Deep Red

Psychic premonitions and murder go hand in hand in movies. Deep Red seeks to capitalize on the idea and almost comes close to succeeding. I was surprised that the movie doesn't deal with psychics nearly as much as it sounds like it will. That's more like the jumping off point.

The psychic in question does too good a job at convincing people of her abilities, she's a liability to crooks who wish to remain anonymous. When she gets a vision of a murder she herself becomes a murder victim – can't have her running around telling cops about her vision now can we. Marcus, a neighbor and musician, catches a glimpse of the crime and becomes obsessed with solving the case, so he gets his own unofficial investigation going. Aided (and hindered) by a pretty reporter (aren't cinematic reporters always pretty girls? It's Lois Lane's fault!) Marcus, the pianist/would-be gumshoe/eye-witness, searches for clues in his scattered memory.

There is some good and some bad here. While the acting has plenty of weak moments (none of the stars are familiar to me at all – it appears that they're all Italian), it's mostly fair. There's some good interaction between the pair of amateur investigators, Marcus and his reporter friend. This is offset by a very slow pace. The story contains some revelations that aren't as clever as they seem to think they are. That's not to say it's a bad story overall, but none of the surprises are particularly gripping. I think I saw an edited version so it's entirely possible that the full story fleshes out the plot revelations better.

The insert shots are poorly done. A lot of these are looking into Marcus' memories or other visions. Many of the edits are too abrupt which makes them feel jarring. This kills the flow that the slow pace has a hard enough time creating in the first place.

I think the worst element of this movie is just that it's forgettable. It made no strong impressions on me one way or another making it a struggle to remember details for review-writing purposes. So it might be mildly entertaining while it's on, but don't expect to spark a good discussion about it afterwords. Again, though, this might not necessarily hold true for the unmolested version of the film since it does seem to have at least a small following of fans.

MORALITY:

There's some strong language and violence with the murders, but after seeing what they show at prime time, this one seems almost appropriate for TV despite its R rating. Still, if blood bothers you, watch out. It appears that unedited version contains a good bit more bloody violence.

There's little in the way of sexuality and no nudity at all.

SPIRITUALITY:

There's some depth to the characters if you stop to consider the passion/obsession Marcus has for solving the mystery. It's not directly spiritual, but it does invite discussion about what drives this guy.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Like I said, it's not so much bad as it is just forgettable, but I wouldn't mind seeing and judging a better print of the unedited film if I ever get the chance. If you're are Dario Argento fan definitely check it out.

#DeepRed