Friday, August 26, 2011

Deep Red (Profondo rosso) (1975)

Director: Dario Argento. Cast: David Hemmings, Daria Nicoldi, Gabriele Lavia. 104 min. Rated R. Italy. Horror/Mystery.

A pianist accidentally witnesses a murder through a window (DePalma, anyone?), and as he hunts the murderer, suddenly becomes the hunted. First saw this as a kid, and remember it scared the bejesus out of me at the time - but obviously lacks the same kick after almost 30 years. The performances (including Hemmings') are terrible, the dubbed dialogue is a nuisance, and the plot has too many holes to count, as the killer eliminates victims without the script cluing us into how he knows they're onto him. Still found the fake Italian gore and the mind-screwing soundtrack somewhat charming.


PS: I saw the shorter (cleaner) version streaming on Netflix. Apparently there's a longer 126 min version containing on-camera animal cruelty. What's up with the Italians and animal cruelty?


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