Profondo Rosso (1975)

Dario Argento. Now this guy knows how to make a horror movie.

Head and shoulders above the competition, but honestly I often feel that while all of his movies are shot well, brilliantly edited and have fucking great use of sound, the films that these elements push along are sometimes a bit off. Dull, or simply not very engaging. Don’t get me wrong, Suspiria is really cool, but it’s not the plot that makes it great. It’s the way it looks, the garish colors, the split screen, the Goblin soundtrack. Fucking great.

Here is a movie that lives up to the directors reputation. “Deep Red” (which is the title you’ll probably find this under at your local video store-unless you only rent at Facets or Scarecrow in which case- la de da!) is the story of an English pianist (played by the guy from Blow Up) living in Italy who witnesses the murder of a psychic. The psychic knew the identity of a mad killer on the loose. Fearing for his life he teams up with a reporter to crack the case.

It plays well as a mystery and a slasher movie. However there are some problems: it has a few Scooby-Doo moments during their investigation and some other shit that by the end of the 70′s would be total cliches and by the 80′s would be the standard for shlocky horror. But it’s really not Deep Reds fault.

Soundtrack by Goblin, totally great. Synths going bonkers.