(Apparently, the only way to go out for a walk at night in Italy is to wear a blindfold. So you don't witness any goddamn murders.)
CAST: David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia, Macha Meril, Guiliana Calandra, Eros Pagni, Glauco Mauri, Clara Calamai.
DIRECTOR: Dario Argento
WARNING: SPOILERS and one out-of-control meat cleavers right up ahead...
Following the success of his "Animal Trilogy" consisting of the thrillers THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, THE CAT O'NINE TAILS, and FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET, Dario Argento evidently felt that he needed a break from the "Giallo" genre. Accordingly, he did a veritable 180-degree turn and helmed... a western. Yup, a western. Titled FIVE DAYS IN MILAN, it didn't make much of a dent at the Italian box-office, let alone overseas - proving the old adage that says you shouldn't be a cowboy if riding horses crimps your nuts. Thankfully, Argento realized he wasn't meant to ride horses and went back to the genre that put him on the map. The result: the film that is widely considered to be his first true masterpiece: DEEP RED. A smash-hit both in Italy and overseas, Argento's fourth thriller was also the one that cemented his reputation as "The Italian Hitchcock." Word is that Alfred Hitchcock himself was impressed with Argento's latest. And rightfully so. The fact that George Romero recently announced that he will helm a remake of DEEP RED also says something about the movie's influence.
Like a refreshing vacation, Argento's time away from the Giallo genre seemed to galvanize his creative instincts. All the elements of the genre are here: (1) the foreigner in Italy who witnesses something that he shouldn't, (2) the serpentine mystery, (3) the mysterious black-gloved killer, (4) the "clue" that the hero cannot recall, and (5) colorful set-pieces that are terrifying and stylish at the same time. Except in DEEP RED, Argento takes all these elements and magnifies them to a visceral level. Our hero this time is Marc Daly (David Hemmings), a Brit living in Turin who (1) is a whiz at playing the piano, (2) has a drunk best friend named Carlo (Gabriele Lavia), and (3) appears to have a wardrobe consisting only of black shirts and white pants - either that or he never changes his clothes, which frankly, I don't even want to think about.
But before we get too wrapped up in Marc's orbit, let's talk about another character for a moment: Helga Ullman (Macha Meril). Helga is a Lithuanian psychic who is in Turin to speak at a parapsychology conference. As DEEP RED opens, Helga is addressing an auditorium full of people and demonstrating her powers. According to Professor Giordani (Glauco Mauri), Helga has "extradordinary powers of telepathy" - which she demonstrates by: (1) zeroing in on a single man in the audience, (2) guessing his name accurately, and (3) correctly assessing what he's doing with his hands. Fortunately, he's just toying with some keys in his pockets, so this is fine to share with the audience. Imagine if he'd been, um, adjusting his package or something.
At any rate, before Helga can zero in on someone who is actually adjusting his package and calling him out in front of everyone, she freaks out and swats at the air as if invisible bees are buzzing around her. While Giordani exchanges a "WTF?" look with his colleague, Bardi (Eros Pagni) seated on the other side of the stage, Helga yells out something about "blood and death" and "someone who has killed and will kill again" and "no one must ever know." Just as Giordani and Bardi are ready to deduce that Helga is practicing the theme song for next Bond movie, she snaps out of it and calms down, explaining that someone in the audience was sending her "perverted, murderous thoughts." Later, she tells Giordani that she knows who the psychopath in the audience was - and will reveal the identity soon. Too bad Helga mentioned earlier that she could only read minds, but not foretell the future. She might have been able to predict the murder of a certain, ahem, Lithuanian psychic who knows way too much.
Then we cut to our protagonist, Marc, strolling back to his flat after another night of teaching music lessons. He happens upon Carlo who, as usual, is not so much three sheets to the wind but three thousand. Slurring and stumbling all over the place, Carlo prompts Marc to lecture him on curbing his drunken ways. Carlo basically belches in response and bids his bud, "Buona Serrata" and stumbles home to whatever poor lady he lives with. Marc, having done what he can, heads home as well - eager to wash the belch mist off his face. Ugh.
