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Deep Red (1975)

Part two of my back-to-back reviews for Dario Argento films. Yesterday featured the widely appreciated Suspiria and today will star his 1975 serial killer film Deep Red.

Upon viewing it now, those lost in the run and gun style of current horror might find it too retro, slow moving, and visually unappealing. But Deep Red, to the horror veteran, is a prime example of classic terror and the form most buffs wish the genre would return to. Directed by cult favourite Dario Argento. Deep Red is a paced hour and forty five minutes, riddled with reddish goo and creepy circumstances. An added benefit of Deep Red is its intelligent level is raised than most of the genre films from that time. In keeping the viewer guessing until the very end, Deep Red knows it needs to provide the goods throughout and does so in sickening fashion. Starring David Hemmings, Gabriele Lavia, and Macha Meril, Deep Red’s cast and crew pack a potent punch mentally and visually while being accompanied by a startling soundtrack.

With an eerie, innocent song playing, a scream echo’s throughout several rooms and a bloody knife is tossed at the feet of a child. Later, a psychic named Helga (Meril) attends a presentation. While reading the minds of some of the audience members, Helga has a violent outburst. She has witnessed images from a foul mind and states that the owner of these thoughts has murdered and plans to again. At her apartment, Helga begins to hear a children’s song playing. When the doorbell rings, Helga approaches the door but has a psychic intuition and backs away from the door. At the same moment, the killer bursts into the room and murders Helga. Down in the street below, Marcus (Hemmings) witnesses Helga break through her apartment window and rushes to attend to her. When Marcus becomes curious as to irregularities in the apartment, he sets out to uncover the identity of the killer.

I feel that I need to touch on this. It is a rare occasion when a film is just as sound structurally as it is musically. The compositions are incredibly ominous and bone chilling.Teetering between sweetly innocent and dangerously hectic. The contrasting sensation of what you’re hearing and what you’re seeing is intoxicatingly uncomfortable. As for the gore and its authenticity…One is more abundant than the other. While there is a substantial amount of blood, it has the look and consistency of red paint. Once you’re able to get over the dubious mush spewing from vicious lacerations, Deep Red is how horror should be treated. Argento was able to perfect his entries into the “giallo” genre over time and Deep Red was the beginning of it. Followed by the widely praised Suspiria, Argento’s Deep Red helped redefine a genre and inspire fellow horror enthusiasts like John Carpenter.

Deep Red: 7.5 out of 10.

Posted in Horror

Suspiria (1977)

Apr 10

Posted by Joseph@thecinemamonster

Day number one of my back-to-back reviews for two of Dario Argento’s films. Today will be his 1977 horror Suspiria and tomorrow will be the 1975 classic Deep Red. Also guys, don’t forget to check out the top 10 section and discussion boards, as well as the double feature weekend featuring reviews of Evil Dead and Jurassic Park 3D. Enjoy!

In this day and age, Suspiria discourages and annoys even the most avid, albeit modern horror enthusiast. But to the horror obsessor with a thirst for the classics. It is a goose-bump inducing, stomach turning, heart stopping high that you never want to come down from. Just don’t consider it to be divergent. The over supplying and desensitizing processes of the current age have turned scatterbrains into attention seeking voids, deprived of any sense of pace. Suspiria might be too dramatic and put the scariness on the back burner as it cements its plot. However, its final sequence should be incentive enough, let alone the demeanour of its pulsating shocks present from the start, to give it the chance it warrants. Suspiria was at the forefront of the horror genre from 1977 and on, it inspired many and followed none. Directed by horror visionary Dario Argento and starring Jessica Harper as well as Stefania Casini. This paranormal fright fest is the follow up to Argento’s 1975 serial killer picture, Deep Red.

Suzy (Harper) is a young American ballet dancer who journeys to Germany to attend a very prestigious dance academy. Arriving at the academy, Suzy witnesses a young girl flee the school while whispering incoherent sentences seemingly to herself. After being introduced to her instructors and fellow students, Suzy eventually takes residence in the dorms with her classmates. Later on, Suzy and the academy learn that the young girl running away from the academy was a student by the name of Pat. She had suffered a horrible death as well as her close friend she recently took residence with. As time passes, Suzy and the girls begin to hear and see strange things throughout the academy. When Suzy and her friend begin to search for the truth, a harsh reality is unveiled.

Much like Deep Red, Suspiria reveals a majority of its secrets in the latter stages of the runtime. But while leading the viewer on this chase for answers, the mounting strain and tingling fear from a series of occurrences with unknown origins almost become unbearable. Disappointingly, there isn’t as much gore that you’d expect from an Argento film, but when the situation calls for excessiveness, Suspiria delivers. It continues to compile claim for one of the most over the top, gruesome death sequences in film and deservedly so. Drawing another similarity between Suspiria and Deep Red. The musical accompaniment is used to exquisite effectiveness throughout. It is extremely bizarre and entrancingly fear sustaining. Suspiria might prove to be a bore for some, but to those who can appreciate its phantoms and tactics, it is a rewarding nightmare.

Suspiria: 8 out of 10.

Posted in Horror

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Tags: Argento, Casini, Harper, Horror, Thriller