Deep Red Review

Deep Red Poster (1975)

One of the best directors in horror is Dario Argento. He is an Italian horror director that creates lavish set pieces, with amazing colors and commentary that is absolutely grand. I love his work, and have reviewed many of his movies on this website. However, today, we are going to talk about one of my favorite movies of his, and it’s “Deep Red”. This is a movie that features a lot of different elements that you would get from horror, and with the idea of “Gialo” detective movies. The music, the visuals, and the story will definitely stun most.

The movie features a man that looks a lot like Paul McCartney, and he is a piano player. He is working on a piece when something happens during a lecture. A psychic seems to see something evil, and she senses it. When this is all said and done, she goes to her apartment, and out comes a figure in the dark and hatchets her to death! I kid you not. You don’t see the killer, you get a POV version of the events. This also occurs to several other people that have something to do with the music, and our main composer is on the hunt, alongside a journalist. The two have a slight love story, but the bodies keep piling up. Along the way, you get to see POV style death sequences that are over the top, grotesque, and yet charming with the way that Dario Argento works through the color palette and the music of Goblin. Great stuff.

The movie is a bit slow, and my version of the movie didn’t have subtitles at all. It would cut in and out of Italian, and it was a bit difficult to manage. There was dubbing for half of the movie, and the other half had Italian. Now, I speak Spanish and Italian is not too far away from it. I liked that, and it was interesting to listen to the languages. Goblin’s score is great overall, and I loved it.

As for the movie, this is an interesting take on horror, and features a detective subplot, with a little love thrown into the overall elements. However, when the killer is revealed, you feel like air is coming out of a balloon slowly. The buildup is epic, but you’re going to end up laughing at the ludicrous nature, and the overall findings. It’s funny, and not at all what you’d expect. However, the special effects, the visual design, and the movie is quite good overall.

Dario Argento’s “Deep Red” has a lot of creepy moments. Good direction, misdirection, and quality music from Giorgio Gaslini and Goblin. It really is a good horror movie, and it’s paced well, with some great elements of fear, especially considering this was from 1975 of all years.

You can pick up “Deep Red” on blu ray by clicking here. It’s worth checking out, especially on Halloween!

Did you see “Deep Red”? If you did, drop me a comment below.