All Dario Argento Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

The giallo – Italian films which mix horror, mystery, thriller, and slashers – were big in the ’70s and Dario Argento had plenty to do with that. He started his directing career with the well-renowned giallo trilogy of The Bird With the Crystal Plumage, The Cat o’ Nine Tails, and Four Flies on Grey Velvet, which are among his highest-rated movies. But Argento didn’t stop there: His 1975 Deep Red is considered a landmark just not just within giallo, but horror overall.

Argento shifted gears for his masterpiece Suspiria, a fantasia of blood, witches, and prismatic color. Suspiria‘s grand guignol thrills have kept audiences coming back for decades, and the film was remade in 2018. He was just as prolific in the ’80s, releasing hidden classics like Tenebre, Phenomena, and Opera. It’s been a rough go for Argento with the critics since then, with 1996’s The Stendhal Syndrome a lone bright spot. Here we’re taking a complete look on one of horrordom’s legends with all Dario Argento movies ranked!

#17

Il Fantasma dell'Opera (The Phantom of the Opera) (1998)
13%

#17

Adjusted Score: 6.7%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: In keeping with the his cult reputation, Italian filmmaker Dario Argento's take on Gaston Leroux's enduring Gothic tale of terror... [More]

Starring: Julian Sands, Asia Argento, Andrea Di Stefano, Nadia Rinaldi

Directed By: Dario Argento

#16

Dracula 3D (2013)
14%

#16

Adjusted Score: 14.193%

Critics Consensus: Schlocky and gross but far from bad enough to be good, Argento's Dracula 3D bites and sucks in all the wrong ways.

Synopsis: Horror master Dario Argento returns with a bloody, luridly creepy 3D version of the classic vampire tale, drenched in gore... [More]

Starring: Thomas Kretschmann, Asia Argento, Riccardo Cicogna, Marta Gastini

Directed By: Dario Argento

#15

Il Cartaio (The Card Player) (2004)
20%

#15

Adjusted Score: 6.565%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A serial killer with a knack for video poker and a taste for blood taunts a determined policewoman in director... [More]

Starring: Stefania Rocca, Liam Cunningham, Silvio Muccino, Adalberto Maria Merli

Directed By: Dario Argento

#14

Mother of Tears: The Third Mother (2007)
48%

#14

Adjusted Score: 49.785%

Critics Consensus: As excessive and ketchup laden as predecessors Suspiria and Inferno, Dario Argento's Mother of Tears completes the trilogy with the same baroque grandeur and soggy 1970s sensibilities.

Synopsis: The conclusion to Dario Argento's stylish "Three Mothers" trilogy, starring the director's daughter, Asia Argento, as an art historian who... [More]

Starring: Asia Argento, Cristian Solimeno, Adam James, Moran Atias

Directed By: Dario Argento

#13

Non ho sonno (Sleepless) (2001)
50%

#13

Adjusted Score: 19.234%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Director Dario Argento, best known for his stylishly bloody horror films, revisits the style and themes of his early directorial... [More]

Starring: Max von Sydow, Stefano Dionisi, Chiara Caselli, Gabriele Lavia

Directed By: Dario Argento

#12

Trauma (Dario Argento's Trauma) (1993)
57%

#12

Adjusted Score: 36.695%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: In this suspenseful horror movie, a lovely runaway and a helpful hero go looking for the fearsome "Headhunter," the ghoulish... [More]

Starring: Christopher Rydell, Chris Rydell, Asia Argento, Piper Laurie

Directed By: Dario Argento

#11

Two Evil Eyes (1990)
56%

#11

Adjusted Score: 56.512%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Two separate tales from Edgar Allan Poe are loosely adapted in this horror drama. George Romero's "The Facts in the... [More]

Starring: Adrienne Barbeau, E.G. Marshall, Harvey Keitel, Madeleine Potter

Directed By: George A. Romero, Dario Argento

#10

Inferno (1980)
64%

#10

Adjusted Score: 64.48%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: An American college student in Rome and his sister in New York investigate a series of killings in both locations... [More]

