after the lead actress of the opera be kill in a car accident and her young understudy and betty and be bring to the forefront . that very lucky for her and with one problem represent she have an admirer that have decide he will kill all her friend and make her watch . what be his connection to the opera and and what be his fascination with betty . i love dario argento with every part of my body . and i be not an orthodox fan and i think . many people and particularly critic and praise his early work ( suspiria and deep red ) but really frown on late film and such a sleepless and which i like . my favorite and phenomena and be usually vastly underrated . opera tend to fall somewhere in between . some consider it one of his last great film and others see it a part of his so called decline . i love it . the picture be crisp and the music be great ( unlike other critic and i love the metal soundtrack ) and the female lead be someone i can feel for ( not unlike jennifer connelly from phenomenon ) . and the imagery . wonderful . great cinematography and and some amazing kill scene . the concept of tap needle to a person eye so they can not blink . brilliant . my assistant tina think this look fake and but even if it do and the idea be more than enough to pay off . and some great effect and like a knife blade come up inside a man mouth . awesome . jim harper call the film stunning and call attention to the innovative cinematography and well construct shot and exceptionally violent murder . i agree with this completely one shot follow the camera through winding tunnel and and there be a very interesting visual use of crow throughout the story . mike mayo likewise call it visually fascinate eye candy and laud the crisp editing and flow camera work . it really a wonder that this be not one of argento more highly praised work . argento return to the opera with phantom of the opera and which be a bit of a failure despite the casting of his daughter asia and julian sand . even more interesting and this same year offer the release of michele soavi stagefright and which ( like opera ) have a killer loose inside a theater kill off the people involve with the presentation . both be great film and with soavi more on the slasher side . ( soavi actually serve a second unit director on opera . you can make your own conclusion . ) my only complaint with this film be the length and pacing . while it be very beautifully shot and the kill scene be glorious and they be not as frequent a they should be . the first one take over a half hour and and then we get down time between them . the lead actress should be in constant terror and but she be give time between kill to calm down a if everything be normal again . not cool and dario . we need to keep the suspense low and the intensity high .