So sad! Sultry Euro-Babes prance onto the silver screen and are quickly taken apart. They do die well...and, in fact, are replaced by other equally as luscious Euro-Babes. Perhaps the 21st century war on beauty by the left is merely a fulfillment of the Giallo philosophy of if men are aroused by it...kill it. Today we look at a classic Giallo offering, 1975's "Deep Red," directed by Dario Argento.
Alas, Helga (Macha Meril) will be the first casualty in this film. What a dish! The German telepathic/psychic has visions of a murder and sees the killer. This is bad news as witnesses tend not to fare well. The blonde beauty will be felled by a meat cleaver. Bad news for the stud pianist Marc (David Hemmings)…he witnesses the murder. Now the killer is after him. Worse for Marc, babe reporterette, Gianna (Daria Nicolodi), puts Marc's photo on the front page of the newspaper and tells the world he saw and can ID the killer. Now Gianna wants to team up with Marc and solve the mystery. Marc insists on working alone.
The Giallo influence...let us chat about that. You remember one of the most famous American slasher kills ever put on film? Yes...Pamela Susan Shoop as a naughty nurse in "Halloween 2." In a gratuitous hot tub scene, Michael Myers seizes her and burns her pretty face off in scalding hot water. An original scene? No! The sultry Amanda (Giuliana Calandra) perishers in almost exactly the same fashion in this film shot six years previous. Unfortunately for Amanda, she had info that could help Marc identify the killer...bye bye Amanda! Marc is persistent and finds a weird village with a condemned house. The secret of the killer's identity is inside the walls of this house which also has a bloody secret.
Will the babe reporterette Gianna survive this film? Will 21st century feminist film classes claim the Euro-Babes in Giallo films deserved their gruesome fates? If Gianna does survive, will she and Marc engage in pre-marital sex? Sultry Euro-Babes and blood red murder scenes...Giallo at its best! For a vicious good time of gory kills and sultry dames in much peril, see "Deep Red."
Great review mate, I think the worst thing I can say about this is that it could have been a tad leaner and was a bit overtly convoluted in parts (hardly surprising being a Giallo) but these are very minor quibbles. While Tenebrae is my personal favourite Argento film, Deep Red is imo his best film in critical terms, the revelation of the killer is great and that mantle piece scene still has me wincing to this day. Very probably the greatest giallo ever made, glad you liked it. :)
ReplyDeleteAnother great review, the deaths are stacking up.
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