Starring: Leigh McCloskey, Irene Miracle, Sacha Pitoëff, Daria Nicolodi

Directed By: Dario Argento

#9

Tenebre (Unsane) (1982)
75%

#9

Adjusted Score: 76.127%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Despite the lurid slasher-movie trappings of his output, filmmaker Dario Argento has always been able to attract "name" actors to... [More]

Starring: Anthony Franciosa, John Saxon, Christian Borromeo, Daria Nicolodi

Directed By: Dario Argento

#8

Four Flies on Grey Velvet (4 mosche di velluto grigio) (1971)
67%

#8

Adjusted Score: 67.123%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A drummer's nightmare unfolds after he encounters a malevolent stranger and stumbles into a mystery, culminating in a string of... [More]

Starring: Michael Brandon, Mimsy Farmer, Aldo Bufi Landi, Bud Spencer

Directed By: Dario Argento

#7

La sindrome di Stendhal (The Stendhal Syndrome) (1996)
77%

#7

Adjusted Score: 67.744%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: The title affliction causes sufferers to react to paintings in extreme and bizarre ways. In the case of police detective... [More]

Starring: Luigi Diberti, Thomas Kretschmann, Julien Lambroschini, Marco Leonardi

Directed By: Dario Argento

#6

Phenomena (Creepers) (1985)
78%

#6

Adjusted Score: 78.603%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Similar to the theme about the young woman with psychic powers in Stephen King's Carrie, this above-par occult horror film... [More]

Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Daria Nicolidi, Donald Pleasence, Daria Nicolodi

Directed By: Dario Argento

#5

The Cat o' Nine Tails (Il gatto a nove code) (1971)
81%

#5

Adjusted Score: 82.62%

Critics Consensus: The Cat O'Nine Tails is a solidly entertaining Argento outing elevated by a well-chosen cast and the director's distinctive visual style.

Synopsis: In this flawed mystery-thriller from flamboyant horror director Dario Argento, Karl Malden portrays a blind man who joins forces with... [More]

Starring: Karl Malden, James Franciscus, Catherine Spaak, Cinzie De Carolis

Directed By: Dario Argento

#4

Opera (1987)
90%

#4

Adjusted Score: 90.987%

Critics Consensus: The Opera house location gives plenty to work with for director Dario Argento, who hits his decadently bloody high notes here.

Synopsis: An obsessed fan stalks a young opperata and kills those who are closest to her.... [More]

Starring: Christina Marsillach, Ian Charleson, Mirella D'Angelo, Carola Stagnaro

Directed By:

#3

L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (The Bird With the Crystal Plumage) (1970)
93%

#3

Adjusted Score: 96.05%

Critics Consensus: Combining a deadly thriller plot with the stylized violence that would become his trademark, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage marked an impressive horror debut for Dario Argento.

Synopsis: This trend-setting thriller put its director, Dario Argento, on the international map and began a flood of imitative mystery-horror hybrids... [More]

Starring: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Eva Renzi, Mario Adorf

Directed By: Dario Argento

#2

Suspiria (1977)
93%

#2

Adjusted Score: 98.385%

Critics Consensus: The blood pours freely in Argento's classic Suspiria, a giallo horror as grandiose and glossy as it is gory.

Synopsis: An innocent American ballet dancer's excitement at being accepted to a prestigious European dance school turns to terror when she... [More]

Starring: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Joan Bennett, Alida Valli

Directed By: Dario Argento

#1

Deep Red (Profondo rosso) (1975)
96%

#1

Adjusted Score: 97.961%

Critics Consensus: The kinetic camerawork and brutal over-the-top gore that made Dario Argento famous is on full display, but the addition of a compelling, complex story makes Deep Red a masterpiece.

Synopsis: The film that has become the master work in Italian horror maestro Dario Argento's canon, Deep Red holds up brilliantly... [More]

Starring: David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia, Clara Calamai

Directed By: Dario Argento