Innovative filmmaking, a triumphant style, and one of the scariest moments I’ve seen all year add up to make this an incredibly memorable good time. 

Released in 1975 at the height of the Giallo film craze in Italian cinema, this film tells the story of English pianist Marcus Daly, played by David Hemmings, as he becomes obsessed with investigating a series of murders committed by a mysterious killer wearing a stylish brown leather coat and a pair of sinister black gloves. 

For quick context, giallo was a subgenre of Italian cinema, it originated from a series of crime novels. The covers of these novels all had a distinctive yellow background leading to the name giallo which is Italian for yellow. The term giallo became synonymous with mystery story. In the 1960’s the genre came into it’s own with films like Blood and Black Lace. The genre combines elements of mystery stories, crime thrillers, and horror films to create a unique subgenre. They are stylistically linked by boldbold visual style, colorful production design, and innovative editing. Many elements of this genre were imported into American slasher films of the 80’s.  

Deep Red was directed by Dario Argento a legend of Giallo and of Italian cinema broadly. He has been called the master of thrill and the master of horror. His legendary status is well deserved, and this film is a perfect example of why.

The film begins with a parapsychology conference in which a psychic medium inadvertently identifies a murderer in the audience by their sick and twisted thoughts. 

Later that night, she is killed in her apartment. The murder is witness from the street by Marcus Daly. He rushes inside to help, but he’s too late. He becomes obsessed with trying to solve the murder. Something about it isn’t right, but he can’t figure out what it is. He teams up with Gianna, played by Daria Nicolodi, a reporter to figure out who this killer is. 

There are so many great set pieces, like when Daly is trying to write a piece of music and the killer is silently sneaking into his apartment. Will he figure out he’s in danger in time to save himself?

There’s a brutal death involving a bathtub full of boiling water. The victim writes the name of the killer in the steam on the glass before passing away. The later scene of an investigator in that room who doesn’t notice the writing is also full of suspense. Just turn on the hot water and look down!

There’s a truly terrifying moment that made me jump out of my skin involving a friend of Marcus’ who is helping him with his investigation and something jumping out of a closet. The way the scene is shot and what jumps out terrified me. A + just for that scene alone. 

The mystery is genuinely engaging and surprising. I couldn’t figure out who the killer was, and I can usually guess. The surprise reveal at the end actually was a surprise! I love that. I love when a movie can genuinely surprise me. 

I will say the movie is tonally a bit up and down. There’s an overtly comic scene in which Marcus and Gianna arm wrestle to find out who’s stronger followed by a bloody and brutal murder. A movie doesn’t have to be all one way or the other, but a couple moments like that felt a little jarring. 

Aside from that the filmmaking by Dario Argento was absolutely riveting. The cinematic techniques he used surprised and delighted me. He uses the camera, color, and editing in fascinating ways. You can tell you’re in the hands of a master who is having fun. That is the best way to describe the film. It’s fun. It has a lightness and a sense of surprise that is designed to entertain and be fun to watch. I loved it. 

I’d highly recommend it. It’s well made. It’s fun. If you have any interest in film history and the history of horror you need to check this one out. 

I hadn’t seen this one before. I thought I had pretty thoroughly explored the Giallo genre, but a recent conversation with a friend made me realize I was missing this one. I’m so glad I caught this one. It was a terrible oversight that needed to be rectified. I loved this and would highly recommend it. 

It was my cup of tea. A+