The Film (4/5)

   While, I would say that Argento's The Stendhal Syndrome is the director's last fully-fledged great film. I wouldn't exactly go and say that it is an Argento "Classic". I would further say that Opera, the director's 1987 film is the final film is his classic era, and  one of two films of the director's horror output not to receive a Region A release yet on Blu-ray (The other is the usually difficult to acquire Four Flies on Grey Velvet which has a region free Blu-ray release from Shameless Screen Entertainment). At long last Scorpion Releasing has brought this long desired Argento title to the Blu-ray format in Region A for North American audiences with a quite excellent restoration of the film, that is certain to please new and long time fans.

    Opera follows Betty (Cristina Marsillach), a young understudy Opera singer, who finds herself thrust into the spotlight when Mara Cecova in a fit of raven induced rage runs out of the theater they are performing in, and into traffic breaking her leg. She is now in the role of Lady Macbeth in Verdi's opera rendition of the Shakespeare classic. Unfortunately, the opera is considered cursed, and considering all the horrible occurrences surrounding this presentation including murder, that curse might be correct. Betty finds herself in the center of all this tragedy as the killer who stalks the opera takes a shine to her, tying her up, and taping a set of pins to the under portion of her eyes, making her an unwilling spectator to his morbid crimes.

    Opera is definitely in the giallo mold of Argento's finest films. It has a creepy and dark tone to it that can't be beat. The film in its uncut form (on the Scorpion disc here), has scenes here that can't be beat with Betty tied up in a costume cabinet as a wardrobe mistress is brutally slaughtered before her eyes, and in another moment as Dario Nicolodi's agent character is shot through the eye from the perspective of a peephole. I apologize if these spoil the film, but I feel like these shots have attained legendary status over the last 30 years.  The film has an oddly darker tone that points to something later on like the Stendhal Syndrome, and feels a bit dirtier even for Argento. That is until the final moments which call back to Phenomena which has an oddly brighter tone that is in contrast to the rest of the film.

Audio/Video (4/5)

    Scorpion Releasing puts out Opera in a 2:35:1 1080p transfer that looks quite solid. It has a very natural appearance, which notes a major upgrade from the AB/BU DVD transfer which went a bit too hard with the brightness. There are some minor (very very minor) instances of damage from the source like a few burns and vertical scratches, but overall everything is pleasing to the eye, well detailed, and colors are nicely reproduced.

    Scorpion presents 2 English audio options a DTS-HD  5.1 track and also another stereo track. The 5.1 track was decent though dialogue and score sounded a bit lower in that mix, and sounded a bit more dynamic and natural in the stereo in my set up. Both tracks certainly got the job done, and I did not detect any issues with either.

Extras (2/5)

   Please note this Scorpion release is a standard edition and a stacked release for the collectors market is forthcoming, so this is not a reflection of a fully complete edition, but this release is for fans who could not wait any longer for a copy of the film.  This release has an interview with Argento, a new interview with William McNamara, and an original trailer.

Overall

    Stateside fans of Opera finally have a domestic release of the film. If you want a fully stacked one that is coming too, but this one is satisfactory, looks great, and sounds fine. There are some solid extras here, and it comes RECOMMENDED.