BADass SINema Unearthed - Blu-ray 4K UHD Review

Movie Review

Provocative and psychological, this movie, featuring a brand new restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative by Arrow Video, is an incredible statement on the beauty of film as an art form. It is directed by a visual master of the macabre and, unrestrained with astounding visuals, challenges our own senses with its surreal dream-like qualities.

This film, in my estimation, is the best example of the Italian giallo that we have. That is one way to describe the visual associations that guide Dario Argento’s Deep Red, a film that combines some of the director’s favorite subjects in film – murder, insects, and haunted houses – and dangles them all inside the fame of a screwball comedy (not kidding) that pays homage to some of the best directors out there. Seriously. Deep Red is a visually loaded film that operates, as it is an Argento film, on many levels that are just damn masterful in their execution.

And, if that isn’t enough to lure you in, one listen to Goblin’s funked-up score will have you hooked. Trust me, everything – even if on paper it reads so off-kilter that it shouldn’t work – gels perfectly to create an incredible couple of hours.

At its core, Deep Red, written by Argento and Bernardino Zapponi, is the story about a jazz musician, Marcus Daly (David Hemmings from Blow Up), who witnesses, from a street corner as he looks up into an apartment above him, the brutal killing of psychic medium Helga Ulmann (Macha Méril). I mean, she is literally thrust into that window and is left there to hang by her neck. It’s brutal and damn spooky. He is too late to save her, but tells the police that he saw a man in a brown coat fleeing the scene.

What he missed were the black leather gloves with the silver zippers on them. This is a giallo after all. Oh, and the murderer’s calling card? A children’s nursery song and, yes, it is used throughout the film quite effectively. So, too is the amount of gurgling gore as the film definitely earns its namesake.

Thankfully, Marcus teams up with Gianna (Daria Nicolodi), a reporter, for a sort of screwball comedy entanglement – complete with a fun little car that has all sorts of defaults – in order to solve what proves to be a very involving murder spree. But it will definitely challenge the pair. {googleads}

The film opens slowly, merely hinting at the chopping of human flesh that is bound to happen, before returning to a collection of images that offer Hitchcock-like clues in this Italian giallo that drowns women in scalding hot bathtub water, depicts children with murder weapons, and generally creeps audiences out with dynamic chills.

And now, thanks to Arrow Video, fans of Argento can see Deep Red – with its jagged glass, blood reds, and its earthy greens – in a whole new light. The restoration here is impressive and matches what they’ve released previously of this maestro’s work.

Argento provides every single frame with something delicious to gaze at. Whether it be the concrete sidewalk in an urban café (with figures posed in it just like Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks) that positively radiates in the nightlight or the statue that poses in between the conversation between actor David Hemmings and Gabriele Lavia about a missing painting at a crime scene.

There is little denying that there is something intense happening throughout Dario Argento’s Deep Red. It’s as if a higher power is guiding the set-up, the shots, and the overall artistry of it all.  And now, thanks to Arrow Video, audiences get to see it as it was originally intended.

Deep Red is a masterpiece.

Film Details

MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 126 mins
Director: Dario Argento
Writer: Dario Argento, Bernardino Zapponi
Cast: David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia
Genre: Horror | Thriller
Tagline: The maker of "SUSPIRIA" now takes you on a journey through the macabre, the bizarre. . . the unnatural.
Memorable Movie Quote: "Gianna! Gianna! There's someone in the house... absolutely trying to kill me, ya'know?"
Theatrical Distributor: Howard Mahler Films
Official Site:
Release Date: June 11, 1976
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: April 10, 2018
Synopsis: One night, musician Marcus Daly (David Hemmings, Blow Up), looking up from the street below, witnesses the brutal axe murder of a woman in her apartment. Racing to the scene, Marcus just manages to miss the perpetrator… or does he? As he takes on the role of amateur sleuth, Marcus finds himself ensnared in a bizarre web of murder and mystery where nothing is what it seems...

Blu-ray Review

Home Video Distributor: Arrow Films
Available on Blu-ray - April 10, 2018
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono; English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono; English: LPCM Mono
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

This two-disc, dual layered release from Arrow Video is absolutely the best the film has EVER looked or WILL ever look. Presented in a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio, the film is blistering with pulpy goodness. Black levels are extensive and full of hard edges. There’s color bursting from each corner of Rome. Architecture is stunningly detailed. Flesh is supple and perfectly toned. There are visible fibers in clothing and the there’s a new vibrancy to the picture. The whole thing feels energized and absolutely alive; there's no dated aspect to it. Even the art gallery at the beginning and end of the movie looks absolutely cosmic. The sound is presented in your choice of either Italian 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio Monaural, Italian 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Monaural, or English and Italian 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio Monaural.

Commentary:

This release features a great commentary from Argento expert Thomas Rostock.

Special Features:

Those you get the LIMITED EDITION get much more than two discs. The set features sex postcard-sized lobby card reproductions, a reversible fold-out poster featuring two original artworks, a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx, a booklet featuring new writing on the film by Mikel J. Koven, author of La Dolce Morte: Vernacular Cinema and the Italian Giallo Film, and an archival essay by Alan Jones, illustrated with original archive stills.

The two discs and there contents are broken down here:

DEEP RED: ORIGINAL VERSION (BLU-RAY DISC 1):

Brand new restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative

Audio commentary by filmmaker and Argento expert Thomas Rostock

Introduction to the film by Claudio Simonetti of Goblin

Profondo Giallo, a new visual essay by Michael Mackenzie featuring an in-depth appreciation of Deep Red, its themes and its legacy

Rosso Recollections: Dario Argento’s Deep Genius – the Deep Red director on the creation of a giallo masterpiece

The Lady in Red: Daria Nicolodi Remembers Profondo Rosso

Music to Murder For! Claudio Simonetti on Deep Red

Profondo Rosso: From Celluloid to Shop – a tour of the Profondo Rosso shop in Rome with long time Argento collaborator Luigi Cozzi

Italian theatrical trailer

DEEP RED: EXPORT VERSION (BLU-RAY DISC 2) (LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE):

Brand new restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative

US theatrical trailer