tdrish After watching countless horror movies, new and old, it cannot be denied that there are few titles that can "knock it out of the park." When I came across this title, and recognized Darios name attached to it, I knew it was going to be good. Rewind to 1985, to the horror film Phenemonia, aka Creepers ( I think its the United States release name for the film), and for years, I was convinced that this was the best horror movie I had ever seen in my lifetime. 10 years its senior, we have Deep Red, and while I am still convinced that Phenemonia is the undisputed champ of horror, Deep Red is an equally solid piece of work from this incredibly gifted and talented man. To be fair, Deep Red is not just a horror film. It mixes mystery, suspense, and an intense thriller atmosphere, not to mention just the right amount of drama, humor, and maybe even a little romance to it. Lushly detailed, the film centers on a man who has witnessed the murder of a woman from a higher story balcony, named Marcus, who is played by David Hemmings. She wasn't just any victim, she was a psychic. There will be more murders, the prime targets seem to be all female, but has Marcus added his name to the list, because he is a witness? Only time will tell, but time is running out, and its up to him to help solve and crack this case, before more blood is shed. While not perfect, its hard to find the flaws of Deep Red, as it is a hardcore, skillfully crafted classic that they just don't make anymore. Some scenes are violent, some scenes are eerie, and some are just flat out creepy. Let the viewer be warned, Dario Argento knows how to get inside your head, and that is exactly where he is burying this treasure.

Bezenby If you have any urge to delve into the Giallo genre you might as well start here. Deep Red includes a lot of the trademarks you'd expect, with a black-gloved killer, many suspects, violent murders and an out-of-town hero who just can't quite remember a key detail to solving the case. Plot-wise it doesn't deviate too far from the Giallo template either, but the big difference is that it's directed by Dario Argento, and that with this film Argento is entering his most creative phase of films.There's also a very slight supernatural angle and plenty of subtle surrealism throuought the film, like reality itself is nearly unravelling. We open at a para-psychology conference where guest speaker Helga is 'reading' the audience. She goes through the usual routine until getting a very disturbing vibe from someone in the sixth row that sends her into a rant about 'the child's song...we must forget...' and her accusing that person of murder. Not the best idea as later own, in her apartment, Helga is hacked to death with an axe before the killer makes off with Helga's notes on the incident. Of course, Helga 'feels' the killers vibe through the front door.Witnessing this is English pianist Mark (Hemmings), who was hanging about outside the apartment drinking with his musician friend Carlo before Helga's head comes crashing through the window of her apartment. Mark rushes into the apartment (which is decorated with strange disturbing pictures and Hebrew symbols) and drags Helga's body from the window, spotting a black-clad figure running away. What you may or may notice through this scene is that Argento has deliberately revealed the killer's face in a split second shot.Mark of course now encounters the crap, ignorant police he has to deal with, plus cocky journalist Daria Nicolodi, who, after revealing Mark was a witness on the cover of her paper, then hooks up with him to solve the case. Now Mark has the killer on his tail, mind you, as well as the killer being one step ahead in getting rid of clues and those who hold those clues...On the visual side, Argento gives us extreme close-ups of objects like tape recorders running and a stylus running across a record, plus the collection of weird toys the killer has. He also goes in the other direction with ultra-wide shots in dialogue scenes. The camera itself acts as a character, stalking about scenes and focusing on things happening that the characters haven't noticed, unless of course it is playing the POV part of the killer, which it does often, sometimes without letting on to the audience that it's supposed to be the killer! Clever stuff.There's also the avalanche of quirkiness throughout the film. No one acts quite normal, from Nicoletta Elmi's sadistic child to Daria Nicolodi's weird cigar twirling trick that has nothing to do with the plot, plus her car that barely functions. Unrelated incidents drop into the film between scenes; dogs fighting, a man (that guy from the Beast In Heat) shouting in a market, the cops discussing their boss's temper. The killer leaves hanged dolls for their victims to find and at one point distracts a guy by have a creepy mechanical toy rush him. This all gives the film a nervous edge that isn't helped by the gruesome murders. Argento wanted the murders to include injuries people could suffer in real life, so people are severely scalded or have their teeth bashed against solid objects and in that oh-so-common every day injury, get dragged along the street behind a bin truck before smashing their heads on a lamppost. There's are two version of this film - the English version and the Italian version, and I'd recommend the English version to be honest, especially if you're starting out with the genre. The Italian version is about twenty minutes longer but most of that is dialogue between Hemmings and Nicolodi, a kind of battle of the sexes/romantic subplot that just bogs things down a bit. The film also got into trouble for the depiction of a lizard genuinely impaled on a spike - never a good thing to see in a film that no doubt brought it to the attention of the BBFC here in the UK. Strangely, that shot is missing from the Italian version!

