Horror Movie Review: Dark Glasses (2022)

Directed by Dario Argento, who co-wrote it with Franco Ferrini and Carlo Lucarelli, Dark Glasses is a return to familiar territory for the master of horror.

A throwback with Giallo elements, Dark Glasses stars Ilenia Pastorelli as Diana. An escort who is attacked one night by a serial killer. In her desperation to escape, she is involved in a bad car crash that leaves her blinded. If that wasn’t bad enough, she feels responsible for the young child Chin (Xinyu Zhang) as his parents were killed in the crash.

Adjusting to being blind is hard enough but dealing with the guilt of killing his parents is another. Carrying on seems like an impossible task for Diana but she tries. However, the person who attacked her isn’t quite finished with her yet. This killer has a particular penchant for murdering escorts and Diana escaping is not something they are willing to accept.

It’s a familiar, but enjoyable story with some good character work and solid acting. Even though the opening of the movie suggests we’re going to be watching something a bit different. Seriously, what was the purpose of the eclipse?

Dark Glasses excels in two areas: the first being Diana’s adjustment and growing relationship with Chin. The second being some impressive action-based sequences. Most notably the car chase and crash sequence, and some particular nasty murders. With the former, Ilenia Pastorelli and Xinyu Zhang have surprising chemistry. Whereas the latter has bundles of adrenaline and plenty of gory visuals.

Thank goodness we have these elements because around them, Dark Glasses feels quite light and has some slow moments. When you break it down, there’s not a lot of meat on the bones of this film and character development stalls quite early on.

Whereas the slow moments become notable in the latter portion of the movie. When the killer’s identity (it’s not important) is revealed, and it turns into a ‘stalk and slash’ movie. Easily the most disappointing section of the entire experience. The latter portion of the movie is surprising because of just how lethargic the pacing becomes.

Dark Glasses isn’t a bad film overall. Its aesthetic and tone feel aged and if you just read the synopsis, you could easily believe that it came out in the 70s or 80s. That works in its favour though as the throwback elements mesh nicely with modern action sequences and effects. At 87 minutes long, it’s not too much of a slog to get through even if the latter part of the movie does test the patience.