betty be an understudy for the lead in a production of verdi macbeth . when a car mysteriously hit the lead and betty be thrust into the spotlight . open night be a smash success and betty decides to leave the after party to celebrate in private with her boyfriend . but when the boyfriend leave the room and betty be grab from behind by an unknown black gloved and mask figure . the unknown assailant tie betty to a column and gag her and and place needle under her eye that will cause incredible damage and pain should betty close them . the boyfriend return to the room and be stun to see betty in such a predicament . he even more shocked when the killer grab him and shove a knife through his low jaw with such force and the tip of the knife can clearly be see in his mouth . and betty have be force to watch all of this . so begin betty terrify ordeal with a killer not just intent on hurt her and but also on force her to watch a he mutilate her friend . opera get classify a a giallo and but to me and it differ in quite a few way from the model . less emphasis be place on the mystery element of the story than in something like argento tenebre or the bird with the crystal plumage . the black gloved and mask killer may be omnipresent and but the clue and red herring normally associate with a good giallo be absent . instead and opera be all about the tension of an unknown killer and make the audience uncomfortable . the focus be on the grisly death scene and betty fear and and the killer obsession with betty . opera feature what i think be some of argento most artistic death scene . when the killer grab betty after her boyfriend leave the room and youre sure that betty have it . but the sadistic killer only want to force betty to watch a he brutally stab her lover in the neck the knife emerge in his mouth . it a well shot and design scene . and those needle in the eye brilliant . or and take the death of the seamstress . at first her death seem like an ordinary and run of the mill murder . but when the seamstress accidentally swallow the killer locket and what start out as just another death scene turn it up a notch a the killer use a pair of scissors to cut the girl throat open to get his chain . finally and there the most famous death scene in opera that i be amaze with each time i see it mira be shoot in the eye while peer through a keyhole . that scene display a lot of what i like about argento . it get style to burn . as implausible a it may be and it creative and memorable and and a blast to watch . argento certainly wasn not the first italian director to concentrate on eye mutilation and but in opera and he take eye trauma to a new level . needle hold eye open and a bullet in the eye and and raven peck out an eye be all part of argento vision ( pun intend ) . and these scene do have the effect that i believe argento be go for . the first time i saw the killer put those needle in betty eye and i couldn not stop blinking . it actually have a physical effect on me . what be it about the eye that make them such a target for abuse in italian film . to be fair ( and not sound like such a fanboy ) and there be problem i have with opera that keep me from rating it a argento best . one of my problem be with the air duct system run through betty apartment building . while i do not doubt there be air duct system in old apartment building that connect the apartment and the duct in opera be huge . i be no expert and but i sincerely doubt any building like the one in this movie would have have such mammoth air duct . it doesn not seem practical at all . and do not you think someone would have do something about them long ago to keep criminal and nosey neighbor out of the other apartment . it convenient for the plot and but it not very realistic . but i suppose my major problem with the film come with the finale . what up with that end . it feel totally out of place and tack on and and like a bad afterthought . i be not sure what else to say other than it horrible .