Deep Red

Year:  1975

Director:  Dario Argento, 

Screenplay:  Dario Argento and Bernardino Zapponi

Starring:  David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia, Macha Méril, Clara Calamai

Running Time: 126 minutes 

Genre:  Horror, thriller

One night Marcus Daly (Hemmings), a jazz pianist living in Turin, witnesses the gruesome murder of his upstairs neighbour, psychic medium Helga Ulmann (Méril).  Daly rushes to help, but is too late, however he sees the raincoat clad killer escape into the night.  Haunted by the idea that he saw something important which he cannot quite remember, Daly teams up with ambitious journalist Gianna Brezzi (Nicolodi) to hunt the killer, but the killer is hunting them.

This stylish murder-mystery is one of the classic giallo films.  Giallo was a sub-genre of horror and mystery films that came out of Italy in the 1960s and became hugely popular during the '70s.  Often seen as the fore-runner to later "slasher" films, these films were usually very stylish and showcased elaborate, stylised murders and violence, but were more focussed on the mystery and detection elements than piling up the bodycount.  The term giallo (Italian for "yellow") came from a hugely popular series of cheap paperback mystery novels which were published with distinctive yellow covers.  Deep Red features elaborate, over the top and extremely gory set pieces and a constantly moving camera, but it also has an intriguing and complex mystery plot.  As with most Argento films the dazzling, excessive visuals cover the fact that a lot of it doesn't really make any sense.  However it doesn't really matter, because as labyrinthine and bizarre as the film is, it is full of unforgettable elements, with bizarre sequences and characters, such as the mechanical killer doll (which surely must have been an influence on the Saw films) and the pulsing soundtrack from prog-rock band Goblin.  David Hemmings is charismatic in the lead role, but the film is stolen by Daria Nicolodi as the energetic and funny journalist.  Nicolodi would go on to appear in five more Argento films, and the two were married for a time.  This is definitely one of Argento's best films, and possibly the best example of the giallo genre.  Argento turned the film into a stage musical in 2007, and adopted the film's Italian title "Profondo Rosso" as the name for his horror memorabilia shop and museum in Rome.  

 David Hemmings in Deep Red