Profondo rosso (1975)

Director:

Dario Argento

Writers:

Dario Argento (written by)
Bernardino Zapponi (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 June 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The maker of "SUSPIRIA" now takes you on a journey through the macabre, the bizarre. . . the unnatural.

Plot:

A musician witnesses the murder of a famous psychic, and then teams up with a fiesty reporter to find the killer while evading attempts on their lives by the unseen killer bent on keeping a dark secret buried.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Psychic | Reporter | Pianist | English

Awards:

1 win

Cast

David Hemmings	...	Marcus Daly
Daria Nicolodi	...	Gianna Brezzi
Gabriele Lavia	...	Carlo
Macha Méril	...	Helga Ulmann
Eros Pagni	...	Supt. Calcabrini
Giuliana Calandra	...	Amanda Righetti
Piero Mazzinghi	...	Bardi
Glauco Mauri	...	Prof. Giordani
Clara Calamai	...	Marta
Aldo Bonamano	...	Carlo's father
Liana Del Balzo	...	Elvira
Vittorio Fanfoni	...	Cop taking notes
Dante Fioretti	...	Police photographer
Geraldine Hooper	...	Massimo Ricci
Jacopo Mariani	...	Young Carlo (as Iacopo Mariani)
Furio Meniconi	...	Rodi
Fulvio Mingozzi	...	Agent Mingozzi
Lorenzo Piani	...	Fingerprint cop
Salvatore Puntillo	...	Police agent
Piero Vida	...	Fat cop
Nicoletta Elmi	...	Olga
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dario Argento	...	Murderer's Hands (uncredited)
Salvatore Baccaro	...	Fruit Vendor (uncredited)
Bruno Di Luia	...	Concerned Man in Restroom (uncredited)
Attilio Dottesio	...	Florist (uncredited)
Tom Felleghy	...	Surgeon (uncredited)
Glauco Onorato	...	(uncredited)
Franco Vaccaro	...	Pietro Valgoi (uncredited)

Directed by
Dario Argento

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Dario Argento		written by
Bernardino Zapponi		screenplay

Produced by
Claudio Argento	....	executive producer
Salvatore Argento	....	producer

Original Music by
Giorgio Gaslini
Goblin
Walter Martino		(as Goblin)
Fabio Pignatelli		(as Goblin)
Claudio Simonetti		(as Goblin)

Cinematography by
Luigi Kuveiller

Film Editing by
Franco Fraticelli

Production Design by
Giuseppe Bassan

Set Decoration by
Armando Mannini

Costume Design by
Elena Mannini

Makeup Department
Giuliano Laurenti	....	makeup supervisor
Giovanni Morosi	....	makeup artist (as Gianni Morosi)
Nicla Palombi	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Carlo Cucchi	....	assistant production manager
Angelo Iacono	....	production manager (as Angelo Jacono)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stefano Rolla	....	assistant director

Art Department
Maurizio Garrone	....	assistant to art director
Aldo Taloni	....	construction foreman

Sound Department
Nick Alexander	....	sound editor
Mario Faraoni	....	sound recordist
Eugenio Fiori	....	boom operator (as Eugenio Fiore)

Special Effects by
Germano Natali	....	special effects
Carlo Rambaldi	....	special effects

Stunts
Giorgio Ricci	....	cinematic stunt team

Camera and Electrical Department
Antonio Annunziata	....	assistant camera
Francesco Bellomo	....	still photographer: action stills (as Franco Bellomo)
Sergio Coletta	....	gaffer
Sergio Emidi	....	chief grip
Ubaldo Terzano	....	camera operator
Antonio Tonti	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Angela Viglino	....	seamstress

Editorial Department
Piero Bozza	....	assistant film editor (as Pietro Bozza)
Rick Greenhead	....	telecine colorist

Music Department
Agostino Marangolo	....	musician: drums (as Goblin)
Antonio Marangolo	....	musician: piano (as Goblin)
Walter Martino	....	musician: drums
Massimo Morante	....	musician: guitar
Fabio Pignatelli	....	musician: bass guitar
Claudio Simonetti	....	musician: keyboards

Other crew
Luciano Anzellotti	....	studio effects
Carlo Du Bois	....	production accountant
Cesare Jacolucci	....	production coordinator
Ernesto Triunveri	....	cutting room assistant
Vivalda Vigorelli	....	continuity
Corrado Gaipa	....	voice dubbing: Furio Meniconi (uncredited)
Gino La Monica	....	voice dubbing: David Hemmings (uncredited)
Emanuela Rossi	....	voice dubbing: Nicoletta Elmi (uncredited)
Wanda Tettoni	....	voice dubbing: Liana Del Balzo (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Rizzoli Film
• Seda Spettacoli

Distributors

• CFM Filmverhuur (1976) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Howard Mahler Films (1976) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Ambassador Film Distributors (1977) (Canada) (theatrical) (edited US version) (dubbed)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• Another World Entertainment (2008) (Denmark) (DVD)
• Blue Underground (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Blue Underground (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray)
• Catcom Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• DMEG (2004) (Sweden) (video)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• EastWest Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Front Row Filmed Entertainment (2004) (United Arab Emirates) (all media) (Middle East)
• Future Film (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (video)
• Medusa Home Entertainment (2004) (Italy) (DVD)
• New Vision Video (1991) (Germany) (VHS)
• Platinum Media Distribution (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• Quality Video Inc. (video)
• Redemption Films (1993) (UK) (VHS) (subtitled)
• Reel Media International (2004) (USA) (video)
• Reel Media International (2007) (USA) (all media)
• Seven Keys Home Video (Australia) (VHS)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2006) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Videocast (198?) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Works Editora (2006) (Brazil) (DVD)
• YLE Teema (2002) (Finland) (TV)

