DEEP RED

During a conference on spiritualism, a medium senses the presence in the room of a murderer; the following night, the same medium is atrociously killed. Young Marc, an English pianist in Turin for work, accidentally witnesses the woman's death but manages to catch a glimpse of the murderer only briefly without being able to see his face. From that moment on, the man becomes interested in the investigations and, with the help of a journalist, tries to discover the identity of the murderer, who meanwhile continues to leave behind a trail of atrocious crimes... One of the masterpieces par excellence by Dario Argento, a film that has practically no flaws but only merits, resulting in absolute terms the best, in its genre, ever produced in Italy and probably in the world. Although it is essentially a giallo, in "Profondo Rosso" it is evident, from the very first sequences, an increasingly marked inclination towards the gothic and pure horror: a child who wields a blood-stained knife to the tune of an unsettling children's lullaby, a medium who senses a perverse presence and who is then brutally murdered... the giallo slides into the paranormal, in a shadowy area where nothing is rational and anything can happen. A clear reference to the Italian gothic tradition is also represented by the sequences set inside the dilapidated abandoned house ("La Villa del Bambino Urlante") that seem to evoke, in a curious parallel, the other masterpiece of the genre of the period "La Casa dalle Finestre che Ridono" by Pupi Avati (not for nothing both Avati and Lino Capolicchio would have had to participate, as screenwriter the first and protagonist the second, in the making of "Profondo Rosso"). The tension, the suspense, the terror keep the viewer glued to the screen from the first to the last sequence. The soundtrack composed by the Goblin is perfect and alone is enough to create a sense of anguish and fear that do not pass even after the film ends; the murder sequences are of such cruelty and veracity as to seem real; the actors, including the ever-present Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia, Clara Calamai, and David Hemmings, are all perfectly cast in their respective roles, and the surprising and unexpected double ending leaves even the most seasoned giallista stunned. A great film, in short, that has inspired many genre directors, including true "masters" like John Carpenter for his "Halloween" (1978). Watching it is a must!