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Oct 16, 2018 By Austin Trunick

Although it followed three arguably classic gialli, 1975’s Deep Red was the first film to fully exhibit the signature style that Dario Argento is most well-known for today. Deep Red marked not only the end of the giallo’s most prolific period, but the beginning of Argento’s golden era.

Blow-Up’s David Hemmings plays Marc Daly, a British jazz pianist living successfully in Rome who gets caught up in a dangerous mystery when he witnesses the murder of his neighbor, a well-renowned psychic. With the help the victim’s colleagues and an intrepid newspaper reporter, Gianna (Argento muse Daria Nicolodi), he spearheads an amateur investigation into the homicide, convinced he saw an important clue at the murder scene but unable to recall its significance. Unfortunately for him and everyone else involved in the search, the murderer is always one step ahead of the rookie detectives, killing off anyone who gets too close to revealing their identity.

Scholarly writings have compared the murder scenes in Argento’s movies to the elaborate song and dance numbers of musicals, and few places in his filmography does that comparison feel as proper as it does with Deep Red. In this film the murders more or less stand on their own, rarely involving any other characters than the killer and the to-be-killed. Adding to the feeling of disconnect is the almost-overpowering prog rock score by Goblin, which has a habit of kicking in just when the killer’s lurking nearby. This is one of the most intrusive soundtracks you’ll find in any film, but it’s perfect for Argento’s hyper-stylized scenes of violence; the filmmaker utilizes not only the ubiquitous point-of-view shots so commonly seen in gialli, but shock moments that border on the surreal. (For a horror movie that has nothing to do with scary dolls, Deep Red features one of horror’s scariest doll moments.) Making the deaths so excruciating are their focus on relatable pains; if one’s ever chipped a tooth, they’ll cringe as one character’s teeth are repeatedly smashed against the edge of a table. This is a top-notch giallo, and signature Argento.

The murder scenes in Deep Red are unforgettable, which covers up for much of what comes between them so often feeling like filler. This, of course, depends on which cut of the film you watch. Argento himself trimmed more than 20 minutes from his movie for its English-language release, most of that coming at the expense of character development scenes between Hemmings and the reporter played by Nicolodi. In the English version, she’s little more than a love interest for our hero; the full-length Italian version presents her as a much stronger character and the far better-equipped investigator of the two. The English cut moves at a much faster pace, as if not wanting to get in the way of its scenes of feverish violence. While the full cut occasionally drags and showcases a few passages of very dated dialogue, we’ll stand by it being the superior version.

This uncut version is what’s presented in a handsome, 4K restoration on Arrow Video’s new Blu-ray edition of the film. The HD picture quality is fantastic, doing particular justice to Deep Red’s deep reds and dark blacks. Viewers have the choice of watching it with the original Italian audio, or a hybrid English version which rather jarringly switches to Italian during the extended scenes. (Only the shortened cut was dubbed into English, so only Italian audio exists for the scenes that were trimmed.) This doesn’t play as awkwardly as it probably sounds as Hemmings obviously spoke English on set, and so even with the original Italian track you’re getting somebody’s voice oddly overdubbed. Given how many places Argento intentionally calls attention to the artifice of cinema, the language swapping doesn’t seem overly bizarre.

The extra features included are generous. One standout feature amongst the numerous interviews and audio commentary is a half-hour video essay by Michael Mackenzie that lays out Deep Red’s many themes and the film’s place within Argento’s legacy, nicely doubling as a strong introduction to the filmmaker and his early works. On that same note, Deep Red is as good an entry point into Argento’s filmography as any, up there in ease of recommendation alongside Suspiria. Deep Red is essential Argento, and with strong AV presentation and host of context-providing bonus materials, Arrow’s latest release of the film offers really good value.

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