Special Effects

• Germano Natali

Also Known As:

"Deep Red" - International (English title)
"The Deep Red Hatchet Murders" - USA (DVD box title)
"The Hatchet Murders" - USA (censored version)
"Rojo profundo" - Argentina, Mexico, Peru (imdb display title)
"Βαθύ Κόκκινο" - Greece
"Gleboka czerwien" - Poland
"H Anatrihila tis Agonias (The Shiver of Agony)" - Greece (video title)
"Les frissons de l'angoisse" - France
"Les frissons de la terreur" - Canada (French title)
"Mélyvörös" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"O Mistério da Casa Assombrada" - Portugal (imdb display title)
"Prelúdio Para Matar" - Brazil
"Rojo oscuro" - Spain
"Rosso - Die Farbe des Todes" - West Germany
"Rosso - Farbe des Todes" - Germany
"Sasuperia Part 2" - Japan
"Shizofreneia" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Skrivnost zapuscene hise" - Slovenia (imdb display title)
"Tamno crveno" - Serbia (imdb display title)
"Vathy kokkino" - Greece (reissue title)
"Verenpunainen kauhu" - Finland (imdb display title)

Runtime:

126 min | USA:98 min (R-rated version) | Japan:106 min (theatrical version)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:X (original rating) | Argentina:16 (re-rating) (2006) (uncut) | Argentina:18 (re-rating) (1982) (cut) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Sweden:15 | Chile:18 | Canada:18+ (Quebec) (Original rating) | France:X (Original rating) | USA:X (original rating) | Germany:18 (video rating) | Australia:R | France:-16 | Italy:VM14 | Netherlands:18 | Norway:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | USA:Unrated (director's cut) | Finland:K-18

Filming Locations:

Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Rizzoli Film

Trivia:

In one scene David Hemmings walks past a bar at night. The bar is styled after the famous painting "Nighthawks", by Edward Hopper.

Goofs:

Continuity: In Carlos' lover's bedroom we see them leaving with the following order: 1st Carlo, 2nd Marcus and 3rd Carlos' lover. But when reaching the door we see: 1st Carlo, 2nd Carlos' lover and 3rd Marcus.

Quotes:

Marc:Gianna! Gianna! There's someone in the house... absolutely trying to kill me, ya'know?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ban the Sadist Videos! (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

School at Night

Simultaneously intriguing and brutal; a masterpiece of Giallo

With this film, Argento raised the bar for Giallo's. With it's spanning plot, complete with highly inventive ideas and intriguing theme; Profondo Rosso is an absolute highlight in the sub-genre. The film follows a female medium who, while giving a lecture, senses the presence of a murderer in the room that is transmitting murderous thoughts to her. Pretty soon after, she is brutally murdered by an unknown assassin, under the watchful eye of Mark (David Hemmings); a professional piano player. As you would expect from Giallo, Mark then takes it upon himself to get to the bottom of the murder and, along with a nosey female journalist (Daria Nicolodi), he conducts his own investigation. However, things are never that simple and aside from trying to solve the murder, he also finds himself being pursued by the maniac...will he be able to discover the truth before it's too late?

Profondo Rosso is, in the collective eyes of the horror fanatics, Argento's number two (Suspiria being number one). I don't actually agree with that; as I think that Tenebre, Opera and Bird With the Crystal Plumage belong in front of this one, but Profondo Rosso is definitely up there, so who am I to complain? This film features a lot more bloodshed than anything Argento had made previously, and that is definitely a good thing. However, the plot does slow down at times, and it's not paced as well as Bird with the Crystal Plumage is. It's also somewhat wayward, with it spending lots of time on certain things, such as the investigation in the haunted house, and not a lot of time on other things that are just as important to the mystery. Despite there being quite a few death scenes, I do feel that Argento would have been better served either adding another one to increase the excitement, or maybe cutting the film down a little to make it run more smoothly. The murders that Dario does give us, however, are brutal to say the least! We've got a woman burned to death in a bath of scolding water, another woman smashed through a glass window, a man having his teeth smashed against a table (not too dissimilar to the 'curb' scene in American History X) and, of course, the final death, which has to be seen to be believed - an amazingly over the top scenario to say the least!

David Hemmings take the lead role in Profondo Rosso, and does a very good job of it. Hemmings is, of course, most famous for his role in Blow-Up, and his role here isn't too different from that one. Starring alongside Hemmings is Daria Nicolodi, the actress that has starred in a number of Argento's films (Opera, Inferno and Tenebre to name three) and also collaborated with Argento on another fine creation. I'm sure you know who I'm talking about. Also getting in on the fun is Gabriele Lavia, whom Argento fans will remember from Inferno (also, curiously, called Carlo). Dario Argento's direction here is nothing short of sublime. His use of the camera is more than assured and some of the camera angles and images that are presented on screen are amazing. Dario Argento deserves every piece of praise that he gets and anyone that sees this film will not find it hard to see why.

Overall, Profondo Rosso ranks as an absolute must see. It's one of the finest Giallo's ever made and is a career highlight for everyone involved. Highly recommended viewing for all.