By TESS HENSON

There are several recurring themes in Argento's films...one is the woman as villain. Deep Red is no exception. This concept definitely defies the standards set by American horror films of the same era (mid-seventies), where the woman is seemingly always the victim.

In Deep Red and other films in Argento's repertoire like The Bird With The Crystal Plumage, Trauma and Four Flies On Grey Velvet, we see that women can, just as easily as men, be the depraved psycho waiting in a darkened room for her unknowing victim. I believe out of all of Argento's films that explore this theme, that Deep Red does so with the most conviction.

Without giving away too much of the plot of this horror gem, I'll now give a brief synopsis.

Starring a young and handsome David Hemmings (Camelot, Airwolf) as a pianist, and Argento favorite Daria Nicolodi as a reporter on a mission, this film starts with a surreal scene of murder acted out as shadows on a wall while a children's voice is heard singing an eerie little song. It is a unique and intriguing opening that reminded me of little known horror films like Who Slew Auntie Roo? and Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?.

After that, we cut to a scene where a lady psychic is holding a panel discussion, and is taking questions from the audience about her abilities. At one point she seems to be having a vision, and suddenly starts talking aloud about someone in the audience being a murderer. The camera pans to a point of view shot of someone in the audience walking out of the auditorium. Automatically we assume that this is the killer.

Enter our hero played by Mr. Hemmings. He just happens to live in the same apartment building as the psychic, and as he is talking to a drunken friend of his named Carlo in the street in front of the building one night, they both hear a scream coming from the apartments. Carlo just shrugs it off and is too drunk to investigate. As Carlo stumbles off to sleep it off, our hero turns to go into the apartment building, and looks up at where the scream seemed to come from. He sees the psychic standing at her apartment window trying desperately to get his attention, just before her head is smashed through the glass pane, and she is killed. He rushes up to the apartment to try and save her, but she is already dead.

The police are called. Enter Gianna, the reporter played by Daria Nicolodi. After this first murder Marc (Hemmings) and Gianna (Nicolodi) are plunged into a bizarre series of twists and turns while trying to figure out who the murderer is. I won't give anymore away, because I am a firm believer in the fact that you, reader, will have to experience this film for yourself instead of me spoon-feeding it to you, to get the full horrifying impact.

I will expound on the following, however. The music in this film is amazing. It is probably my favorite score of any of Argento's films. Yes, I even like it better than the score of Suspiria. The Goblins provide the haunting, pulsating music, and it works very well with the film's psychotic atmosphere.

While the editing isn't all that bad, there are a couple of annoying quick cut-aways. One sloppy editing example even has Hemmings voice still talking over the new scene that has just been cut to. I laughed a little, but just said to myself...go figure...it's Argento.

Another editing direction that had me puzzled was a cut, twice no less, to a man either hawking his wares at a street market, or singing opera while Hemmings and another character were walking and discussing a recent murder. The thing that puzzled me was that the street they were on, and the street with the market looked completely different, so in my eyes, there was no connection. I laughed a little harder!

The acting is fair. In fact, I believe I enjoyed Nicolodi's performance in this film better than any other of Argento's films I've seen her in. Her character (Gianna) is perky, likable and somewhat endearing. Hemmings is believable enough as the pianist turned amateur sleuth, and his youthful good looks are easy on the eyes.

However, the chemistry between Hemmings and Nicolodi is greatly lacking. In fact, it seems that at first Marc can hardly stand being around Gianna. In one scene, we see Marc and Gianna in his apartment, where he is seemingly getting dressed. Funny, because we never see him take his clothes off, and he is putting the same clothes back on...so it's not like he was changing his outfit. Gianna is fully dressed.

So, my question is, are we to imply that they did the deed? As he leaves the apartment Gianna asks when she will see him again and he says "Never". Now, if they have just done the deed, and Argento is trying to establish some sort of bond between them, why is Marc so cold to her? This plot device is never fully explained. Marc and Gianna carry on as usual...more like casual acquaintances that just happen to be investigating murder together...than lovers.

I believe this is the film where Argento fully realized his directing style. The "head smashed through window" scene is recurrent in many of his later films. The music, by the Goblins, is of course used to great effect in his other efforts as well. His visual style, i.e. point of view shots-close up eye and face shots-and the use of colors, starts here.

I believe this film may be the one where the distinction between Hitchcockian suspense and Argento's vision of horror become apparent. Argento went on to become known as a horror master, not so much a suspense master. However, the Hitchcockian influence is still strong. Gore-hounds will enjoy the grisly murder scenes in this film. They abound much more than in his earlier works. And, when I first "viddied" this film, it had me guessing right up to the final scene where all is revealed, as to who the murderer might be. Actually, I should say murderess.

That gets us back to the original theme...that women can be as murderous as men. After all, most of us women do go a little crazy at a certain time each month...so, watch out!

Check this film out. I believe you'll really get a sense of where Argento was going with his direction in later films. Besides, it's just a darn good horror film!

Thanks, Tess, for "cutting" through to the real "meat" of this tasty terror tale by Dario Argento.  Even a doll gets hacked in this film!  Cheers!

Article copyright Teresa Henson

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