Drive-In Dust Offs: DEEP RED

My first foray into Italian horror was Lucio Fulci’s Zombie (1980), seen as a delightfully repulsed 10 year old. However, Dario Argento’s Deep Red (Profondo Rosso if you’re Italian) was the first Italian horror film that actually intrigued me; same age, but very different feelings. The repulsion was there, that base fear, but set within a framework of beautifully rendered images. I didn’t know much about art, but it felt like that’s what I was watching.

Released in March of 1975, Deep Red was the latest thriller from Argento in the giallo style; an Italian term which has generally become  known to mean a gruesome, lurid detective story; so called due to the fact that the original Italian pulp novels a lot of these stories pay homage to were written on yellow, or giallo, paper. Argento was already making a name for himself worldwide with previous efforts in the same vein such as The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1969) and Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971), full of the kinetic energy and inventive camerawork that he would perfect with Deep Red.

Italian horror films are not known for their intricate (or coherent) stories; Deep Red is an exception. So in the interest of not using up all of my column space, here’s the short version: a music teacher (David Hemmings – Blow Up) witnesses the murder of a medium (Macha Meril). With the help of a reporter (Daria Nicolodi – Inferno; mother of actress Asia Argento) , he attempts to find out the identity of the killer, leading him on a journey filled with haunting nursery rhymes, creepy dolls, family secrets, and plenty of mayhem.

Story wise, this is  Argento’s most linear work. The screenplay, by Argento and Bernardino Zapponi, is well structured; clues are given, misdirection is employed, events are (reasonably) logical. Unlike later giallo attempts by Argento such as Trauma (1993), Deep Red has a solid idea, and sees it all the way through to the bloody end. This sense of structure has probably a lot to do with Deep Red’s enduring appeal; many people feel it is his best work (I’m partial to Phenomena (1985) – Jennifer Connelly, hordes of insects, Donald Pleasance, chimps with razors, homicidal mongoloid kids – the story isn’t always the thing) . Alas, as with most Italian horror films, the dialogue is terrible; it just doesn’t survive the translation from Italian to English.

This brings us to the performers. It was a very canny choice to cast British actor Hemmings as music teacher Marc; in 1966 he starred in Antonioni’s Blow Up, as a photographer, who through his pictures, witnesses a murder. It was his most famous role, and made it very easy for audiences to identify with him in this film. He gives a natural and subdued performance, especially next to his Italian costars. I honestly think this problem ties into the dubbing as well; while Hemmings gets to use his own voice, the Italian actors record their lines in Italian and then are dubbed over in English by different actors. Perhaps the original recordings contain more restrained performances; however here as in most Italian horror films the dubbing makes the actors appear grandiose and amateurish.

The real reason that Deep Red still resonates to this day is because of the Cinematography of Luigi Kuveiller. It is simply stunning. His camera is always moving; frequently from the point of view of the killer (something that would not be lost on Carpenter come time to make Halloween), but always searching, creating a sense of unease in the viewer wondering where the killer will strike next. There are several shots in this film that are so beautifully composed one could print them and frame; the colors and placement are a joy to behold.

Carlo Rambaldi, future 3-time Academy Award winner, provides the splattery effects dreamed up by Argento. Things get messy, and Rambaldi is more than up for the bloody shenanigans. Well done.

This was the first time that Argento would use the Italian rock group Goblin to compose the soundtrack for one of his films and they deliver in spades, creating propulsive soundscapes that drive the action and create a palpable sense of danger. This was the beginning of a fruitful relationship with Argento – they would provide the music for Suspiria (1977), Argento’s cut of George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978), and reunite with him for Sleepless (2001). Special mention should be made of Deep Red’s original composer, Giorgio Gaslini, who was fired by Argento because he didn’t feel the material was right for the film. However, he kept Gaslini’s main theme (including the ubercreepy nursery rhyme) and a couple of other pieces for the score. Just try to keep that child’s voice out of your head.

While the horror world hopes that Argento still has another masterpiece in him, we can take comfort in the knowledge that he has created several works of nightmarish inspiration. I still don’t know a lot about art, but that same old feeling comes over me whenever I watch Deep Red.

Deep Red is available from Blue Underground on Blu-ray.