“Deep Red” is a Giallo classic directed by the “master of horror,” Dario Argento, two years prior to “Suspiria,” his horror masterpiece. “Deep Red,” released at the peak of the Giallo craze, set the bar high for quality in the horror subgenre. Many critics believe that this could be Argento’s best movie and that it surpasses “Suspiria.”

It packs all the Giallo elements, including good-looking thespians, great visual effects, intense thrills and chills, and gore, with a whodunit at its core. As expected, the movie also has all the Argento elements: big sets and a fast-moving plot. Goblin, the progressive rock band, delivers the intriguing background score.

Like Argento movies, it also features large indoor public places. While “Suspiria” features a Ballet School, “The Bird in a Crystal Plumage” features an art gallery, and “Opera” unfolds well in an Opera, this movie features a giant auditorium in an early scene.

The opening scene immediately sets the tone of the movie, with a shocking visual of a blood-stained knife falling at the feet of a small child. The plot moves twenty years further, showing a pianist perform a piece with a handful of accompanying musicians. The pianist is revealed to be Marcus Daly, played by David Hemmings, who was also the protagonist of the Michelangelo Antonioni classic, “Blow Up.” Marcus is a music teacher at a local University.

In the following scene, the viewer is ushered into a giant, blazing red-colored auditorium, where a psychic, Helga (Macha Méril), claims to commune with the dead. (Yes, just like in the movie reviewed in my previous post.) She is accompanied by two men onstage, Giordani, a professor of parapsychology, and another psychic.

It is dark when Marcus walks down the street. He meets his inebriated friend and fellow pianist, Carlo (Gabriele Lavia). Carlo is a depressed alcoholic. After some banter, Marcus takes leave and walks a few paces, where he catches sight of a woman pressing herself to the glass of a window, crying for help, in an apartment on a high-rise building. An assailant comes up behind her and continues to hack her with a cleaver on the high-rise building.

Marcus rushes to the apartment, lets himself in, and runs in, hoping to save the woman. Unfortunately, he finds the woman’s dead corpse on the floor. Through the window, he catches a glimpse of a man clad in a brown raincoat walking away from the building. He also sees Carlo across the street. Soon the police arrive, and Marcus is interrogated by an investigating officer. After being asked a few questions and mocked by the officer, Marcus asks him if anything was moved from its previous location by the investigating team. The officer assures Marcus that the crew took great care to ensure that no object in the house was tampered with. However, Marcus has a nagging feeling that a painting that he had previously seen has now disappeared. This scene is reminiscent of another Argento movie, where the protagonist tries to remember something important at the scene of the crime. Gianna (Daria Nicolodi, then Argento’s wife in real life), an assertive reporter, accosts Marcus, and the two strike up an uneasy friendship.

Later, Marcus visits Carlo’s apartment. He meets Carlo’s mother, who gives Marcus excessive, undue attention and then tells him that Carlo is not in. Marcus soon finds out that Carlo is a closet homosexual and seems to be in a state of unbearable mental torment.

That night, the killer makes an unsuccessful attempt on Marcus’s life. During the tense encounter, Marcus hears a song sung by a child before the killer leaves the scene. Marcus, a male chauvinist, plunges into the investigation by himself after arrogantly brushing aside Gianna’s request to work together as a team.

He meets the two men who co-hosted the event with Helga at the auditorium. During their conversation, one of them recalls that he had once read a book about a haunted house where some had reported hearing a song sung by a child.

Marcus first tracks down the book and then attempts to meet its author in person. Unfortunately, she, the author, would be the killer’s next victim just before Marcus can meet with her. Marcus arrives at her house, lets himself in, and finds her corpse on the floor. He leaves the scene quietly and later meets Gianna.

Gianna warns Marcus that the police soon would find his fingerprints at the author’s house and he, Marcus, would be convicted of both murders. Marcus now relents and agrees to work with Gianna. The two, Gianna and Marcus, now seem to be getting involved.

Giordani, the parapsychologist, then meets a gruesome end at the hands of the killer. When Marcus visits the haunted house a second time, he makes a disturbing finding. Later Gianna arrives at the scene and saves him from a serious mishap.

More clues emerge as the killer makes an attempt on Gianna. After a few more twists, Marcus has his next and last confrontation with the murderer, who would also reveal the motive for the killings. The movie ends after a gruesome climax.

Argento has an uncanny knack of throwing in visuals of birds (particularly ravens), dolls, or puppets at intense moments or in long takes in many of his films. “Deep Red” includes a couple of such scenes. While having no significance in the storyline, these scenes do accentuate the creepy nature of the plot. The acting performances from the cast, particularly from David and Daria, are refreshingly good in this Giallo movie.

“Deep Red” is a great viewing experience with a fast-moving screenplay, blended with beautiful, disturbing, and strange visuals and an alluring, lively background score. The filming of the movie was done in Turin. The Italian version of this movie runs a little over 2 hours. About 20 minutes of the movie were edited out for the US release. A lot of the banter between Marcus and Gianna, along with some violent footage, was removed in the US version.

This is an important Giallo movie from one of the premier directors of the genre. If possible, try and watch the Italian version, not only to watch the deleted footage, but also because it has smoother transitions between some scenes.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Red