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its initial – heavily edited – incarnation. [70] Soundtrack [ edit ] Main
article: Tenebrae (soundtrack) Tenebrae CD cover The Italian rock band Goblin
had provided the scores for two of Argento's previous films, Deep Red (1975)
and Suspiria (1977), [71] but the director had employed English composer Keith
Emerson for his foray outside of the giallo subgenre, 1980's Inferno . Goblin
had disbanded that year, but in 1982 Argento asked three of the band's former
members – Claudio Simonetti , Fabio Pignatelli , and Massimo Morante – to work
on Tenebrae . [72] Owing to their history together, Simonetti felt it
appropriate that Argento's return to giallo films should use the core members
of Goblin. [73] The resulting synth -driven score was credited to "Simonetti-
Pignatelli-Morante", [74] as Goblin's former drummer owned the rights to use
the band's name. [73] Tenebrae ' s score is very different from those the band
had produced for Argento previously. The early 1980s had seen Simonetti
experimenting with dance music, and he decided on a more electronic sound for
Tenebrae . Simonetti described the score as an electronica /rock hybrid, with
the main theme including disco elements. So it would not be difficult to
accommodate Argento's preference for long takes, Simonetti, Pignatelli and
Morante made sure to play each song for 3–4 minutes. [73] Recording the score,
Simonetti used the Roland Jupiter-8 , Roland Vocoder Plus and Minimoog
synthesizers, as well as a piano, electric piano, the Oberheim DMX drum
machine, the Roland TR-808 drum machine, and Roland MC-4 music sequencer.
Pignatelli played bass and fretless guitar, while Morante played electric and
acoustic guitar. [72] While the soundtrack is not as well regarded as Goblin's
earlier scores for Deep Red , Suspiria , or Dawn of the Dead (1978), Tim Lucas
felt it "... so fused to the fabric of the picture that Tenebrae might be
termed ... a giallo musicale ; that is, a giallo in which the soundtrack
transcends mere accompaniment to occupy the same plane as the action and
characters." [72] Writers David Kerekes and David Slater were also favorable
to the score; writing that the film "bristles with arresting imagery and a
cracking musical score from ex-members of Goblin". [75] Simonetti felt the
score was good, but that it was only a "medium"-level success. [73] However,
it did enjoy a second wave of popularity being remixed in clubs. [15] The
album has had multiple reissues in numerous countries since its original
release in 1982 on the Italian Cinevox label. [76] The album was also released
by Waxwork Records on a double LP that included the complete score by Goblin
in 2018. [77] Release [ edit ] Original reception and censorship [ edit ]
Tenebrae had a wide theatrical release throughout Italy and mainland Europe,
something Argento very much needed after having suffered major distribution
problems with his previous film, Inferno . [70] Released on 27 October 1982,
[78] Tenebrae saw modest success at the box office in Italy and Europe, but it
did not perform as well as some of Argento's previous films. [79] [80] In
Italy, Tenebrae had been released with a VM18 rating, meaning it could not be
seen legally by persons under the age of eighteen. Argento had desired a VM14
rating, both to attract a younger audience and to increase the film's chances
of commercial success. [53] Tenebrae features scenes of female homosexuality;
attitudes towards homosexuality in Italy were fairly conservative at the time,
and Argento said he wanted to "recount this subject freely and in an open
manner, without interference or being ashamed". The VM18 rating upset him, as
he believed it was a result of the sexual diversity on display rather than the
film's violence. [34] The London Underground poster campaign replaced the
slashed neck with a red ribbon. One of the film's most excessively violent
scenes features the death of Neal's ex-wife, Jane (played by Veronica Lario ).
This scene was one which suffered the most from cuts when the film was first
released in Italy. [6] The original scene featured Jane's arm being cut off at
the elbow; blood sprays from the wound onto white walls until the character
falls to the floor. After a back-and-forth between Argento and Italian censors
(at the time a panel of judges), the scene was first trimmed from showing an
"immense" spray to a small one, then a smaller one still. For TV broadcasts,
the scene was cut to insignificance in the 1990s, [53] when Lario married
future Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi . According to Alan Jones,
Berlusconi "did not want the public seeing [Lario] so explicitly murdered,
even if it was in a film by his country's premier horror expert". [6] For a
few years, it was impossible to legally see the uncensored version of the film
in Italy, as prints were withdrawn altogether. [48] A later DVD release did
become available, with the scene restored. [53] Averaging a murder every ten
minutes, Tenebrae ranks as one of Argento's most violent films. [32] In the
United Kingdom, the film was shorn of five seconds from the arm severing scene
by the British Board of Film Classification before its theatrical release,
[81] on 19 May 1983. [82] The advertising campaign for Tenebrae featured
posters and a soundtrack sleeve depicting a woman with her throat cut, blood
dripping from the wound. [73] According to Jones, who worked for Tenebrae ' s
distributor at the time, in the UK the posters had to be recalled after the
London Underground refused to run them. New posters were issued that replaced
the image of the wound and blood with a red ribbon. [50] A similar change was
made to the soundtrack sleeve. [73] In the United States the film remained
unseen until 1984, when Bedford Entertainment briefly released a heavily
edited version under the title Unsane . [70] It was approximately ten minutes
shorter than the European release and was missing nearly all the film's
violence, which effectively rendered the many horror sequences
incomprehensible. Also, certain scenes that established the characters and
their relationships were excised, making the film's narrative difficult to
follow. This version of Tenebrae received nearly unanimously negative reviews.
[83] Home media and "video nasty" list [ edit ] Tenebrae has been released on
home media in many different versions in numerous territories. In 1983, when
the VHS edition was released in the United Kingdom, it was short by about four
seconds. [84] However, the film soon found itself included in a list of
thirty-nine so-called " video nasties " that were successfully prosecuted and
banned from sale in UK video stores under the Video Recordings Act 1984 . [20]
Deemed harmful to audiences, "video nasties" were strongly criticized for
their violent content by the press, social commentators and various religious
organizations. Speculating in 2011, Thomas Rostock said that the higher-than-
usual murder count for an Argento film was partially responsible, [32] while
James Gracey believed it was perhaps "the highly sexualized presentation of
its violent content". He went on to say, "Of all the titles placed on the
video nasty list, Tenebrae is perhaps the most misunderstood and undeserving
of the grimy status it gained through its association with the whole debacle."
[20] Kim Newman agreed that Tenebrae ' s reputation as a "video nasty" was
unwarranted, saying that none of the on-screen deaths are as gory or lingering
as those in Argento's previous films. [14] He also believed Tenebrae would
eventually be remembered on its own merits, rather than as part of the "video

