Writer(s): Argento and Bernardino Zapponi
Starring: David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, and Gabriele Lavia
Dario Argento, much like Mario Bava before him, has always
been a student of the “style over substance” school of thought; his movies,
when at their best, are exercises in violent elegance. Suspiria may very well be considered his
swan song, the pinnacle of his talents as director, but Deep Red arguably
finds him at the top of his game. The
deaths are certainly stylish, as can be expected, but those that are heading
into it solely for the kill scenes might be a little let down: In 126 minutes, there are only seven scenes
of violence (about one every eighteen minutes), and only a couple of those are
graphic.
But whereas a slasher movie (or in this case, more
accurately, a giallo film, which are essentially Italian slasher films, with a
direct influence on the American versions) with few kill scenes is usually a
recipe for dullness, Argento works at a fever pitch, throwing everything he has
at the viewer. The end result is a
stunning work, and although I would stop short of calling it a
horror masterpiece, it very well may be Argento’s masterpiece.
Marcus Daly is an English musician living in Italy (more
specifically, as we will hear ten thousand times, a “pianist”) who witnesses
the murder of a psychic. He rushes to
try to help her, but by the time he reaches her, she is dead. A short while later, another person is
killed, under very similar circumstances.
Obsessed with finding the identity of the murderer, and putting an end
to the crimes, Marcus circumvents the police, and teams up with female reporter
and part-time love interest Giana Brezzi (played by longtime Argento
collaborator Daria Nicolodi) to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Of course, take away the names and this broad synopsis could
describe any one of a thousand different movies (or novels, or plays, or…), but
not many of them have the same impact that Deep Red does. For every additional plot convolution—in
typical mystery style, the constant uncovering of clues feels very arbitrary,
rather than logical—Argento throws in another artistic decision that keeps us
on our toes; the murderer plays the same children’s song before they murder,
and also “warns” victims by hanging a plastic doll from a noose at the
soon-to-be crime scene. The little artistic flourishes that abound throughout keep us engrossed, especially in the many instances when its logic fails.
The constantly roaming camerawork is near legendary; from
simple camera movements, or montages of dark interiors, Argento somehow manages
to ratchet up the tension. He
successfully creates an atmosphere that almost every horror movie tries to
replicate, but so few successfully manage; that evil could be hiding in any
shadow, and can strike at any time. This
also has a lot to do with the lighting, especially during nighttime scenes, and
Argento pulls off natural lighting with relative ease; we knew he could go
over-the-top thanks to films like Suspiria, but his style here is more
realistic and downplayed, without trading off any of its effectiveness. Any budding film director, whether interested
in the horror genre or not, would do well to study his compositions to get a
true understanding of how to master the visual craft.
It should go without saying that another big part of
cultivating the desired ambiance depends heavily on the score, and for Deep
Red, Argento relies on Italian rock band Goblin, part of a frequent collaboration
that would end with his release of Sleepless in 2000. While their music in Deep Red is far from
their best work (a couple tracks are very repetitive, and the same few are used
over and over again), it nevertheless remains a breath of fresh air from the
genre, even today. Eschewing all the
typical earmarks of a horror score—string swells to alert of incoming danger
and sudden shrieks that signify jump scares or character revelations—Goblin’s
work is uptempo rock. This makes the
kill scenes kinetic and almost adrenaline-pumping, giving them a “life”, so to
speak, and a resonance that wouldn’t have been possible with a more dramatic,
straightforward set of music.
It’s not without its problems: The writing is relatively standard, and just
relies on piling one implausibility on top of another, while the acting is a
moot point, given the dubbed Italian voices (although you can clearly see they
are often speaking in English), so none of the performances have any kind of
impact. But for those that are more
intrigued with the visual aspects of film, Deep Red has a lot to offer well
beyond the genre’s trademark gore.
RECAP: Suspiria gets all the press, but Deep Red just
may be Italian director Dario Argento’s best work; a visually-inventive giallo
film that, what it lacks in substance (and it’s a lot), it certainly makes up
for in style. The camerawork and
lighting are extraordinary, the blood scenes are well done, and there are some
inspired artistic touches spread throughout that never allow it to be anything
less than fascinating—for a slasher movie with only seven deaths that just
surpasses the two-hour mark, that’s saying a lot. It’s definitely not perfect: The writing is standard, and the acting contributes
nothing to the overall story (due in large part to the Italian cast speaking in
English, only to be dubbed in Italian, somehow standard for these kinds of
films). But for those who don’t mind
allowing the writing and characters to take a backseat to technical brilliance,
then Deep Red just may be what you’re looking for.
SCORE: 8/10
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