Italian horror movies are supposed to be some of the best. Of course, that usually goes along with being the goriest but I was willing to take that chance with Dark Glasses. Especially since this is from the “Master of Horror,” Dario Argento, who hasn’t released a film since 2012. This movie definitely has some big shoes to fill.

Sex workers in Rome are being murdered. Diana (Ilenia Pastorelli), who works as an escort, is attacked one night after work. A white van runs into the back of her car, pushing it into an intersection. Her car flips over another car, resulting in a brain hemorrhage that leaves her blind. Unfortunately, only a young child named Chin (Xinyu Zhang) survives from the other car. Despite her new disability, the killer will do what it takes to finally kill Diana.

I tried to go into Dark Glasses without any expectations. I knew the hype around Italian horror movies and this director in particular so I had high hopes. Sadly, I was let down. Instead of giving us a reason for the serial killer murdering all of these sex workers, the movie spends most of its time focusing on Diana’s blindness. The murder scenes aren’t even all that good. Most of them look extremely fake and we don’t get to spend enough time with the characters to care that they are dying. To be honest, Glasses feels like the first draft of a film student’s first production. Definitely not what I expected from Argento.

Yeah, you should go ahead and skip this one. It is both way too long and way too short. There is a good story hidden underneath the slow plot. Perhaps someone will remake the movie and do a better job. That would be cool.