its initial – heavily edited – incarnation. [70] Soundtrack [ edit ] Main

article: Tenebrae (soundtrack) Tenebrae CD cover The Italian rock band Goblin

had provided the scores for two of Argento's previous films, Deep Red (1975)

and Suspiria (1977), [71] but the director had employed English composer Keith

Emerson for his foray outside of the giallo subgenre, 1980's Inferno . Goblin

had disbanded that year, but in 1982 Argento asked three of the band's former

members – Claudio Simonetti , Fabio Pignatelli , and Massimo Morante – to work

on Tenebrae . [72] Owing to their history together, Simonetti felt it

appropriate that Argento's return to giallo films should use the core members

of Goblin. [73] The resulting synth -driven score was credited to "Simonetti-

Pignatelli-Morante", [74] as Goblin's former drummer owned the rights to use

the band's name. [73] Tenebrae ' s score is very different from those the band

had produced for Argento previously. The early 1980s had seen Simonetti

experimenting with dance music, and he decided on a more electronic sound for

Tenebrae . Simonetti described the score as an electronica /rock hybrid, with

the main theme including disco elements. So it would not be difficult to

accommodate Argento's preference for long takes, Simonetti, Pignatelli and

Morante made sure to play each song for 3–4 minutes. [73] Recording the score,

Simonetti used the Roland Jupiter-8 , Roland Vocoder Plus and Minimoog

synthesizers, as well as a piano, electric piano, the Oberheim DMX drum

machine, the Roland TR-808 drum machine, and Roland MC-4 music sequencer.

Pignatelli played bass and fretless guitar, while Morante played electric and

acoustic guitar. [72] While the soundtrack is not as well regarded as Goblin's

earlier scores for Deep Red , Suspiria , or Dawn of the Dead (1978), Tim Lucas

felt it "... so fused to the fabric of the picture that Tenebrae might be

termed ... a giallo musicale ; that is, a giallo in which the soundtrack

transcends mere accompaniment to occupy the same plane as the action and

characters." [72] Writers David Kerekes and David Slater were also favorable

to the score; writing that the film "bristles with arresting imagery and a

cracking musical score from ex-members of Goblin". [75] Simonetti felt the

score was good, but that it was only a "medium"-level success. [73] However,

it did enjoy a second wave of popularity being remixed in clubs. [15] The

album has had multiple reissues in numerous countries since its original

release in 1982 on the Italian Cinevox label. [76] The album was also released

by Waxwork Records on a double LP that included the complete score by Goblin

in 2018. [77] Release [ edit ] Original reception and censorship [ edit ]

