Deep Red (1975)

A jazz pianist and a wisecracking journalist are pulled into a complex web of mystery after the former witnesses the brutal murder of a psychic.

Director:

Dario Argento

Writers:

Dario Argento, Bernardino Zapponi

Stars:

David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)

Storyline

A psychic who can read minds picks up the thoughts of a murderer in the audience and soon becomes a victim. An English pianist gets involved in solving the murders, but finds many of his avenues of inquiry cut off by new murders, and he begins to wonder how the murderer can track his movements so closely.

---

Plot Keywords:

black gloved killer | giallo | color in title | slasher | brutality | 

---

Taglines:

You will NEVER forget it!!!

---

Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian German English

Release Date:

11 June 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dripping Deep Red

Filming Locations:

Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rizzoli Film, Seda Spettacoli

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min 101 min (R-rated) 105 min (export)

Sound Mix:

Mono 4-Track Stereo (Japan theatrical release)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's French title "Les Frissons de l'angoisse" means "The Shivers of Angst". The German title "Rosso - Die Farbe des Todes" means "Red - The Color of Death".

---

Goofs

The text for "The House of the Screaming Child" contains a typo in the second paragraph. "The to friends" instead of "The two friends".

---

Quotes

Marcus Daly: [Scream!] What was that?
Carlo: A scream.
[pause]
Carlo: I'd say
[longer pause]
Carlo: might somebody be getting raped.
[Even longer pause, raises wineglass]
Carlo: Hail to the raped virgin

---

Crazy Credits

"You have just seen Deep Red."

---

Alternate Versions

A full screen Italian language version with American Subtitles contains the credits scene with David Hemmings reacting to the death of the killer in a pool of blood. The last few frames pause the image finally.

---

Connections

Referenced in The New York Ripper (1982)

User Reviews

An artistic achievement.

One of Argento's very best. He always struck me as a perfectionist from the way he framed his shots. One could almost call him the Kubrick of slasher flicks. He makes the environments just as much characters as the humans in the film; he captures everything, especially the deaths, like a portrait. His artistry in the genre is only matched by a few others. And this winds up becoming a great, gripping murder mystery that keeps you guessing to the very end. Argento toys with conventions, specifically in a scene where Marcus gets knocked out while looking around a building towards the end of the film, and the next shot shows him waking up outside of the house while it's burning, and the camera slowly pans up to reveal his female reporter friend standing over him. In another, more predictable film, she would've been revealed to have knocked him out and possibly the killer of the picture, but instead she is merely revealed to have rescued him from the house and remains a protagonist to her untimely end. Of course, there's a terrific soundtrack from Goblin that perfectly suits every scene it's used in, but at the same time, Argento makes great use of silence when he wants to.

At over two hours long, your horror film better have either some interesting or developed characters. In Deep Red, Argento has both. David Hemmings gives an engaging performance as the protagonist. His reactions to what goes on around him are natural, and the viewer is sympathetic to his cause to get down to the truth. He understands that some secrets should be uncovered at any cost. As death slowly sucks up people in his world, he finds himself increasingly sucked into this impending nightmare behind him, like quicksand. We're in his shoes because he reacts like us. Argento employs charming humor throughout the picture. Like Hitchcock, he understands the essence of entertaining his audience. Horror films don't have to be all-dread all the time. The relationship between Hemmings' protagonist and his female reporter friend are dealt with sensitively. She is portrayed as his equal. He relies on her to get places. She saves his life. She gets him to come out of his shell and admit his attraction to her. She's spunky and has plenty of personality to make us believe she could be a reporter in reality. When the big revelation reveals itself at the end of the film, suddenly the entire mystery comes full-circle to the opening shot, and we're left with one hell of a bang. The final shot represents the sort of feeling one gets when they come face-to-face with a point in their lives that shakes them to their very core. What's next, and where do I go from here? How do I cope with what I just experienced? Argento offers no easy answers, he just sits back like a madman amused by what he just put his viewers through. At least, that's the sense I get from watching his expertly crafted work.