Deep Red is a classic Italian horror movie from Dario Argento, one of the masters of the genre. Though the movie is highly regarded by critics and fans. I found it just, okay. There are some really amazing scenes and the movie is really well made. I just was not a very big fan of the soundtrack provided by horror band Goblin. It really took me out of the movie. Choice scenes were really creepy and I could understand the appeal for hardcore Argento fans.
A music teacher witnesses a psychic woman being murdered by a mysterious hatchet killer. He becomes intrigued by finding the killer and sets out on a mission to do just that. He ends up going on a whirl-wind investigation that takes him down some murderous paths. The trail of corpses that the killer leaves are all mutilated brutally. I had no problem with this. As with Susperia, the artistic aspect is beautiful. It paints a great picture too. Influenced by film-noir, the movie becomes extremely dark and has that creepy shadow going on the entire time.
One of the problems comes with the pacing in the movie. It's horribly paced and gets boring really fast. I don't have a problem with the dubbing. Albeit hard to understand at times. Believe me, I am watching this on VHS. I had a huge problem with the soundtrack. It brought me right out of the movie and made it hard to believe. Acid jazz in the background of murders doesn't make a good mix. They are literally playing 'good 'ol fashioned traveling music' when the main character is creeping around in the shadows. It's really poor.
I liked the movie good enough. I just don't think that it's the masterpiece everyone thinks it is. It was really beautiful but the suspense was killed by the music. The killings were really inventive and had an original flair. Argento does a good job of unsettling you while featuring on the gore.
Director: Dario Argento
Country: Italy
Style: Giallo
Did ya know...
The film is known as "Les Frissons de l'angoisse", meaning "The Shivers of Angst." The closeup shots of the killer's hands, clad in black leather gloves, were performed by director Dario Argento himself.
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