15 Great Italian Horror Films You Must See Before You Die
1. Deep Red (Dario Argento, 1975)
“I can feel death in this room! I feel a presence, a twisted mind sending me thoughts! Perverted, murderous thoughts… Go away! You have killed! You will kill again!”
Argento fans are divided into two separate camps: those who prefer his giallo mystery thrillers (like Tenebrae or Opera) and those who appreciate his more nightmarish and supernatural works (like the Three Mothers trilogy or Phenomena). Deep Red is the film that best unites his two styles. While not exactly supernatural, the film does have an other-worldly quality to it that no other giallo has ever quite matched. Of course, the film is visually gorgeous, but surely that goes without saying (even Argento's appalling later efforts were still beautiful to look at).
What impressed me the most on first viewing was that Argento gives his audience all of the tools and clues they need to solve the mystery for themselves, long before the big reveal. It blew my mind to think that had I just been a bit more observant in the first twenty minutes of the film, I would have solved the mystery right away. It had me eagerly rewinding the film after the big reveal to try and catch what I had missed. That’s pretty damn ballsy, and I respect that. Deep Red is not only Argento’s strongest film, or even the best horror film to come out of Italy – it is easily one of best horror films of the 1970s.