
and Alan Jones agreed that this was a deliberate choice made by Argento, as
some of his previous films had utilized so much of recognisable Italy. Argento
himself said he had wanted to show Italy was not just a museum piece; Newman
said it was Argento's way of saying, "Rome is a vibrant city. It is modern."
[46] Most of Tenebrae ' s location shooting was carried out in Rome's EUR
business and residential district. [16] The first flashback scene was filmed
at the Capocotta beach , south of the city near Ostia . [17] The shoplifting
scene near the beginning of Tenebrae was filmed on location at department
store La Rinascente , off Piazza Fiume. [46] Bullmer's death in a public
square was shot at a shopping precinct called " Le Terrazze " in Rome's Casal
Palocco residential neighbourhood. [12] The scene in which Neal's landlord's
daughter is killed was filmed outside the home of an architect – and friend of
Argento – Sandro Petti, [31] switching to studio shots for her initial
entrance into the house and back to Petti's house for the confrontation with
the killer. [55] The scene at the beginning of the film where Neal boards his
flight to Rome was filmed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New
York. [56] Giuseppe Bassan – a frequent Argento collaborator – was the film's
production designer. [15] The surroundings are given a bleached, "merciless"

roller-coaster ride packed with fast and furious murders" and that he

"shouldn't resist what [his] hardcore audience wanted". [6] He added that he

had also become irritated that in the years since his last giallo so many

other directors had made films derivative of his own genre-defining works.

[34] Argento said that Tenebrae was directly influenced by two distressing

incidents that occurred in 1980. [6] On a break from filmmaking after Suspiria

' s surprise success, Argento was spending time in Los Angeles, where an

obsessed fan telephoned him repeatedly, [33] to talk about Suspiria ' s

influence on him. [21] According to Argento, the calls began pleasantly enough

but before long became more insistent, eventually menacing. [34] The fan

claimed that he wanted "to harm Argento in a way that reflected how much the

director's work had affected him", [33] and that because the director had

"ruined his life", he in turn wanted to ruin Argento's. [34] Although no

violence came of the threat, Argento said he found the experience

understandably terrifying and felt unable to write. [52] At the advice of his

producers, Argento fled to the coastal city of Santa Monica, where he felt

safe enough to resume writing. However, after a few weeks, the fan found

Argento and resumed his calls, issuing more threats. The director decided to

return to Italy. [34] Argento felt the escalating nature of the fan's threats

were "symptomatic of that city of broken dreams" with its "celebrity stalkers

and senseless crime". The second incident occurred during Argento's stay at

The Beverly Hilton , where a Japanese tourist was shot dead in the hotel

lobby. Later hearing of a drive-by shooting outside a local cinema, Argento

reflected on the senselessness of the killings: "To kill for nothing, that is

the true horror of today ... when that gesture has no meaning whatsoever it's

completely repugnant, and that's the sort of atmosphere I wanted to put across

in Tenebrae ." [6] Casting [ edit ] Argento reportedly offered the lead role

of Peter Neal to Christopher Walken , but eventually, it went to Anthony

Franciosa . [6] Kim Newman felt that Franciosa's casting was fortunate, as he

was capable of bringing more to the role than the script asked of him. He also

believed that if Walken had been cast, it would have been more obvious that he

was the killer. [46] According to Jones and Daria Nicolodi , the relationship

between Franciosa and Argento was a fractious one. [6] [53] In addition,

Nicolodi and Argento were romantically involved at the time, but their

relationship had suffered over a disputed story credit during the filming of

Suspiria . Nicolodi therefore only agreed to a brief appearance in Tenebrae .

[6] By her own account, she originally asked for the small role of Jane

McKerrow—which ultimately went to Veronica Lario . [53] Nicolodi was,

according to Alan Jones, cast as the woman on the beach in Neal's flashback.

