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| This used to mean something |
Long, long, long ago in 2007 we watched our first giallo. It was our habit in those bygone days to go to the video store and rent a stack of dvds for the weekend. In this particular stack was two films by a Dario Argento, one I had seen and one I had not. The seen one was Suspiria and the unseen one was a little film named Deep Red.
I had been rummaging around the internet looking for horror films to show my soon to be wife and somehow stumbled across a review (I don't remember whose) of Deep Red. I knew my Hollywood Video had it so while we were there we grabbed it and picked up Suspiria to boot.
Two minutes into the film we were hooked. Hooked. There is a whole genre of these murder mysteries? Sign us up! The colors, the setpieces, the camera angles, the music, the whole dang thing had totally captivated us. So much so that when we watched Suspiria immediately after we were let down. Nothing, no matter how good (and we LOVE Suspiria) was going to top that. We call it the Deep Red effect now but the only thing we heard that night was the call to spend all our money buying giallos. Mission accomplished.
You might imagine that there would be inherent difficulties in watching the best (in my opinion anyway) giallo first. Not so with this viewer. Following immediately on Deep Red's heels were the birthday gifts of The Case Of The Scorpion's Tail and The Black Belly Of The Tarantula. And I went and spent $29.98 on the Blue Underground double disc set of The Bird With The Crystal Plumage at my local FYE. But even so when introducing our friend Heather to gialli I never entertained the thought of showing her Deep Red first. We showed her Bird followed by Death Walks On High Heels and The Case Of The Bloody Iris over a period of a week or so. I think working up to Deep Red is the way to go although I don't think it hurt my appreciation of the genre at all.
Ahhh, memories! I've never regretted a single dollar we've spent on gialli. Even the 5 different copies we own of Deep Red. It's like a sickness. A glorious, wonderful sickness.
ReplyDelete-Elizabeth
2007 feels like yesterday to me, I'm impressed that you've managed to make yourself so familiar with the giallo genre since then! I really like Deep Red as well, of course, but I want to try the shorter cut next time. Am I correct that it's shorter on the interaction between Daria Nicolodi and David Hemmings? I don't care too much for these more funny bits, but perhaps I'd miss them once they're left out.
ReplyDeleteMy first giallo was Crystal Plumage when a small, non-commercial cinema had an Argento/Bava retrospective in 2006. I knew nothing about these guys and had hoped for classic horror films, so I was quite a bit disappointed with my first Argento, but I've learned to love the film. I only have so flawed Arrow UK Blu-ray with the weird aspect ratio so I'm looking forward to the upcoming VCI release.
-MLP
MLP!
ReplyDeleteYes the shorter cut takes out a lot of the Hemmings-Nicolodi interaction. For the most part I watch the shorter version unless I'm showing it to someone for the first time. Case in point: this weekend we will be watching it with our neighbor Heather, her first viewing. I think it's good to soak it all up the first time.
I recently saw that VCI is putting out a Bird bluray. The Blue Underground went out of print FAST. But it's a great looking disc. I hope the VCI looks as good. I didn't know that Arrow's was wonky with the aspect ratio. That sucks.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on Four Flies On Grey Velvet and what I think may be his most underrated giallo, The Cat 'O' Nine Tails. Thanks for commenting!
I've seen Cat O' Nine Tails a few times, but it's always just a blur in my memory. I can never remember any details about this movie. I know that I enjoy it, but not as much as Bird. I've only seen Four Flies once when the Shameless Blu-ray came out and loved it. All the dark scenes are so intense. I'm easily scared anyway so I had a lot of fun with this one! I must watch it again sometime to see how it holds up, but as of now it's my favorite of the three.
ReplyDelete-MLP
Cat is a good one in my opinion. I do have the Shameless DVD of Four Flies (and the Mya disc, and a bootleg)and I like it a lot too. Of course Bird is awesome but I tend to flock to the underdog.
ReplyDeleteDeep Red is my all time favorite giallo as well. Easily recommendable to anyone who is even remotely interested in the thriller / mystery genre.
ReplyDeleteR.Geiger
I agree wholeheartedly. I always worry that folks will use the rewind button at a crucial point in the film to see if they saw what they thought they saw (you know what I am referring to.) But the several times I have watched it with newbies, no one ever said, 'Hey rewind that!' Which version do you prefer? The long or short? Thanks for commenting!
ReplyDeleteI don't remember my first giallo. I dove head-first into Italian genre film and watched a lot of stuff right off the bat, so they all kinda blended together. It may have been Tenebrae though; outside of Suspiria, the first Argento movies I saw were the five in that Anchor Bay steelbook set.
ReplyDeleteI have that steelbook set! Tenebre is definitely a great way to start out. Synapse is supposedly putting out a bluray this year but I haven't heard anything lately.
ReplyDeleteAaron commenting on the blog! Outstanding! Thank you!
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ReplyDeleteWas trying to figure out when I first came across this movie when I was doing my recent top ten, and I think it was probably the fifth giallo I ever saw, coming after (and if we're counting the supernatural kind) Suspiria, Tenebre, Inferno and Phenomena (in that order). It was a good few years after seeing the first that I got to the others and I also experienced your Deep Red effect, but with Suspiria.
ReplyDeleteI loved all of Argento's more supernatural movies the first time I watched em, but it's taken several viewings for me to get into most of his more regular gialli. I think one of the things that makes Deep Red particularly special (and I'm sure this has been pointed out countless times) is how it forms a bridge between those later movies and his earlier ones, being almost as much of a horror film as a thriller, and also the first to feature supernatural elements.
I still haven't watched the shorter cut yet (though I'm sure it's included on the Blu-Ray I have) but after reading your comments and also recently listening to 'The Hysteria Continues' episode on it where one of the guys mentions that Argento himself apparently prefers it over the longer one, I'll certainly be checking it out soon.
You are spot on about this being the first time the supernatural is introduced to the films of Argento. You can definitely chart his progression. The short cut is great for when you are familiar with the lengthier cut and when time is an issue. It seems I'm always watching Deep Red late at night!
ReplyDeleteI'll be sure to give it a spin at the end of my next giallo-thon. Late at night has gotta be my favourite time to watch these kinds of movies... seems like pretty much a sure-fire way to amplify any vibe-tastic atmosphere that might be encountered.
ReplyDeleteNo doubts there!
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