Deep Red [Reviewed by Lackey]

Deep Red aka Profondo Rosso; The Hatchet Murders
104 min. (edited version, probably Blue Underground’s “Uncensored English Version”), 1975
Directed by Dario Argento
Language: English (some dubbed dialogue)
My rating:
IMDB • Netflix

A rare Argento movie with an actual plot.

* * *

Premise

When one of his neighbors–an eccentric German psychic who uncovered some disturbing information during a public demonstration–is brutally murdered in her Rome apartment, English expatriate pianist Marc Daly joins forces with journalist Gianna Brezzi to sole the crime. Theirs is a race against time, because the killer has other targets–one of whom is Marc himself.

Review

I’m going to come right up front and admit it: I’m probably never going to be a huge fan of Dario Argento. It’s chiefly because I have this bizarre fixation on things like characterization and plot. Pretty pictures of people dying in disgusting and elaborate ways are nice to have, but I’d prefer a good story that maybe makes a bit of sense (even if it’s internal logic), or at least a few characters that I can engage with and describe as having credibility. Gory and revolting deaths of people I don’t care about tend not to scare me. And I’m pretty sure that “pretty pictures” and “gore” are at the top of Argento’s list of priorities, and “solid characterization” and “plotting” near the bottom, maybe just above “reigning in Claudio Simonetti when he starts getting indulgent.”

Deep Red is one of my favorites of his so far, and the reason I like it so much is because for once the storyline is strong and the central mystery compelling, well-constructed, and fairly credible. (This is where we pause to remember, once again, that the evolution of the slasher movie has roots in mystery as well as horror.) I actually wanted to know who the killer was and what motivated him or her, and I get the feeling that with Deep Red, Argento actually cared as well.

Which doesn’t mean that the usual Argento flaws don’t come into play. Characters being musicians has less bearing on the story here than characters being ballet students did in Suspiria. At least in Suspiria, ballet was a backdrop–here, there’s one or two conversations about music (one basically being a series of jokes), one scene of Marc actually playing a piano, and…that’s about it. It’s pretty much all discarded once he hooks up with Gianni and starts playing Sam Spade, which I found a bit inexplicable (it never seems like he knew the dead neighbor all that well).

Too many ancillary plot points and lines are introduced without resolution or even a feeling that they somehow belong in the story–I really wanted to know what the deal was with the girl and the lizards, and walked away disappointed. (N.B. I didn’t find out until later that this particular version of Deep Red, while extended somewhat from its original American theatrical release, is still a good twenty minutes shorter than the original Italian version. Maybe a few of these things are addressed in the excised material. For example, it turns out that in the uncut version, Marc and Gianni enter into an affair; in the version I watched, all that’s left of that is a typically ’70s discussion about feminism that’s supposed to somehow also be flirtatious.) While the killer’s identity isn’t immediately obvious–I found it a bit ingenious, so kudos to Argento on that–the resolution seems a bit pat and too reliant on coincidence.

While the main characters of Marc and Gianni are a bit underdeveloped, David Hemmings (Blow Up) and Daria Nicolodi (pretty much everything Argento did between ’75 and ’84, although usually in supporting roles) put in fairly solid performances. (Sadly, the actress dubbing Nicolodi dilutes whatever chemistry Nicolodi might have had with Hemmings.) Gabriele Lavia is excellent as Marc’s troubled, drunken colleague (and the dubbed-voice actor is fairly strong as well), although he does tend to overplay a bit.

Argento isn’t quite at the top of his form here as a director: I’d actually consider Suspiria and even Inferno to be “prettier” films from a purely visual point of view. But there’s still a lot of excellent camera work (the pre-titles sequence is worth the price of admission alone), and his location work–particularly his “deserted city at night” sequences–is pure genius.

Deep Red isn’t my favorite Argento–I’d actually have to go with “Jenifer”–it does prove a suspicion I’ve had for a long time, which is that if he paid a bit more attention to the structure and story of his films, I’d be able to appreciate them more.

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