Mark Habeeb This is one the classiest and most well made horror movies i've seen. The movie is a murder mystery, psychological thriller, and slasher all at the same time. Dario Argento craftily combines all these elements and brings them into perfect harmony with this amazing movie. This movie opened the doors for me to the Italian Giallo genre. It really made me realize that I was missing out on a world of horror movies that I previously wasn't exposed to. This movie will keep you intrigued and hooked from the very first scene. It stylishly develops into its storyline and will keep you on the edge of your seat guessing what will happen next. It's a bigger than life type of film without intentionally trying to be. Those are the best kind of movies, that don't depend on crazy special effects and over the top story lines (taking over the world) to give you that bigger than life feel. But rather on its simple yet intriguing story and amazing atmosphere. Highly recommend to any movie fan!

GL84 Following the brutal murder of a renowned psychic, a pianist witness teams up with a reporter to investigate the psychic's death but the twisting case provides plenty of clues with no connection to each other and they race to stop the killer before he strikes again.This here was one of the better gialli's ever made and one of Argento's strongest efforts. What really stands out here is that, like most gialli's of the time-period there's a great deal of effort paid to the strong story as it's one of the finest ever concocted in the genre. This is set-up from the beginning with the fantastic murder scene committed in shadows on a living room wall while an eerie lullaby plays out in the background, and then once the killings proper start this draws out plenty more to like within this. Following up the lullabye, they find the connection with the house and the shattered memories locked up in there and that leads to the connection with the children's drawings found at the elementary school and the struggle to piece all these together with the lone puzzle piece that he can remember from the initial attack he he witnessed. As always, we're given a clue to who the killer is, but the killer is always seen with such an item that using it as the definitive piece to prove the identity would be impossible. Giving only the traditional pair of black gloves, a brown jacket and blond hair, which are very common items or traits, are nearly impossible to use as evidence to name a killer, is a very rare and even completely refreshing thing to use as a manner of identification rather than either hardly seeing who it is or by not even showing them at all. All of this works incredibly well in leaving the film with a strong and engaging central mystery that comes across really well here and setting the stage for the centerpiece kill scenes that are known for the visually-creative methods of killing people. There's plenty to like about these graphic, brutal kills that manage to look stunningly beautiful as well as horribly graphic and brutal, which makes for a much better time here, and given that there's a slew of strong suspenseful stalking scenes scattered along the way there's plenty of stylish and impressive work here. Even the score is pretty creepy, and is one of Goblin's best, all making for a good time to hold out over the film's very few negatives. The one main thing negatively about this is it has a tendency to simply stop the plot altogether and concentrate on a particular character trait that doesn't need to be in the story. Here, it's at for having a middle act that is completely devoid of any activity. He really does nothing except simply have play the piano at odd intervals which has no tension, no suspense, hardly anything other than the typical penchant for filming boring scenes with odd shots and angles. Likewise, the one thing about the soundtrack was that it was used as a sound effect, popping out occasionally to surprise the viewer. It works well the first time, but grows repetitive and doesn't work as time goes on. Otherwise, this here is one of the genre's best efforts.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Brief Nudity, and Language.