Opera (film)

Opera
Italian theatrical release poster by Renato Casaro
Directed by	Dario Argento
Produced by	Dario Argento Ferdinando Caputo Mario Cecchi Gori Vittorio Cecchi Gori
Screenplay by	Dario Argento
Story by	Dario Argento Franco Ferrini
Starring	Cristina Marsillach Ian Charleson Urbano Barberini Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni William McNamara
Music by	Brian Eno Claudio Simonetti Bill Wyman
Cinematography	Ronnie Taylor
Edited by	Franco Fraticelli
Production company	ADC Films Cecchi Gori Cinematografica RAI Italiana
Distributed by	Orion Pictures (United States and Japan)
Release date	19 December 1987
Running time	107 min.
Country	Italy
Language	Italian English
Budget	$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opera (also known and released as Terror at the Opera) is a 1987 Italian giallo film co-written and directed by Dario Argento, with music composed and performed by Brian Eno, Claudio Simonetti, and Bill Wyman. Starring Cristina Marsillach, Urbano Barberini, and Ian Charleson, the plot focuses on a young soprano (Marsillach) involved in a series of murders being committed inside an opera house by a masked assailant.

The film was one of Argento's most commercially successful, seeing 1,363,912 ticket sales in his native country of Italy. This is the second Dario Argento horror film to have THX audio certified and picture quality.

When Mara Cecova, the arrogant and ill-tempered star of an avant-garde production of Verdi's Macbeth at the Parma Opera House, is injured after getting hit by a car outside the theater during an argument with the director, Cecova's young understudy, Betty (Cristina Marsillach), is informed of the incident and is given the coveted role of Lady Macbeth. In spite of her initial sense of foreboding, Betty is an instant success with her performance.

However, an anonymous figure finds his way into the opera house on the opening night, watching Betty's performance from an empty box. When a stagehand finds him, the man murders him by impaling him on a coat-hook.

While at her boyfriend Stefano's (William McNamara) apartment, the unseen assailant breaks in and attacks and overpowers Betty. He gags her with tape, ties her to a pillar and forces her to watch him kill Stefano, taping a row of needles beneath each of her eyes to ensure she sees every horrific detail. Afterwards, the hooded, masked killer unties Betty and flees the apartment. Disturbed by a half-hidden childhood recollection of the same hooded killer murdering her own mother several years earlier, Betty chooses not to go to the police and instead confides in her director, Marco (Ian Charleson) that the killer may know her.