Deep Red (1975)
Deep Red (1975)
From the mind of Dario Argento, one of the greatest directors in Italian horror comes the 1975 classic Deep Red (aka The Hatchet Murders) or Profondo Rosso in its native Italian. This film is part "whodunnit" murder mystery, and gory horror, with an actual surprising twist ending that I didn't see coming at all. Deep Red was directed by Dario Argento and written by Dario Argento and Bernardino Zapponi. The film was distributed by Cineriz an Italian media company. The film was released in the USA in 1976, but had 20 minutes cut from its run time, which was decided by Argento himself.
Deep Red stars David Hemmings as Marcus Daly, Gabriel Lavia plays Marcus' friend Carlo, Macha Meril plays Helga Ullmann a psychic medium and Marcus' downstairs neighbor, Glauco Mauri plays Prof Giordani, Daria Nicolodi plays Gianna Brezzi a newspaper reporter and Marcus' love interest in the film, Eros Pagni plays Supt. Calcabrini the detective investigating the murders, Giuliana Calandra plays Amanda Righetti the author of a folklore book that tells of local haunted house that relates to the murders, and Clara Calamai plays Martha who is Carlo's mother. The film is well cast, though sometimes it is hard to keep the characters straight for me. I like that the dialogue of the film switched between Italian and English, with a little French mixed in, there were English subtitles, and for the French dialogue there was both English and Italian subtitles. I like this because it makes the film a bit more authentic, rather than having it all in one language, the reality is in Europe it is quite common that people can speak multiple languages and that dialogue might mix the two languages in conversations, I appreciate that. In the USA most films seem to just homogenize language, so that there might be a film set in say China or Germany, or even Russia but all of the dialogue would be spoken in English with English speaking actors playing the roles, however in this film the dialogue is authentic to the people speaking the dialogue.
Deep Red stars David Hemmings as Marcus Daly, Gabriel Lavia plays Marcus' friend Carlo, Macha Meril plays Helga Ullmann a psychic medium and Marcus' downstairs neighbor, Glauco Mauri plays Prof Giordani, Daria Nicolodi plays Gianna Brezzi a newspaper reporter and Marcus' love interest in the film, Eros Pagni plays Supt. Calcabrini the detective investigating the murders, Giuliana Calandra plays Amanda Righetti the author of a folklore book that tells of local haunted house that relates to the murders, and Clara Calamai plays Martha who is Carlo's mother. The film is well cast, though sometimes it is hard to keep the characters straight for me. I like that the dialogue of the film switched between Italian and English, with a little French mixed in, there were English subtitles, and for the French dialogue there was both English and Italian subtitles. I like this because it makes the film a bit more authentic, rather than having it all in one language, the reality is in Europe it is quite common that people can speak multiple languages and that dialogue might mix the two languages in conversations, I appreciate that. In the USA most films seem to just homogenize language, so that there might be a film set in say China or Germany, or even Russia but all of the dialogue would be spoken in English with English speaking actors playing the roles, however in this film the dialogue is authentic to the people speaking the dialogue.
Deep Red was well received by the critics, many site it as a highly influential film in the horror genre. On film review sites like Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a really high rating, and it has received a lot of praise from both current reviews as well as reviews upon its release. For good reason, this is a really well made film, with a great mystery and "whodunnit" story, but also with some very wonderfully done effects for the graphic death scenes. Argento attempted to make the film feel very real and painful to the viewer, and I feel like that was an effective move for the film. The film has a realistic and visceral feeling to it, and it comes off as more than a simple slasher film, but there is also a strange almost nightmarish dreamlike quality as well. Argento is an acquired taste, and some of his films like Deep Red and Suspiria might seem like they don't make sense to those not attuned to Dario Argento's style. However all of this works really well in making this not only an effective horror film but also an effective murder mystery film. 
Though yes, this is an amazing film, and a highly influential film, I also don't think it is for everyone, and I do think that some viewers might find the film a bit slow and dull, and some might just find it a bit too surreal and get lost in the art of the film and end up losing the plot. I don't think this is a must-see film, but I do believe that for anyone who is a fan of horror films, especially Italian horror films, then I do think that this is required watching, and that you should at least be familiar with this classic, though if you are a true fan of gory horror and Italian giallo films then I think that this will likely become one of your favourite films if it isn't already. Not only is there a great murder mystery story, and some satisfying gory horror elements, but there is also that amazing soundtrack by Italian prog rock band Goblin. Argento would turn to Goblin for the soundtrack for multiple films over the years, their amazing music is part of what made these amazing films so great. So if you have never seen Dario Argento's Deep Red, I do highly recommend checking it out, just don't expect an American style horror film, with tons of fast paced action, this is a more artistic style of horror film, that was a big part of the Italian giallo genre of films. Definitely worth watching, and having as part of your film collection.
Though yes, this is an amazing film, and a highly influential film, I also don't think it is for everyone, and I do think that some viewers might find the film a bit slow and dull, and some might just find it a bit too surreal and get lost in the art of the film and end up losing the plot. I don't think this is a must-see film, but I do believe that for anyone who is a fan of horror films, especially Italian horror films, then I do think that this is required watching, and that you should at least be familiar with this classic, though if you are a true fan of gory horror and Italian giallo films then I think that this will likely become one of your favourite films if it isn't already. Not only is there a great murder mystery story, and some satisfying gory horror elements, but there is also that amazing soundtrack by Italian prog rock band Goblin. Argento would turn to Goblin for the soundtrack for multiple films over the years, their amazing music is part of what made these amazing films so great. So if you have never seen Dario Argento's Deep Red, I do highly recommend checking it out, just don't expect an American style horror film, with tons of fast paced action, this is a more artistic style of horror film, that was a big part of the Italian giallo genre of films. Definitely worth watching, and having as part of your film collection.
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