The beautiful, the bizarre, and the brutal: Dario Argento’s rhetoric of simulational aesthetics

Abstract

Abstract This article develops a theory of rhetoric to explain why contemporary audiences still enjoy and adhere to Dario Argento’s early horror films, specifically films spanning the years 1970 to 1982. The theory blends Jean Baudrillard’s concepts of hyperreality and simulation with Kenneth Burke’s understanding of rhetoric, persuasion and transcendence to explain how Argento’s cinematic vision transports viewers to a plane of aesthetic simulation whereby ‘pure persuasion’ unfolds. By illustrating specific examples from his films, including Suspiria (1977), Inferno (1980), Tenebrae (1982) and The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), this article plots Argento’s evolution – and eventual abandonment – of the aesthetic simulation approach. This article argues that his aesthetically simulative approach coincided with the international success of his earlier films in the late 1970s and early 1980s: success that has significantly waned with his more recent films. This trend demonstrates the persuasive power held by Argento’s early art: a unique rhetoric that can benefit the horror genre as a whole.