Unfortunately, before Marc can enter his building, he looks up to see a woman being attacked in the flat above his - and it is none other than Helga. He rushes up to her apartment, barrels through the doors, races down a very long hallway lined on both sides with paintings, and bursts into her bedroom to find out that... he really should have just taken his time - because Helga is as dead as the odds of another Bond movie in the next two years. Apparently, someone went to town on her with a meat cleaver - and when Marc glances out the broken window, he glimpses a rain-coated figure who just might be that someone, disappearing into the night. A second later, Carlo - bless his lush heart - stumbles out of a nearby tavern and collapses on the ground, so he's got an alibi. Hmmmmm. Unless...
At any rate, the police arrive and are ecstatic that they have an eyewitness. Later, Marc asks the detectives if they removed anything from the hallway of paintings. He says that there seems to be one painting missing. When asked what the painting was, Marc says he doesn't remember - which pretty much calls into question his belief that it is missing, right? To make matters worse, a burst of wind and thunder and lightning and demonic laughter heralds the arrival of Gianna Brezzi (Daria Nicolodi), a cub reporter for the local paper who is about as demure as a rabid bobcat amped up on speed and caffeine. Swooping onto the crime scene like a female Italian version of the Tasmanian Devil, she takes one look at Marc standing there like a dumb shit - and correctly deduces that he's an eyewitness. Gianna snaps a picture of him and wisely skedaddles before the cops can throw her ass out the window.
Sure enough, that picture Gianna took of Marc winds up on the front page of the local paper - under the subtle caption: "EYEWITNESS TO HELGA ULLMAN'S MURDER CAN IDENTIFY THE KILLER!!! OPEN SEASON ON MARC DALY STARTS TODAY!!!!" Even more surprising is Marc's reaction to this: he basically acts like it's a minor inconvenience, like his normal bus line being temporarily re-routed due to a fucking Mariners game. Indeed, when he runs into Gianna at Helga's funeral he is quite courteous and civil - considering the bitch basically hung a target around his neck. For her part, Gianna barely apologizes before giving Marc all the gossip on Helga's life, which is somehow unsurprising considering how morally-upright she's acted thus far. Evidently, Giordani was having an affair with Helga, and Bardi is an expert of paranormal phenomena who was also Helga's friend - but presumably without benefits.
Marc and Gianna consult with Bardi and Giordani to help sort out the mystery of Helga's murder. Giordani tells them about the incident at the conference when Helga intuited a murderer's presence in the audience - and whose identity she subsequently discovered. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that she was offed to keep that identity under wraps. Things gets even worse when the killer drops by Marc's place for a chat (and a chopping), but Marc rudely reacts by locking himself in the bedroom and refusing to come out. Miffed, the killer leaves - but not before whispering through the door: "You can run, but you can't hide, bitch." Or something like that.
A bit more concerned now (just a bit), Marc consults again with Giordani and Bardi, and tells them he heard the sound of a singing child right before he was attacked. The two scholars (if you can call people who study wacky bat-shit stuff "scholars") remember that Helga mentioned hearing a child singing when she read the killer's thoughts. Somehow, this leads them to an old book on urban legends - one being about a mysterious house on the outskirts of Rome supposedly haunted by a singing child. Before you know it, Marc turns into Nancy Drew and tracks down the author of the book, Amanda Righetti (Giuliana Calandra). Sadly, the killer is at least twenty steps ahead of Marc. When he arrives at Amanda's house, he finds that the killer has basically given her the Lobster treatment using a bathtub full of scalding water.
Just a bit more concerned now (just a bit), Marc tells Giordani what happened to Amanda. Giordani decides to turn into Nancy Drew, as well, and heads over to Amanda's place after the cops remove her body. Scouring the bathroom with an eagle eye, he notices the chalk outline on the floor pointing to a nearby mirror. Using the super-sleuth technique of turning on the hot water and steaming up the joint, Giordani uncovers an important clue - and hightails it out of there. But not before being scolded by the housekeeper for wasting all the hot water. Who exactly does this bitch think is going to use all that hot water now? Amanda's ghost? Meanwhile, Marc continues to obsess about that mysterious painting that he was sure he saw, but is now somehow missing from Helga's flat.
