Deep Red

Lore & Background

Deep Red represented Argento's return to the horror genre after an attempted breakaway with the historical dramedy The Five Days (1974). It was his last giallo film before Tenebre (1982), which was produced years after the genre's heyday. The film was also his first collaboration with actress Daria Nicolodi, with whom he would begin a relationship during this film, and progressive rock band Goblin, who composed and performed the film score. Argento would collaborate with Nicolodi five more times, and Goblin or its frontman Claudio Simonetti ten more times. Nicolodi would also co-write the screenplay for Suspiria.

The film was shot mainly on-location in Turin in twelve weeks. Additional scenes were shot in Rome and Perugia. Argento chose Turin because at the time there were more practising Satanists there than in any other European city, excluding Lyon. Filming locations included Piazza C.L.N., Santa Costanza Church and Teatro Carignano. The 'House of the Screaming Child' was Villa Scott, a historical villa owned at the time by a convent of nuns and operated as a boarding school.

Argento's original working title for the film was Profondo Rosso. Co-writer Bernardino Zapponi said the inspiration for the murder scenes came from him and Argento thinking of painful injuries to which the audience could relate. Their original screenplay ran approximately 500 pages, but after it was deemed unfilmable, Argento shortened it to 321. The close-up shots of the killer's hands, clad in black leather gloves, were performed by director Dario Argento himself. The film's special effects were created and executed by Carlo Rambaldi.

Reader's Guide

Deep Red is considered one of the definitive entries of the giallo genre and one of Dario Argento's finest works. Its critical and commercial success at the time of release, combined with equally positive retrospective reviews, has cemented its place in Italian cinema history. The film marked the beginning of a long-running collaboration between Argento and the progressive rock band Goblin, whose score became iconic. It also initiated Argento's personal and professional relationship with Daria Nicolodi, who would co-write Suspiria. The film's plot, involving a psychic medium, a hidden mural, and a killer with black leather gloves, exemplifies the giallo style. Its production in Turin, with Argento performing the killer's hand shots himself, and the use of Carlo Rambaldi's special effects, contributed to its lasting impact. The film's release history, including its US re-titling as The Hatchet Murders and its delayed UK classification, reflects the varied distribution challenges of Italian genre films.