Please note: This was screened in June 2019
Stylised to within an inch of its life, director Dario Argento takes us on a giddy ride through one of the most influential genres in film history in this landmark Italian giallo horror, packed full of vibrant violence and chophouse effects.
When Marcus, a pianist, is identified as a witness to the murder of a psychic medium, he begins to investigate a series of tangled murders committed by a shadowy figure in black leather gloves. Dodging attempts made on his own life after the killer catches wind that there's a witness to the gruesome murder, the story entwines a brutal past with the savage deaths of anyone who gets in the killer’s way.
Often cited as the apex of the giallo genre, and featuring an iconic score by prog outfit Goblin, Deep Red revels in the physical and the visceral aspects of horror and trauma that fill horror flicks to this day. Girls, daggers, blood, witchcraft, chilling screams – all the key ingredients of a giallo are here, and when Peter Strickland made Berberian Sound Studio his love of intense fixations, obsession and his willingness to reach the depths of those darkest compulsions was a consequence of his deep affection for films like Argento’s nightmarish tale.