The Italian movies during the 20th Century existed in genre waves. A movie would get popular and almost overnight, Italian producers and directors were ready with a hundred films to hit the marquees with similar sounding titles. The waves included Hercules, Spaghetti Westerns, Giallo, Zombie and Cannibals. One genre that had multiple waves was horror. There was Gothic horror in the ’60s that included Mario Bava’s Black Sunday. Another wave in the ’70s and early ’80s gave us grotesque nightmares including Dario Argento’s Susperia and Lucio Fulci’s City of the Living Dead. The final wave happened in the mid-80s and early ’90s. Il Tempo del Sogno (Dream Time) is a documentary from Italy that explores this last great time that spanned from the release of Demons (1985) until the arrival of Cemetary Man (1994).
Davide Pulici is the co-founder of the long running Nocturno magazine that focuses on genre films including horror. He wants to get a deeper grasp of what happened during this final wave of Italian horror that made it so memorable and brought it to an end over thirty years ago. He goes straight to the man behind the original starting point and drops by Lamberto Bava’s place. He explains how he teamed up with Dario Argento (Deep Red) to make the first film and the sequel. He also explains why the series changed its name and he didn’t stick around for the third entry. Davide visits Michele Soavi’s country house to learn about The Church and The Sect which continued the demons rising up and possessing people. Later in the movie, Soavi reappears to discuss how Cemetary Man became the last great film of this final era.
Besides speaking to filmmakers, Davide spends time in the recording studios with both Claudio Simonetti and Fabio Frizzi. Simonetti had worked quite a bit with Dario Argento as a solo artist and part of the legendary Goblin. Fabio Frizzi did quite a few scores for Lucio Fulci and was recently a guest star on The Last Drive In with Joe Bob Briggs. You get to hear how both directors worked with them. The further impact of Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci during this time becomes a major topic as other filmmakers and artists talk of the titans of Italian scares. Neither man is visited by Davide. Fulci passed away in 1996. The lack of an interview with Dario Argento isn’t the gaping hole you’d imagine. When his Phenomena is being discussed, it’s interesting to hear from his daughter Fiore Argento who appeared in the film. She describes him being in full director mode and not dad during a major stunt. You can get a deeper understanding of Dario Argento in the documentary Panico.
Il Tempo del Sogno (Dream Time) is a bit unconventional for a documentary about a film era. We’re not constantly inundated with snippets from the original trailers smashed against talking heads gushing about the films. There are not any clips from the movie. We do occasionally see production photos flashed on the screen when people are talking. This is fine because either you’ve already bought the movies discussed or you’re about to burn all your birthday money on the Blu-rays (and 4K UHD in a few cases). We are taken into a creature effects shop to see items. There’s also an original mask from Demons. Davide Pulici does take us on a journey to meet those that made this a special time worth revisiting. You might want to be careful about just showing up at Michele Soavi’s house. Silvia Collatina (The House By the Cemetary) takes on a tour of a spooky place while describing how Fulci had no idea that he’d have such a following in North and South America. Davide gets people to discuss how things fell apart at the end for the Italian horror film industry. Il Tempo del Sogno (Dream Time) gets us to enjoy the dreams of the last nightmare era.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The main part of the movie was shot digitally and looks fine. The clips from the horror films are from various sources, but nothing looks too scratched up. The Audio is Italian DTS-HD 5.1 and 2.0. The levels are good for a scare during the clips. The movie is subtitled in English.
Interview with Davide Pulici (12:54) has him talk about writing a screenplay during the pandemic for Beyond the Beyond for Claudio Lattanzi. They also talked about doing a documentary about Mario Bava, but realized so few people that worked with him were still around. They pivoted to Italian horror in the ’80s and ’90s since most of the creative folks were around and eager to talk. He knew most through his work at Nocturno magazine. The interview is in Italian with subtitles.
In-Dept Study by Frederico Frusciante (11:20) is in Italian.
Photogallery (2:46) has press photos of the people being interviewed and behind the scenes shots of the locations.
Trailer (1:14) sets you up for a descent into Italian horror.
Rustblade presents Il Tempo del Sogno (Dream Time). Directed by Claudio Lattanzi. Screenplay by Davide Pulici and Claudio Lattanzi. Starring Lamberto Bava, Michele Soavi, Luigi Cozzi, Claudio Simonetti, Fiore Argento, Fabio Frizzi, Sergio Stivaletti. Running Time: 120 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: July 9, 2024.
