DEEP RED is often considered Dario Argento's best movie. Well, I beg to differ. Thought the film as an amazing look and feel to it which makes it feel more classy than most Argento's films (certainly his recent ones), the film is completely destroyed by two things: first, the film's length. At 126 minutes, the film is way too long and way too casual and relaxed. It's too long by a good 20 minutes. This is supposed to be a thriller but the pacing feels more like a romantic comedy than a thriller. And the second and probably most important aspect of DEEP RED that destroys everything the film tried to do, is the killer's identity. Though I had a sneaking suspicion who the killer might be, I simply did not want to believe that THAT character would turn out to be the killer. Then, at the very end, once the killer was revealed, I literally screamed out "No Way!" and then I laughed out loud. I just didn't buy it. There's simply no way that THAT killer was capable of sneaking up in that tiny crawlspace when Hemmings was playing the piano. For me, the murderer's identity literally killed the movie for me.
There are other problems with DEEP RED other than the lackadaisical pacing and the implausible killer, such as the special effects, which were really bad. The burning house was embarrassingly fake looking, or the scene when the man is dragged by the truck. You can clearly see the little cart underneath the actor which helps him slide across the street. Or the use of a dummy when the psychic woman is killed. Then there are the HUGE plot-holes in the story, like when Hemmings decides to see that woman in the country, only to have the killer arrive there before him and kill the woman in an albeit interesting scene (which has implausibilities of its own). The thing is, how did the killer know Hemmings was going to see her? It's simply impossible for the killer to have known that Hemmings was going to see her. These obvious plot-holes are unforgivable and they stretch the script's credibility to the max.
Though there are a lot of good things to say about DEEP RED (the whole beginning is pretty good, that is, until we see the dummy; the music is excellent; the set designs are excellent; the cinematography is lush and impressive) the film is hampered with too many weak elements for me to consider this as Dario Argento's best. I much prefer BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, CAT O NINE TAILS, SUSPIRIA or even INFERNO than this uneven film.
There are other problems with DEEP RED other than the lackadaisical pacing and the implausible killer, such as the special effects, which were really bad. The burning house was embarrassingly fake looking, or the scene when the man is dragged by the truck. You can clearly see the little cart underneath the actor which helps him slide across the street. Or the use of a dummy when the psychic woman is killed. Then there are the HUGE plot-holes in the story, like when Hemmings decides to see that woman in the country, only to have the killer arrive there before him and kill the woman in an albeit interesting scene (which has implausibilities of its own). The thing is, how did the killer know Hemmings was going to see her? It's simply impossible for the killer to have known that Hemmings was going to see her. These obvious plot-holes are unforgivable and they stretch the script's credibility to the max.
Though there are a lot of good things to say about DEEP RED (the whole beginning is pretty good, that is, until we see the dummy; the music is excellent; the set designs are excellent; the cinematography is lush and impressive) the film is hampered with too many weak elements for me to consider this as Dario Argento's best. I much prefer BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, CAT O NINE TAILS, SUSPIRIA or even INFERNO than this uneven film.