[6] Conversely, Thomas Rostock states that Nicolodi was never intended for

that role, only that of Jane. Transgender actress Eva Robin's was later hired

to play the woman on the beach. [32] Clockwise, from top left : Daria

Nicolodi, Anthony Franciosa, John Steiner, John Saxon When the American

actress who had been hired to play Anne dropped out just before the start of

principal photography, Argento convinced Nicolodi to take on this larger role.

[32] Nicolodi found Anne to have a different personality than her own, and

much preferred the characters she had played for Argento previously, who she

said had much more personality than Anne. She said the role required little

energy or imagination, but liked the novelty of playing neither killer nor

victim. [53] Newman and Alan Jones agreed that Nicolodi had very little

character to play, as written. Newman added that this lack of character

stretched to all the Italians in the film, and that only the American

characters had discernible personalities. [35] Nicolodi later claimed that

although filming began well enough, Argento became angry when she and

Franciosa bonded over playwright Tennessee Williams and their experience in

theatre, leading the director to make sure their shared scenes "were an ordeal

to endure". [6] The charged atmosphere culminated with Argento reportedly

telling Franciosa, "leave my woman alone!" [15] Nicolodi said she channelled

her frustrations with the situation into her character's last scene in the

film, where Anne stands in the rain and screams repeatedly, continuing over

the film's end credits. [6] She had been directed to scream only a little, but

knowing it was the last day of filming and her last scene to complete,

Nicolodi screamed loudly and for a long time, much to Argento's and the crew's

surprise. [53] Nicolodi said the scene was her "cathartic release from the

whole nightmare". [6] Although Tenebrae was an Italian production, most of the

cast spoke their dialogue in English to increase the film's chances of success

in the United States. For domestic audiences, the film was dubbed into

Italian. The English-language dub retained Franciosa's, Saxon's and Steiner's

natural voices. [54] However, Nicolodi's voice was dubbed by Theresa Russell ,

Giuliano Gemma's was dubbed by David Graham , and most of the female voices

were dubbed by Adrienne Posta . [35] Michele Soavi – frequent Argento

collaborator, second assistant director on Tenebrae and later a noted director

in his own right – acted alongside Robin's in the second flashback scene. [48]

Another of Argento's collaborators, Fulvio Mingozzi cameoed as a hotel porter.

[21] In common with several other Argento films, close-ups of the killer's

gloved hands were Argento's own. [14] In the film's Italian-language dub,

Argento also provided the opening voice-over, reading aloud descriptions of

murderous actions from Neal's fictitious novel, Tenebrae . [23] Filming [ edit

] The first flashback scene was filmed at Capocotta beach, south of Rome.

Filming began on 3 May 1982 and took ten weeks [6] shot mostly on location in

Rome. Kim Newman described the Rome of Tenebrae as unlike the one showed on

television and in films, with none of the usual historical landmarks. Newman

and Alan Jones agreed that this was a deliberate choice made by Argento, as

some of his previous films had utilized so much of recognisable Italy. Argento

himself said he had wanted to show Italy was not just a museum piece; Newman

said it was Argento's way of saying, "Rome is a vibrant city. It is modern."

[46] Most of Tenebrae ' s location shooting was carried out in Rome's EUR

business and residential district. [16] The first flashback scene was filmed

at the Capocotta beach , south of the city near Ostia . [17] The shoplifting

scene near the beginning of Tenebrae was filmed on location at department

store La Rinascente , off Piazza Fiume. [46] Bullmer's death in a public

square was shot at a shopping precinct called " Le Terrazze " in Rome's Casal

Palocco residential neighbourhood. [12] The scene in which Neal's landlord's

daughter is killed was filmed outside the home of an architect – and friend of

Argento – Sandro Petti, [31] switching to studio shots for her initial

entrance into the house and back to Petti's house for the confrontation with

the killer. [55] The scene at the beginning of the film where Neal boards his

flight to Rome was filmed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New

York. [56] Giuseppe Bassan – a frequent Argento collaborator – was the film's

production designer. [15] The surroundings are given a bleached, "merciless"