October 6th

Deep Red (1975) directed by Dario Argento
After a post-Four Flies non-giallo failure, Argento comes back to the genre with a force.  Actually, it seems like he went back to his first film, figured out what worked and then amped it up a little.  Deep Red is very similar to Crystal Plumage: both have foreigners witnessing a murder who feel compelled to solve the case, the foreigner becoming a target of the murderer, and the murderers turn out to be women.

Improved since Crystal Plumage is just about everything.  Argento's distinctive style -- the POVs, the weird tracking shots, the close-ups, the colors -- are even more intense now.  As is the violence.  The murders in Deep Red are brutal.  They make any of the American slasher films from the era look like My Little Pony.  And, of course, this is the first Argento movie with a score by Goblin.  Morricone is excellent, but Goblin's organ-infused rock just seems to work perfectly with these films.

My only issue with the movie is that it gets very draggy in parts. it felt like Marcus spent an hour and a half exploring the old house for clues.  And his odd girlfriend Gianna seems to disappear for about half the movie, as well.  Other than that, great stuff. (7/10)