Argento got his start in moviemaking as one of the writers of the 1968 Sergio Leone western classic "Once Upon a Time in the West." He was 28 at the time. A year later, he debuted as a director with the interesting thriller "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage."  With elegant photography, great atmosphere, a silly mystery and a murderer who wears black leather gloves, it qualified as a hard-hitting "giallo" film—a unique, violent murder mystery genre that sprang from Italy and predated the slasher film craze that hit America in the late 1970s.

Dario Argento Horror Filmography: - Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) - Cat o' Nine Tails (1971) - Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971) - Deep Red (1975) - Suspiria (1977) - Inferno (1980) - Tenebre (1982) - Phenomena (1985) - Opera (1987) - Two Evil Eyes (1990) - Trauma (1993) - Stendhal Syndrome (1996) - Phantom of the Opera (1998) - Sleepless (2001)

He followed "Bird" with two other giallo films—"Cat O' Nine Tales" and "Four Flies on Grey Velvet"—before hitting his stride with the supernatural and very gory "Profondo Rosso" (listed in the Splatter 666 as "Deep Red"). One of the greatest splatter films of all time, "Profondo" starred David Hemmings (who had hit stardom in another murder mystery, "Blow Up") and introduced the world to the music of the gothic rock group Goblin. With Goblin's throbbing and loud rock score, a slightly supernatural storyline, plenty of gore and Argento's twisted obsession with childhood evil, "Profondo" blew horror film fans away. At least two versions are in circulation: a nearly 120-minute Italian language print with English subtitles and a much shorter dubbed version. Many believe the shorter, U.S. version is actually superior. The pace is quicker and Hemmings' real voice is featured (an Italian actor dubbed his voice for the subtitled version).

 Argento followed up the success of "Deep Red" (also known as "Hatchet Murders" in the U.S.) with a landmark 1977 horror film that would become the blueprint for all his later films: "Suspiria." Goblin once again returned to supply the score. With bizarre sets, incredible photography, a Dolby stereo, surround-sound soundtrack and over-the-top gore, "Suspiria" was an international hit and—of all of Argento's film—has been released and re-released the most on video. He followed up "Suspiria" with a sequel, "Inferno," which, badly cut for its U.S. release, wasn't a success. A third film in the trilogy was announced but never filmed.

His later films never matched the cult success of either "Suspiria" or "Deep Red," but they contained enough of the formula elements of those movies—rock music by Goblin members, black-gloved killers, cheesy mystery plots, gore—to satisfy the director's growing fan base. He served as a creative consultant for George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" and brought Goblin on board to supply the music for that film.

He followed up "Dawn" with the extremely gory "Tenebre" (pictured above). He also co-directed an anthology film with Romero, entitled "Two Evil Eyes." One of the best "Argento" movies of all time wasn't actually directed by him. The 1980s horror classic "Demons," which he co-wrote, featured all the great Argento elements fans know and love—and then some. Directed by Lamberto Bava, son of the Italian giallo great Mario Bava, "Demons" is one of the greatest splatter films of all time. It was far better than the Argento-directed "Terror at the Opera," a lesser effort that was released shortly after.

 Argento hasn't stopped making movies—or making them a family affair. He married Daria Nicolodi, the female lead in "Deep Red," and continued casting her in his movies, including the rather weak "Phenomena." In the mid-1990s he cast his gorgeous daughter, Asia, in a lead role for the American-filmed murder mystery "Trauma," one of his better movies. She was also featured in "The Stendhal Syndrome" and "Phantom of the Opera," two very disappointing films that saw Argento steer clear of his giallo roots. He returned to the fold with the well-received "Sleepless."

But his greatest movies remain the ones he directed in the 1970s. These films helped inspire "Evil Dead," "Dressed to Kill" and even "Halloween," and earned Argento a place in the history books as one of splatterdom's all-time great filmmakers. In 1994, he was honored for his efforts with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2nd Montreal Festival International Cinema Fantastique.