“Deep Red” (1975) often tops rankings of Dario Argento films, or even all giallo films. I suppose this makes sense if “Suspiria” (1977) is shunted to a separate category of supernatural films, but still I find it mildly overrated.
“Deep Red” continues the traits of Argento’s thematic “animal trilogy” (of which “Bird with the Crystal Plumage” is best known). A killer who almost magically gets into people’s homes, and spookily whispers to them. A non-detective protagonist who is driven to play amateur sleuth. Evocative, crumbling architecture. Quick flashes to symbolic objects or images. A surprise resolution and a pop-psychology explanation.
Does it do any of these things better? Maybe, but not wildly better.
“Deep Red” (1975)
Director: Dario Argento
Writers: Dario Argento, Bernardino Zapponi
Stars: David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia
One thing is new, though: Goblin, a full Italian progressive rock band, provides the score. Synth and other instruments are slathered over intense scenes; at the time, it was a jarring yet exciting new way to provoke that “edge of your seat” response. Goblin (or the way the mixers use Goblin) would end up doing next-level work on “Suspiria.” “Deep Red” is content to have non-scored stretches; it’s like the music is being turned on and off.
Argento’s rough edges are sanded off from the animal trilogy and critics were ready to give the helmer his full due. In the “Suspiria”-versus-“Deep Red” debate among Argento rankers, though, “Suspiria” is my easy choice. Jessica Harper leads us through it, it has an innocuously weird setting for evil (a dance academy), and Goblin knocks it out of the park. It’s gorgeously artistic, and it is scarier.
More non-sleuth sleuths
David Hemmings, who could play Paul McCartney in a biopic, takes us through the mystery of “Deep Red” as Marc, a pianist. Hemmings does that blank-faced type of acting that allows us to imprint our own concerns on his face. I find him a little flat, often lost in the stronger character of the locations, such as the inexplicably near-empty street whose peace is punctuated by the scream of the first murder.
But at least Marc is clearly a central protagonist, dodging Argento’s quirk of flitting from one POV character to another. Gianna (Daria Nicolodi), a photojournalist, sometimes steps in to assist Marc. Through her, Argento might be hinting at a theme, since Gianna is what people in the 1970s would call a women’s libber. Marc tells her women are weaker and gentler; she laughs and then challenges him at arm wrestling.
(SPOILERS FOLLOW.)
It’s a comedic sequence, but perhaps Argento’s point that any stereotypical role held by men (killer or hunter) can also be held by women. In the end, “Deep Red” is another of the “Psycho” ripoffs/homages (see also De Palma’s “Dressed to Kill”) in that a young man (Gabriele Lavia’s Carlo) has psychological damage due to his mother (Clara Calamai’s Martha). But in a darker spin, “Deep Red” is what “Psycho” only seemed to be: the story of a son protecting his serial-killer mom from being caught.
(END OF SPOILERS.)
“Deep Red” uses comedy in a weirdly blunt way; this was perhaps provided by co-writer Bernardino Zapponi. Gianna drives Marc around in her crappy car: The seat collapses, the sun shade won’t stay up, and because he locked the door, they’ll now have to go to a mechanic to get out.
These comedy sequences stand alone rather than being intermingled with other tones. While the comedy moments are decent, it makes “Deep Red” less scary overall, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing.
Get the answers before they crumble
“Deep Red” might be less clunky than the animal trilogy, but it retains some of those films’ “throw it at the wall” nature, like the inclusion of the daughter of the crumbling mansion’s caretaker. She likes to torture small animals, and it’s suggested that she does this with mental powers.
It’s not necessarily out of place: The film starts with a lecturing psychic detecting in the crowd someone who had committed a past murder. It’s rather odd that psychic powers are a given in this horror-mystery, yet the solution exists in mundane realms.
The horror sequences, though, nicely tap into classics. Can you ever go wrong with a sequence of someone smashing a false wall in an old mansion in order to find a hidden room? I doubt it.
Categorizing any Argento film as overrated or underrated is an odd exercise. A lot of American horror fans (like me) find him later in their journeys, when they learn his giallo movies paved the way for the 1980s slasher boom. So he’s intrinsically underrated in that sense.
It’s a mystery to me why “Deep Red” tops all the lists, though. It’s an Argento film, so it’s no surprise that it’s engaging and influential, but I find it more moody than scary (despite claims that this is the flick pick for those who want to be terrified). To me, “Deep Red’s” greatest attribute is that it allows Goblin to gear up for their crucial contribution to Argento’s greatest masterpiece, “Suspiria.”