Profondo rosso (1975)

Director:

Dario Argento

Writers:

Dario Argento (written by)
Bernardino Zapponi (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 June 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The maker of "SUSPIRIA" now takes you on a journey through the macabre, the bizarre. . . the unnatural.

Plot:

A musician witnesses the murder of a famous psychic, and then teams up with a fiesty reporter to find the killer while evading attempts on their lives by the unseen killer bent on keeping a dark secret buried.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Dark | Cut | Suspicion | Hit By Car

Awards:

1 win

Cast

David Hemmings	...	Marcus Daly
Daria Nicolodi	...	Gianna Brezzi
Gabriele Lavia	...	Carlo
Macha Méril	...	Helga Ulmann
Eros Pagni	...	Supt. Calcabrini
Giuliana Calandra	...	Amanda Righetti
Piero Mazzinghi	...	Bardi
Glauco Mauri	...	Prof. Giordani
Clara Calamai	...	Marta
Aldo Bonamano	...	Carlo's father
Liana Del Balzo	...	Elvira
Vittorio Fanfoni	...	Cop taking notes
Dante Fioretti	...	Police photographer
Geraldine Hooper	...	Massimo Ricci
Jacopo Mariani	...	Young Carlo (as Iacopo Mariani)

Also Known As:

Deep Red (International: English title)
Dripping Deep Red (USA) (pre-release title)
La tigre dai denti a sciabola (Italy) (working title)
The Deep Red Hatchet Murders (USA) (DVD box title)
The Hatchet Murders (USA) (censored version)

Runtime:

126 min | USA:98 min (R-rated version) | Japan:106 min (theatrical version)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:X (original rating) | Argentina:16 (re-rating) (2006) (uncut) | Argentina:18 (re-rating) (1982) (cut) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Sweden:15 | Italy:VM18 (director's cut) | Chile:18 | Canada:18+ (Quebec) (Original rating) | France:X (Original rating) | Australia:R | France:-16 | Italy:VM14 | Netherlands:18 | Norway:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | USA:Unrated (director's cut) | West Germany:18 | Finland:K-18

Filming Locations:

Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Rizzoli Film

Trivia:

In one scene David Hemmings walks past a bar at night. The bar is styled after the famous painting "Nighthawks", by Edward Hopper.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Helga Ulmann is introduced during the séance, she is said to be Lithuanian. When her murder is announced on the TV later in the film she is said to be German.

Quotes:

Marc: Gianna! Gianna! There's someone in the house... absolutely trying to kill me, ya'know?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Saw III (2006)

Soundtrack:

Deep Shadows

One of Argentos Top Three

Title: Deep Red

Director: Dario Argento

Cast: Daria Nicolodi, David Hemmings, Gabriele Lavia, Macha Meril

Review:

Finally got around to seeing Deep Red, and I was once again pleasantly surprised.

A very powerful female medium gets murdered after she detects a murderer in the audience of one of her lectures on the supernatural. After that, the murderer decides to kill the medium at their apartment. Meanwhile Mark, a local piano player witnesses the murder while walking down the street. He then decides to get to the bottom of things himself.

Everything you can come to expect from Argento is here. The beautiful colors, the insane camera angles and sadly we also get the gaps in logic, but I'm happy to say that those gaps in logic are kept to a minimum. Argento stylistic camera moves develop into really extreme close-ups of things on Deep Red. He will really go in there with the camera and go all around an object with it, he does this many many times in the flick.

Surprisingly, this is one of Argentos most coherent stories, though mid way through the movie you wont feel like its getting anywhere, once you reach the third act it will all make sense (thank god!) and trust me its well worth the wait. Its a twist ending that really got me....just when you think the flick is over whamo! Argento smacks you in the face with whats really going on. Loved that about Deep Red. The thing is that if you are not patient you will feel that this will be another one of those endings where you are left feeling unsatisfied and dumbfounded, but no, this ending is actually very satisfying. Its one of those films where in the last few minutes everything clicks right into place.

I loved the scenery in this movie. Everything was lit in a very spooky manner. My favorite being the mediums home. Its got this hallway filled with he spookiest freaking paintings you will ever see. Add to that the cool lighting and you've got yourself one heck of an eerie setting. And the flick has got many of those including a house thats gigantic and haunting...very Gothic. The shots in that house and the lighting were awesome.

The kills are great, Argento skillfully orchestrates some nice ones on Deep Red. Some complaint that they are not enough deaths in this movie and I say that we could have done with at least one more. As it is we get four kills are masterful and great, but since the movie gets a bit slow towards the middle part, Id say that another death could have been squeezed in there. But I ain't really complaining, cause when those deaths come they really get you. Trust me! I also liked the imagery on this one...lots of weird imagery to keep you unsettled. For example there's this scene involving a mechanical doll that just looks so weird and spooky...its stuck with me. I had to instantly rewind it. There's some more stuff involving children's toys and drawings. Great stuff! Image after spooky images which don't let you get too comfortable. There's always something there you to keep you on edge, even if it is just a visual and not an actual murder.

One other thing that sort of hindered my full enjoyment of the flick is that since this film had been heavily edited for American audiences and some scenes have been reintroduced into this cut of the film (the one Anchorbay released) there are some scenes that have no English soundtrack. Therefore the movie skips from being spoken in English to being spoken in Italian. Back and forth constantly. I got used to it and took it as a special challenge. Thankfully the scenes spoken in Italian have English subtitles. Small price to pay to get the full blown directors cut of this film if you ask me. My advice? Watch the whole thing in Italian with English subtitles.

All in all a good and satisfying Argento flick that some herald as Argentos true masterpiece. I thought it was quite good but for me Opera and Suspiria are still superior.

Rating: 5 out of 5