Claudio Argento

Birth : 1943-09-15, Rome, Lazio, Italy

History

Claudio Argento, the second born son of famed Italian producer Salvatore Argento, was born in 1943 and, after finishing grade school and college studies in the late 1960s, started his film career as an employee with a few Italian film distribution companies. Within a short time, he was made chief of the Press and Publicity department of the CIC (Cinema International Corporation), a USA company on whose behalf he organized the release of films such as Love Story (1970) and The Godfather (1972) in Italy. Claudio first worked with his older brother, Dario Argento, and their father, Salvatore Argento, on the film The Five Days (1973) as an executive producer, which turned out to be a box office flop. The next films Deep Red (1975) (aka Deep Red), Suspiria (1977), and Inferno (1980) required a huge effort to achieve their success. Both Claudio and Dario tracked down American director George A. Romero and offered to finance and produce a sequel to the famed Night of the Living Dead (1968) movie as well as working on the screenplay, editing and producing the soundtrack for the film, and financing the bulk of the $2 million budget. The film, Dawn of the Dead (1978), first released in Italy and then in the USA seven months later, was a worldwide success and brought much recognition to both Claudio and Dario. In the 1980s, Claudio continued producing films such as Little Flames (1985) and the low-budget thriller Distant Lights (1987). Claudio's production masterpiece was the crime thriller Santa Sangre (1989), which was shot in Mexico City under troublesome circumstances. He currently produces for mostly television productions as well as occasional cinema movies.

Movies

Giallo
Executive Producer
In Torino, Celine, an American model, is abducted by a taxi driver while en route home to meet her sister Linda, visiting at her apartment. The next morning, Linda reports that Celine is missing - the sergeant in charge directs her to F.B.I. agent Inspector Enzo Avolfi. He's from the Special New York City Department investigating a serial-killer that kidnaps foreigners to destroy their beauty. When a Japanese woman is found at nearby a fountain, Enzo and Linda find that the girl is calling the abductor's skin is "Yellow" in color and Linda concludes that the guy might have jaundice. They go to the Policlinic di Torino to find the killer.
The Mother of Tears
Producer
An ancient urn is found in a cemetery outside Rome. Once opened, it triggers a series of violent incidents: robberies, rapes and murders increase dramatically, while several mysterious, evil-looking young women coming from all over the world are gathering in the city. All these events are caused by the return of Mater Lacrimarum, the last of three powerful witches who have been spreading terror and death for centuries. Alone against an army of psychos and demons, Sarah Mandy, an art student who seems to have supernatural abilities of her own, is the only person left to prevent the Mother of Tears from destroying Rome.
Tempus fugit
Ti piace Hitchcock?
Executive Producer
In 1990, as a boy, Giulio was chased through the woods by two women after spying on them practicing witchcraft. Now a young film student in Turin, he watches his neighbors in the flats across from his third floor apartment, especially Sasha when she's naked or arguing with her mother. Giulio's girlfriend is disgusted with his voyeurism, but, after a murder occurs, Giulio is convinced that two relative strangers, just as in Hitchcock and Highsmith's "Strangers in a Train," have agreed to murder each other's bête noir. He follows his suspects, ends up with an intruder and a broken foot, and may be in real danger. Is he more than a peeping Tom?
The Card Player
Executive Producer
Policewoman Anna Mari is forced to play a dangerous game with the title serial killer. If she loses, she witnesses the maniac's tortured victims having their throats cut in explicit close-up detail via webcam. She teams up with British cop John Brennan to find out the identity of the murderer.
Non risponde più
Himself
Two Masters' Eyes
This documentary features interviews with directors Dario Argento and George Romero, Special Make-Up Effects supervisor Tom Savini, executive producer Claudio Argento, and Asia Argento. The interviewees discuss Edgar Allan Poe's classic writings and their tone, the conception of Two Evil Eyes, and the film's stylistic appearance and production history.
Sleepless
Executive Producer
An elderly and retired police detective and a young amateur sleuth team up to find a serial killer whom has resumed a killing spree in Turin, Italy after a 17-year hiatus.
Scarlet Diva
Producer
A young Italian actress embarks on a self-destructive spree of sex, drugs and other excess while doing some soul searching to find the path for redemption.
Dario Argento: An Eye for Horror
Himself
Documentary that explores Argento's film career.
The Phantom of the Opera
Executive Producer
Gory remake of the Gaston Leroux classic story, only this time, the phantom is not disfigured, but a man who was raised by rats deep under the Paris Opera House.
Nero
Executive Producer
Right after she moves in with him, Frederico's new girlfriend Francesca sends him back to her former boyfriend's apartment to fetch her something she forgot - but he's surprised to find him lying there - dead. Assuming that Francesca killed him and sent him for cleaning up, he cuts him up in pieces, puts him in a suitcase and tries to get rid of it... but he has a hard time finding a suitably quiet place. Unfortunately there's a witness, who comes back on him. One thing leads to another, and the normally shy and overly fearful Frederico has to rid himself of more and more corpses until this black comedy ends.
Santa sangre
Producer
A young man is confined in a mental hospital. Through a flashback we see that he was traumatized as a child, when he and his family were circus performers. Back in the present, he escapes and rejoins his surviving and armless mother.
Santa sangre
Screenplay
A young man is confined in a mental hospital. Through a flashback we see that he was traumatized as a child, when he and his family were circus performers. Back in the present, he escapes and rejoins his surviving and armless mother.
Distant Lights
Producer
Alien spirits from outer space land on earth and take over the bodies of the recently deceased--but their purpose isn't what it would appear to be.
Little Flames
Producer
Tommaso, a quiet, thoughtful child of five, lives in a world of his own, conversing daily with three imaginary friends. Seemingly loved by his parents, Tommaso senses that their affections are superficial and he yearns for something more.
Tenebre
Producer
A razor-wielding serial killer is on the loose, murdering those around Peter Neal, an American mystery author in Italy to promote his newest novel.
Inferno
Producer
A young man returns from Rome to his sister's satanic New York apartment house.
Dawn of the Dead
Producer
During an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter, and his television-executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
Suspiria
Producer
An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.
Deep Red
Executive Producer
A musician witnesses the murder of a famous psychic, and then teams up with a fiesty reporter to find the killer while evading attempts on their lives by the unseen killer bent on keeping a dark secret buried.
The Tree with Pink Leaves
Producer
Little Marco suffers from his parents' divorce. He runs away from home and is hit by a car. He drags on but eventually dies under a tree with pink leaves, remembering a story his grandmother told him.
The Five Days
Executive Producer
In 1848, as Italy becomes engulfed in a bubbling revolution to finally get rid of the ruling Austrians, a patriotic prisoner named Cainazzo begins to wonder if he will soon get the chance to see the revolution in action away from his prison cell. Suddenly, a cannonball comes flying through the air and knocks the main wall of the prison down. Excited to have a chance to see the change taking place in person, Cainazzo hits a bumpy road when one of his former fellow prisoners yells out to all the revolutionary gangs that Cainazzo is not a patriot, but is in fact a traitor!