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a date with dario by david kenny

Being the techno junkie that I am, the video boom of the 80's was an electronic 'movement' which quite literally grabbed my attention and never let go for many years. As a twelve year old child I would hang around the local video shop with my friends for hours after school, discussing which film we would ask our parents to rent for us over the forthcoming weekend. Begging at the counter for posters, walking into the shop with the latest top 50 under our arms, marking all the ones "To watch", "Seen" and the occasional one I would lie about and say I had seen, when really it had probably been no more than an advert on the TV! It was a cold winters day, I had to wait an hour for my father to pick me up from school, on his way home from work. This hour was always spent in the local Circle K. I used to stand, gawping at the few hundred films they had in stock. I was learning all the covers, reading the various plots, gasping at the pictures on the back... never knowing which one I should pick. When my father turned up, I stood, with a pile of films in my small hands. Top of the pile was Suspiria. It was the cover which intrigued me. It just had a special feel to it. My father read the back and suggested that he would hire the film, but that he had to watch it first to be sure it was suitable. The films never carried the compulsory BBFC rating as is now... In those days it was very often trial and error. I waited upstairs for an hour or so... Dad checking out the film. The bad news was shortly delivered. "Sorry son, it is not really suitable and I don't think you will like it anyway" he exclaimed. I was devastated... another film I could not watch (Maybe it was this episode that led me to have such a problem with censorship). We talked about it briefly, I sulked for a while and eventually settled with the fact that Suspiria was a no-go video-zone! A few years later, my mother and father were selling their 'antiques' at the local car boot sale. I meanwhile, spent the day wandering aimlessly, in a state of teenage disinterest, throughout the thousands of traders who were captivated, like the rest of the country, by the concept of a car boot sale. I came across two cars unloading their boots with, what looked from a distance to be, thousands of video cassettes. In these days video films were averaging £75 to buy, if you could buy them at all. Anyone with video films at a car boot sale were in for a good days trade. I scurried through the crowds, small enough to make my way to the front of the pack without anyone really noticing... I looked in the boxes and in front of me were as I had hoped, 100's of video films. Only these were special. They were clearly HORROR films. I had never really watched that many horror films, maybe Zombie Flesheaters on a Saturday morning whilst our friends mums and dads used to be shopping. Maybe a peek at the Evil Dead, when my mother and father were out of the house. Maybe Alien, which always scared me because of that devastating catchphrase... "In space no one can hear you scream"... Although I had no idea what was actually going on around the time of the introduction of the Video Recordings Act, I did have some sort of understanding that films were being taken off the local video shelf's because, as I thought, they were too scary!!! What I was looking at was clearly a selection of these films. I ran back to my mother and fathers stall, checked my little box with the money I had earned through selling toys which were no longer of any use. There was about £11.00, which my Mum and Dad were encouraging me to put into my savings account. I ran it by them... "Mum, Dad, there are a load of video films for sale...... can I buy some?" "It's your money David" they reluctantly replied. Whilst my sister sat counting, organising and dividing her money for her no doubt numerous high interest accounts, I grabbed the whole £11.00 and ran back to the stall. I leaned in to take a proper look. Now I had money on me, I was no longer a lonely kid spending another Sunday at the Boot Sale... Now I was a "punter" and we were talking my language, the video language. Amongst the various films I brought were The House On The Edge Of The Park, The House By The Cemetary, Tenebrae (another Argento classic) and the film my father had said was not suitable for me a couple of years back... Suspiria. I ran back to my folks, arriving totally out of breath and carrying a pile of video's which to me were more exciting than a 100 gold bullion's. I proudly explained that these video's were "REALLY SCARY". My poor old mother and father just smiled, no doubt wondering if the way I had just spent my hard earned money was going to be a regular occurrence throughout my life! Their stall was busy, my sister was still counting her money. Soon I realised I had no one to share what was possibly "The most important day of my life" at that moment in time.... That afternoon, my friends and I sat through hours of some of the most down-right gruesome films ever made. We screamed, we laughed and we all knew that I had managed to really get my hands on something "Scary".... I can remember leaving Suspiria 'till last. By then a few friends had made their way home for Sunday dinner... I managed to watch the first few minutes of Suspiria and was totally intrigued. The