 Tenebrae is now considered by many fans and critics to be one of Argento 's best films , with some considering it his last great one . AllMovie refers to the film " one of Dario Argento 's best thrillers " . Commenting in 1994 , Maitland McDonagh said Tenebrae was " in many respects ... the finest film that Argento has ever made . " Richard Dyer , writing for the Directory of World Cinema : Italy , describes the film as a " tease " , one which is " perhaps the apotheosis of one of the core pleasures of detective fiction : being outwitted , wrong @-@ footed , led up the garden path " , and believed that the degree of lighting used in the film was unsurpassed . Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine said that Tenebrae " is a riveting defense of auteur theory , ripe with self @-@ reflexive discourse and various moral conflicts . It 's both a riveting horror film and an architect 's worst nightmare . " Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club noted " ... Argento makes some points about the intersection of art , reality , and personality , but the director 's stunning trademark setpieces , presented here in a fully restored version , provide the real reason to watch . " Almar Haflidason , in a review for BBC Online , opined , " Sadistically beautiful and viciously exciting , welcome to true terror with Dario Argento 's shockingly relentless Tenebrae . " Tim Lucas in Video Watchdog said , " Though it is in some ways as artificial and deliberate as a De Palma thriller , Tenebrae contains more likeable characters , believable relationships , and more emphasis on the erotic than can be found in any other Argento film . " Gordon Sullivan of DVD Verdict wrote , " Tenebre is a straight @-@ up giallo in the old @-@ school tradition . It may have been filmed in 1982 , but it comes straight out of the ' 70s tradition . We 've got all the usual suspects , including a writer for a main character , lots of killer @-@ cam point of view , some crazily over the top kills , and approximately seventy @-@ two twists before all is revealed ... For fans of Argento 's earlier giallo , this is a must @-@ see . " 
