9. The Stendhal Syndrome (1996)
Anna is a detective who is trailing a serial killer to Florence. Whilst at an art exhibition she suffers from a severe case of Stendhal Syndrome. The killer - Alfredo - uses this to kidnap and rape Anna. She is deeply traumatised by this but when Alfredo tries a second attack upon her, she manages to escape. Anna meets Marie - an art student - and falls in love with her. She begins to receive calls from Alfredo. Anna is seeing a psychologist to overcome her trauma. Marie is found dead at home, however Anna's cop body tells her they have retrieved Alfredo's body. The psychologist calls with Anna to ask her if she killed Marie. The cop buddy arrives at Anna's to find a dead psychologist. Anna tells him she has Alfredo inside her and he is making her do terrible things. She kills the cop and police converge upon the house. Anna is quite a well developed female character for a Dario Argento movie. Her interactions with Alfredo are interesting and full of menace. Argento also handles Anna's hallucinations very well. It is a very different film from his earlier works and is not as well appreciated as them, but Stendhal Syndrome - with its lead actress - the heroine Anna - sinking into insanity is fascinating because we are left guessing as to what has happened to her until the end. She couldn't possibly be committing these murders we say to ourselves. Asia Argento (Dario's daughter) is fantastic in her complex role as Anna and she makes what is happening to her truly believable. This much neglected film deserves rediscovery.