PROFONDO ARGENTO reviews

"Belongs on the shelf of any serious Argentophile…Jones loves the myth and the magic but he also knows and respects the man. He has gone back through his own archives and shaped his prodigious body of writing into a coherent text beginning in 1971".
FANGORIA

"Back in the days when nobody on these shores had even heard of Dario Argento, critic Alan Jones was a solitary cheerleader for the maestro's work. A thrilling, anecdote-laden insight into one of horror's few living legends".
TOTAL FILM

"GET THIS BOOK and prepare yourself for a lively, elegant and exceptional escape to Argento Planet"
ARROW IN THE HEAD

"Jones has managed to put together one of the best books ever written to give fans an idea of what Argento is like as an artist"
DREAD CENTRAL

"Before I hear any groaning at the prospect of yet another book on Italian film director Dario Argento (no less the second from FAB Press itself), I would like to remind you why this particular one is deserving of your attention.
It is written by Alan Jones.
Alan Jones was a writer I first began to notice in the pages of the early Starburst magazine circa early 1980s (although his published work dates back several years before this). He was one of the few critics to tackle gore and slasher movies, and give them their due if they warranted it. A number of the films he covered were unlikely to be released in an uncut form back then, and some to this day have failed to secure a legitimate release in Britain. In the libertarian lockdown days of the Video Recordings Act (1984), when the country was shifting into high gears of Political Correctness, it was his review of a new film by Lucio Fulci that had me believe that we - horror and sleaze film fans - had an ally in the ranks of publisherdom. One of the very few that actually knew jack about the movies themselves. More so, he was a fan.
The review in question was for Fulci's ultra violent, woman hacking New York Ripper (1982). Jones opened it with a statement of intent in which he not only refused to defend the film against criticisms of misogyny (even Fulci fans were at loggerheads over New York Ripper, many thinking that the director had gone too far), he categorically refused to even acknowledge the feminist argument.
I thought that took some balls.
Alan Jones' commentaries on movies have appeared many times since then and in a variety of publications. He is the long-standing London correspondent for Cinefantastique, travelling the globe and reporting back from film sets.
His obsession - I don't think it's unfair to use that word - with the work of Dario Argento began in 1971, when Jones first saw The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970). Having written about the director for the now defunct Cinema magazine, Jones has gone on to become close friends with Argento and his family, securing a privileged insider's place when it comes to covering his movies.
Profondo Argento: The Man, the Myths & the Magic discusses the films in chronological order, from The Bird with the Crystal Plumage through to Do You Like Hitchcock? (2005), Argento's feature length contribution to a planned Italian giallo TV series. Interspersed with production information on each entry are interviews, film reviews and profiles of cast and crew.
The fact that the author is able to draw on years of his own pre and postproduction reportage, and original film reviews from Starburst and Cinefantastique, brings to Profondo Argento a vitality that other books on the subject lack. Each film is discussed with the freshness and excitement (and occasional disappointment) that accompanies a new release, written in an easy going manner that is free of the over analysis and pontification that many reviewers bring to the work of the director known affectionately as the Italian Hitchcock.
This book reminds us why we once loved him. That is why you should check it out".

HEADPRESS

www.fabpress.com

(Alan reports all things Argento related on the darkdreams.org Dario website run by Nick Dawe)