Deep Red (1975)

Marc Daly is an English pianist (and Paul Mcartney lookalike) teaching in Rome who has the terrific timing of stumbling across his neighbors murder in the apartment below his. Arriving at the scene to late to catch a good glimpse of the murderer, he calls the police and waits for their arrival. Once the police arrive, Marc confesses that he saw something on his arrival to the scene which might have been a clue, but he can't quite put his finger on it. Now obsessed with figuring the case out for himself, he sets out on his own investigation to figure out who the killer is, all the while unwittingly becoming a target himself.

"Deep Red" follows the murder/mystery formula that Argento's earlier animal trilogy portrayed, though "Deep Red" is done on a much grander scale. The camera work, as is usually the case with Argento, is terrific, as it creeps and crawls all over the damn place. This is a very visually stunning film (that sounds redundant in a review of an Argento film, but it's true) and is dripping with atmosphere. The murder scenes are all expertly staged, and are pretty damn bloody as well. Watch out for the teeth bashing scene in which a psychiatrist's pearly whites are introduced to a fireplace mantel numerous times....my teeth ached after watching that scene! This one also has one of my all time favorite soundtracks to it, composed by Italian proggresive rock band "Goblin". The music has an eerie vibe and accompanies the scenes perfectly. Love the brief intercut scenes with the baby dolls, marbles, and the music pounding away. Watch it and you will know what I'm talking about.

All in all a terrific film, one of Argento's true masterpieces, and a must-see for all genre fans. Word to the wise: there are three versions to Deep Red, a chopped up American release from Thorn/EMI video, a 105 minute Jap laserdisc, and a 123 minute Italian version. The best of the lot goes to the 105 minute version which contains all gore, but excises some needless dialogue.