music, the colour, the disorientation. Time came for me to go home. I walked through the streets on the cold winters afternoon, smiling to myself, thinking about the films... still not believing what I had managed to buy. Oh how I now loved car boot sales! All I had to do now was swing my fathers opinion and convince him I should be allowed to watch Suspiria. We sat together and started watching. He became bored and left me too my own devices. I turned up the TV, pulled the curtains too and sat transfixed. It did it for me. I knew it was 'cult' although I never really understood what 'cult' actually meant. Suspiria soon became an all time favourite of mine. I never really understood it, but I liked it. I loved it, this was by Dario Argento, this was "MY" kind of film. A couple of years later, I was on work experience at the local engineering factory. I loaned the films to Steve, the man who was teaching me the tricks of the engineering trade. He promised to return them the following morning. This promise went on for a few days and reluctantly I finished my work experience, knowing the films were never likely to come back to me, they had gone for good. It was maybe 6 years later when I attempted to re-kindle my love affair with those precious films. I had read in the papers and local trade press (I was now working as a rep' for the Video Industry, travelling to various Circle K's) of the "Video Nasty" days. Stories of people now paying up to £250 per film. I remembered Steve's surname and phoned ever match in the phone book. No one knew of him! Again, I reluctantly conceded defeat. Many years later, when my fascination with the "Video Nasty" boom had reached boiling point, I started focussing on making a documentary as part of the final project for my degree in Media Production and Technology. I started reading all the magazines. Digging out my old collection of films which were stored in the attic and round many friends houses. I started watching, again... I started making phone calls and eventually I had stumbled across a guy called Tony Timpone, editor of 'cult' American horror mag', Fangoria. He kindly informed me that if I travel to America for his horror convention, I could get an exclusive interview with 'Cult Italian Director' Dario Argento. Needless to say, my student loan was applied for and within a couple of days the tickets were purchased. Thinking about Argento, made me crave more than ever another chance to watch Suspiria. I had seen Tenebrae many times, but Suspiria, although not an actual Video nasty, unlike Tenebrae et al, was still in limbo at the BBFC. My jaw dropped, like when I had seen the boxes of films at the bootsale, the day I learned Suspiria was to be released in its entirety in the forthcoming weeks. It brought back the excitement and anticipation I had felt all those years ago, outside the Circle K. I waited, and eventually headed to London, where I managed to buy for the second time in my life... Suspiria. I watched it like never before. Widescreen TV, through a stereo system, again, the lights out and music loud. It captivated, it enthralled, it scared the living daylights out of me. I knew the Argento interview was gonna be a goodun... We packed our bags for New York. Victoria, my fiancée, was just as excited as I. We were not only going to New York, but also had interviews arranged with Herschell Gordon Lewis (Cult drive-in director) and Mr Argento... !!! My whole project was riding on this trip. I had to get these interviews. Herschell was a lot more relaxed in front of the camera and was kind enough to do two interviews for my doco. Dario was a completely different proposition. There were about 2000 hardcore horror fans all there to see one guy. Everyone had a film cover, poster or meat cleaver they wanted signed. Dario was welcomed to a standing ovation and 2000 fans raising their hands hoping to ask a question. When the autograph time came round (over 2 hours later), the prospects of an interview were looking very bleak. I stood in line, patiently, and listened to him politely refuse an interview with the pretty blonde from the local rag. All the other directors were hovering around, hoping to get Dario to attend their parties. I backed off, knowing now was not the right time. I set up the camera in his eyeline, but never intruded. Instead I watched every fan have every cover, cleaver and orifice signed. I smiled occasionally. He knew I was waiting for him. He must have seen I was VERY patient. As soon as the last of the fans had got his autograph, hesitancy gripped me. Thankfully Tony Timpone came into view at exactly the right time. I explained about the blonde refusal. Tony majestically stepped in and explained to Dario I had travelled from the UK to get this one interview for a documentary I was making for the BBC on censorship!!! I never mentioned the BBC, but seeing that Dario obliged and it was his "wage payer" for the day, Tony who had used his initiative, I played along and managed to spend ten minutes with the Master of Giallo horror himself, the man who MADE Suspiria. "Ladies and gentlemen... I give you...Dario Argento"

The interview is in 5 segments, each one dealing with a particular question. Click on the image to download. You will also need real player.

	question 1
	question 2
	question 3
	question 4
	question 5

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