Things intensify when: (1) Marc tracks down the location of the mysterious house, (2) searches it and discovers a scary child's drawing hidden behind some paint, and (3) Giordani ismurdered by the killer and a doll (don't ask) before he can reveal the clue that he found at Amanda's house. One thing I'll say about our killer: it's too bad he (she?) decided to embark on a life of murder and mayhem because, given how she (he?) is way ahead of the game, this person could have easily been the next Bill Gates. At any rate, Marc eventually discovers a skeleton in a walled-up room of the house. Unfortunately, in yet another act of stunning cunning, our killer knocks Marc out and burns the place down - destroying the evidence. Fortunately, Gianna shows up and drags Marc to safety. Everything else, including the child's drawing and the skeleton, are destroyed in the flames.
Through a "WTF?" turn of events, Marc and Gianna discover that there is a copy of the child's drawing at a nearby school - and if they can find out who drew it, they just might be able to unmask the killer. At the school, they scour the archives and Marc finds the painting. Before he can share his discovery with Gianna, however, she is attacked and stabbed in another room. Marc gives chase to the shadow and discovers that it is - Carlo. Actually, Marc already knew it was Carlo based on the name on the drawing, but he still has to act shocked for the camera. Carlo, for his part, moans and groans that he now has to kill his best bud. Before he can do so, though, the cops - who up until this point where more concerned with eating, farting, and ogling chicks - finally decide to earn their pay and show up. This leads to a brutally hilarious chase sequence in which Carlo:(1) is hit by a passing truck, (2) gets his leg caught in the fender, (3) gets dragged by the truck for, oh, several blocks, (4) gets his head bashed a few times against curbs as the truck speeds on, (5) before getting his head crushed by another passing car. Seriously. This would be something for a Will Ferrell movie if it weren't for all the death and suspense.
At any rate, Gianna is rushed to the hospital where miraculously she manages to shut the fuck up for a few hours while undergoing surgery. The surgeon informs Marc that she is a strong girl and that she will be fine. Trying to hide his disappointment, Marc leaves and takes another night-time stroll through nocturnal Turin. Doesn't this fucking guy know by now that he should just go home and fucking stay there? Why ask for trouble? At any rate, during his stroll Marc realizes that Carlo couldnt' have been the killer because he was with him when Helga was being attacked - and Marc glimpsed him coming out of that tavern just after the killer disappeared into the night.
Marc races back to Helga's apartment, rips up all the police tape sealing the doors, and barrels in to have another look at that long hallway filled with paintings. As he stands there, he finally realizes the truth: (1) he did see something hanging on the wall, (2) but it wasn't a painting and instead was a (3) mirror that he saw the killer's face in, and (4) when he saw the mirror later it obviously looked different and so (5) he assumed that a painting had been removed, but in all actuality he (6) he looked right at the goddamned killer when he ran by that night to save Helga. Now, excuse me for a moment while I take out the trash, do some laundry, and cook my cabbage soup for next week's lunches. I can tell you will need some time to get over that revelation.
Okay, I'm back. So... right after Marc realizes that he knows who the killer is, he turns to find he's not alone in the apartment. Nope. True to fashion, our killer has been ahead of Marc this whole time and is now standing in the entrance hall of Helga's flat. And it is none other than Martha (Clara Calamai). You're probably going, "WHO THE FUCK IS MARTHA?!!!" right about now. Well, she is Carlo's mother and was in one scene earlier where she flirted creepily and sadly with Marc, but whom the plot cast aside - until now. Turns out that Martha killed Carlo's dad when he was a kid, hence that skeleton in the walled-up room. See, that old house was Carlo's house as a child - and he was trying to protect his mother when he attacked Marc and Gianna at the school. Anyhow, Marc makes a bolt for it, but Martha is quite agile for someone who is about as old as pizza, and wounds him with the cleaver. Unfortunately, Marc is pretty limber for a pianist and gives her a nice kick to the ass which causes the following to happen: (1) her pitching forward into the elevator cage, (2) her necklace getting caught between the bars, (3) Marc cruelly yet hilariously hitting the call button, (5) causing the elevator descend and (6) catch the gems on her necklace, (7) resulting in her crazy little head being ripped the fuck off.
