Dario Argento

“But you know, as you say, the original versions of my films are getting out there, slowly.”

“If you make a film normally it's all right, the distributors are helpful and cooperative. But if you make a film that's a little stange, a little bizarre, then all the time it's a struggle with them.”

“I went through a phase where I thought nostalgia was a bad thing.”

“I like to watch many things, especially strange films and something recent, not just the story.”

“I'm appreciated more abroad. In America, Japan... and in the United Kingdom.”

“Paradise is too perfect for humanity.”

“To try and raise a budget for a film that is strictly for adults and both strong and graphic in content is not easy, especially when there is pressure to spend serious money on good special effects.”

“The process of writing and directing drives you to such extremes that it's natural to feel an affinity with insanity. I approach that madness as something dangerous, and I'm afraid, but also I want to go to it, to see what's there, to embrace it. I don't know why, but I'm drawn.”

“Young girls of 13 or 12 are great actors.”

“I've never gone into analysis. But Freud opened a door, I know.”

“In each of my characters there is a little of me. Not strictly autobiographical but a little piece of my soul.”

“I think the camera was always my obsession, the camera movements. Because for me it's the most important thing in the move, the camera, because without the camera, film is just a stage or television - nothing.”

“But no one should have the right to manipulate my films in the first place.”

“My daughter, Asia, has been in many of my movies. I love working with her. In the beginning, I was not supportive of her being an actress, but now I think she is fantastic.”

“For a long time, censors have been cutting my works. This makes me so sad, because many times they will tell me, 'Television won't like, so we have to cut, cut, cut!'”

“It's incredible that they censor films. It's sad.”

“Every writer, to some extent, writes about himself.”

“'Deep Red' (1975) is my favorite movie. The character David Hemmings plays is very much based on my own personality. It was a very strong film, very brutal, and of course the censors were upset. It was cut by almost an hour in some countries.”

“You must push everything to the absolute limit or else life will be boring. People will be boring.”

“Each film I make changes me in some way. When I start the picture I'm one person and by the time I finish I'm another.”