Profoundly Red

 

In all my years of watching horror in all its forms I have seen more movies than I can realistically remember. I've seen great ones, interesting ones and so many bad ones.

However there exists a list of classics (good and bad) that I haven't seen. Or there would be a list if I could be bothered to write it down, which I can't.

Just the other night, I watched a video by Sandy Petersen, the man behind Call of Cthulhu and level designer in the original Doom, in which he discussed Giallo movies.

Giallo, meaning yellow in Italian is the name for thriller-horror movies from Italy (duh). The name comes from the fact that cheap paperbacks of the genre were usually yellow. Today the term is best know as a movie genre however.

Giallo movies are gorier and usually sexier than straight thrillers, but less supernatural and over the top than straight horror. These are rough generalizations and not to be taken as straight rules.

I've even written about some Giallo movies before: Tenebrae, The House with Laughing Windows and The Fifth Cord, but back to the video by Sandy Petersen. In it he mentioned one of the most famous Giallo movies and it was one I had never seen, so I decided to rectify that, even though I've been informed that it isn't very good.

One has to make up ones own mind in the end so I sat down and watched Deep Red (1975) by Dario Argento.

It's important to note that there exists multiple versions of this film, with various scenes removed or re-added. At least the one I saw was in wide-screen which is important but I can't tell you which version it was in any detail.

The story concerns a Pianist, Marcus Daly, who witnesses his neighbor being brutally killed in her window. He rushes to help but is too late to save her. He does become obsessed with the murder and tries to solve it. He is aided by a reporter, Gianna Brezzi and Professor Giordani.

People get brutally murdered, the plot thickens and in the end all is solved. That's all I can tell you about the plot without spoiling anything important.

So what's it like? Beautiful and bizarre is the best way I can put it. There are so many gorgeous shots in this movie it's nuts. Scene after scene of amazing cinematography cut with scenes of really odd humor.

The dialog goes from serviceable to jaw dropping. My favorite line is: “There's someone in the house... absolutely trying to kill me, ya'know?” 

The music is also pretty odd. Most of the track is by Goblin, who scored Suspiria incredibly well, but here the music is more funky, and at times really clashes against the tense atmosphere.

Perhaps the biggest gripe I have is the mentality of the main hero, Marcus. He knows the killer wants to murder him, and he repeatedly goes to isolated locations to find the truth, but does he ever bring a weapon with him? Of course he doesn't. He is incredibly cavalier about the fact that he is completely unarmed and trailing a vicious maniac.

There are a couple of plot holes as well, but it may be that the version I saw had some scenes removed that would have explained them, I can't say. Either way, it's not too bad, it didn't spoil the fun, but they were there non the less.

In the end I can say I really enjoyed Deep Red. It's tense, stylish and very enjoyable. Perhaps more of a thriller than a “real” Giallo, but that is a debate I won't get draw into. It has been said that Deep Red is a turning point in Dario Argento's career, and I can see where that comes from. If you are looking into Giallo movies, do not miss this, and if you just fancy a fun murder-romp, give it a shot. If you want something more generic in the way of a thriller, watch something else. Deep Red is a bit too hard to digest for that.

And here we are again. Join me next time and until then, have a great week and stay safe!