Never piss off those artistic types. THE END.
BUT, SERIOUSLY: Often labeled a "Turbo-Giallo" for its confidence, verve, and relentless drive, DEEP RED was a smashing success in Italy - and really raised Argento's profile internationally. Combining new elements of supernatural phenomena and the more grounded suspense/mystery elements that were present in his "Animal Trilogy" films, Argento created a memorable thriller that is atmospheric, riveting, and hypnotically entertaining. The time off that he took from making this type of film obviously gave him both inspiration and clarity. He remembered what it is, first and foremost, that makes a good giallo: a sympathetic and interesting protagonist -something he forgot in his last suspense film, the interesting but flawed FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET. In that film, the hero Roberto Tobias (Michael Brandon) was a self-centered sleazebag who deserved the torment the villain heaped on him. By contrast, in DEEP RED, Marc Daly is portrayed as shy, polite, and a loyal friend. We get to like Marc from the very first scene, as he patiently explains to his music students that they should allow a little more life and spontaneity in their playing - and not be so controlled. Not long after that, we see him display genuine brotherly concern to the troubled Carlo. Even with his verbal jousting with Gianna, where he makes statements that might be considered sexist and chauvinist, his comments only serve to give him nuance and dimension. I guess this is a testament to David Hemmings' performance that we buy and accept all these different colors to Marc.
The other lead is similary-committed. Daria Nicolodi is clearly having fun with her role of feisty reporter Gianna Brezzi - easily the strongest female lead Argento had up until this point. Brassy, loud, and vivacious, Gianna Brezzi brings a lot of life to the plot and is a terrific foil for the more reserved and measured Marc. The character combines the self-assurance and playfulness of Anna Terzi (Catherine Spaak) from THE CAT O'NINE TAILS with the glamour and poise of Julia from THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE - with an added dash of timeless female spunk. Another reason for Daria Nicolodi's spirited performance in this film is the fact that she and her director were evidently falling in love during filming. You can see it on her face - she is simply radiant. Sadly, as most Argento fans know, Argento and Nicolodi's dynamic union would begin to unravel around the time their next film (SUSPIRIA) was being made. But in DEEP RED, their off-screen relationship was still in it Halcyon Days phase - when love was new and at its most exciting and seemed like it would last forever. And their union produced Asia Argento...
As for the supporting cast, they are all aces. Macha Meril makes her mark with her small but vital role as the psychic whose murder kick-starts the whole story. In fact, her role feels bigger than it is because of Meril's performance. Giuliana Calandra is also good as Amanda Righetti, the unwitting author who is pulled into the fray because of the book she wrote. Glauco Mauri and Eros Pagni are suitably erudite and quirky as the scholars helping Marc and Gianna with their investigation. Gabriele Lavia is sympathetic and likable as the troubled drunk Carlo who resorts to murder to protect his mother. His scenes with Hemmings have a nice "brotherly" vibe that gives the film something of an emotional foundation - which pays off at the confrontation at the school when Marc discovers the truth. You really believe that Carlo doesn't want to kill his friend - but will do so to protect Martha.
Speaking of Martha, Clara Calamai turns her into a surprisingly scary villainess. When we first meet her, she is the picture of a gracious, kind, and perfect hostess - someone who couldn't hurt a fly. But at the end when she reveals her madness and terrorizes Marc, she is terrifyingly vicious and unhinged. It's a credit to Clara Calamai's acting that these two sides to Martha appear seamless and believable.
Finally, no glowing review of DEEP RED would be complete without kudos made to Goblin's atmospheric, eerie, and driving musical score. It's so visceral and present that it almost seems to be another character in the film. It's debatable whether or not DEEP RED would be such a strong thriller without it, but thankfully, we will never know - and I don't want to know. Goblin would also provide the score for Argento's next effort: SUSPIRIA - the film that would be his biggest success ever. Indeed, along with DEEP RED, SUSPIRIA is also being remade - reportedly with Natalie Portman in the role.