Tenebrae had a wide theatrical release throughout Italy and mainland Europe,

something Argento very much needed after having suffered major distribution

problems with his previous film, Inferno . [70] Released on 27 October 1982,

[78] Tenebrae saw modest success at the box office in Italy and Europe, but it

did not perform as well as some of Argento's previous films. [79] [80] In

Italy, Tenebrae had been released with a VM18 rating, meaning it could not be

seen legally by persons under the age of eighteen. Argento had desired a VM14

rating, both to attract a younger audience and to increase the film's chances

of commercial success. [53] Tenebrae features scenes of female homosexuality;

attitudes towards homosexuality in Italy were fairly conservative at the time,

and Argento said he wanted to "recount this subject freely and in an open

manner, without interference or being ashamed". The VM18 rating upset him, as

he believed it was a result of the sexual diversity on display rather than the

film's violence. [34] The London Underground poster campaign replaced the

slashed neck with a red ribbon. One of the film's most excessively violent

scenes features the death of Neal's ex-wife, Jane (played by Veronica Lario ).

This scene was one which suffered the most from cuts when the film was first

released in Italy. [6] The original scene featured Jane's arm being cut off at

the elbow; blood sprays from the wound onto white walls until the character

falls to the floor. After a back-and-forth between Argento and Italian censors

(at the time a panel of judges), the scene was first trimmed from showing an

"immense" spray to a small one, then a smaller one still. For TV broadcasts,

the scene was cut to insignificance in the 1990s, [53] when Lario married

future Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi . According to Alan Jones,

Berlusconi "did not want the public seeing [Lario] so explicitly murdered,

even if it was in a film by his country's premier horror expert". [6] For a

few years, it was impossible to legally see the uncensored version of the film

in Italy, as prints were withdrawn altogether. [48] A later DVD release did

become available, with the scene restored. [53] Averaging a murder every ten

minutes, Tenebrae ranks as one of Argento's most violent films. [32] In the

United Kingdom, the film was shorn of five seconds from the arm severing scene

by the British Board of Film Classification before its theatrical release,

[81] on 19 May 1983. [82] The advertising campaign for Tenebrae featured

posters and a soundtrack sleeve depicting a woman with her throat cut, blood

dripping from the wound. [73] According to Jones, who worked for Tenebrae ' s

distributor at the time, in the UK the posters had to be recalled after the

London Underground refused to run them. New posters were issued that replaced

the image of the wound and blood with a red ribbon. [50] A similar change was

made to the soundtrack sleeve. [73] In the United States the film remained

unseen until 1984, when Bedford Entertainment briefly released a heavily

edited version under the title Unsane . [70] It was approximately ten minutes

shorter than the European release and was missing nearly all the film's

violence, which effectively rendered the many horror sequences

incomprehensible. Also, certain scenes that established the characters and

their relationships were excised, making the film's narrative difficult to

follow. This version of Tenebrae received nearly unanimously negative reviews.

[83] Home media and "video nasty" list [ edit ] Tenebrae has been released on

home media in many different versions in numerous territories. In 1983, when

the VHS edition was released in the United Kingdom, it was short by about four

seconds. [84] However, the film soon found itself included in a list of

thirty-nine so-called " video nasties " that were successfully prosecuted and

banned from sale in UK video stores under the Video Recordings Act 1984 . [20]

Deemed harmful to audiences, "video nasties" were strongly criticized for

their violent content by the press, social commentators and various religious

organizations. Speculating in 2011, Thomas Rostock said that the higher-than-

usual murder count for an Argento film was partially responsible, [32] while

James Gracey believed it was perhaps "the highly sexualized presentation of

its violent content". He went on to say, "Of all the titles placed on the

video nasty list, Tenebrae is perhaps the most misunderstood and undeserving

of the grimy status it gained through its association with the whole debacle."

[20] Kim Newman agreed that Tenebrae ' s reputation as a "video nasty" was

unwarranted, saying that none of the on-screen deaths are as gory or lingering

as those in Argento's previous films. [14] He also believed Tenebrae would

eventually be remembered on its own merits, rather than as part of the "video