Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Deep Red Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 10, 2018

Fans of Alfred Hitchcock may recall that after the legendary director reached an unexpected high point in the early sixties with Psycho and The Birds, he hit something of a rough spot with both audiences and critics alike. His immediate follow up to The Birds, 1964’s Marnie, was one of his more critically reviled films of this particular period, and in fact the backlash was so fierce that it probably put a premature end to the career of his latest “Ice Queen Blonde”, Tippi Hedren. Even the combined star power of Paul Newman and Julie Andrews (then arguably the top box office draw in the world due to Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music) wasn’t enough to save 1966’s Torn Curtain from more at least passing disparagement, and by the time 1969’s Topaz came out, some wags were busy writing epitaphs for a director who had been a film icon for several decades. But then something rather interesting happened. Hitch went back to England, where his career had of course first really started drawing attention, and he made Frenzy , a film that combined a kind of cheekily anarchic sense of humor with a serial killer angle that also wove in elements of one of Hitchcock’s more deadly (no pun intended) serious efforts from the 1950s, The Wrong Man. Suddenly Hitchcock’s genius was “newly” discovered, and the film met with considerable success with critics and audiences alike. It may have been a relatively short lived reunion with the “up side” of fame and fortune, as evidenced by Family Plot, Hitch’s final feature film which appeared several years after Frenzy and which didn’t quite manage to make lightning strike twice, but for a moment at least Hitchcock was once again recognized as a master of his particular idiom. Something at least somewhat similar happened with another director very closely associated with his own genre offerings, Dario Argento.

Argento had already had a long if not particularly distinguished career as a writer before he burst onto the international stage as a quasi- auteur with The Bird With the Crystal Plumage in 1970. Argento’s follow ups to that now legendary giallo aren’t particularly numerous, and include titles like The Cat o' Nine Tails, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, They Called Him Amen and Five Days in Milan. While the “animal” gialli in particular were greeted with at least some critical approval (especially in Europe), as supplements on this set from Arrow assert, many critics and audience members started to feel that Argento was straying too far from his strengths as a writer and director, especially when he completely eschewed the horror genre which had helped to establish his reputation. That may be at least one reason why Deep Red struck such a nerve when it was released, seeming to reconnect Argento to an idiom where he obviously felt at home, and thereby to an audience that was hungering for more of Argento’s at times patently outré sensibilities.

Deep Red has had a few previous releases on Blu-ray, both domestic and foreign, and instead of rehashing its devious plot points yet another time, I’ll simply point you to reviews by my colleagues Martin Liebman and Svet Atanasov:

Deep Red Blu-ray review

Deep Red Blu-ray review

Deep Red Blu-ray review

For all intents and purposes, this new domestic release duplicates the last linked review, which was for the latest UK Arrow release of the film, and one which also included a soundtrack CD that this new release sadly does not (for those interested, I did a bit of cursory sleuthing and there are standalone soundtrack CDs available at all the “usual suspect” online sites).

While I won’t repeat the film’s plot dynamics, since the other reviews have that area covered more than competently, I would like to mention one thing about Deep Red that has always struck me as part and parcel of its reception at the time as “Argento getting back to Argento” (so to speak). There are really interesting similarities between Deep Red and what was arguably still a sensational Argento outing even by the time Deep Red was released, namely The Bird With the Crystal Plumage. In fact, some cynics might even infer that Argento wanted to recreate some of the ambience of one of his most successful films, and there are certainly connections one can see between the two. Among other salient tethers, both films hinge on a passerby catching sight of a crime, and misinterpreting part of what he has seen. Also, while not exactly the same, art plays an important role in both developing the mystery and, ultimately, solving it.

The other thing that I'd recommend newcomers to this title pay attention to is how blatantly theatrical it all is, down to and including the drawing back of a thick velvet curtain to reveal a stage populated with (among others) a psychic whose premonitions start the film off on an unsettling footing. But over and over again Argento plays with an ambience which in some ways is reminiscent of what Michael Powell did in his infamous Peeping Tom, drawing parallels between the very act of watching a film and a certain level of voyeurism.

Deep Red Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Deep Red is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 2.35:1 for the two versions of the film included in this set. For reference, screenshots 1 - 10 are from the original version, and screenshots 11 - 20 are from the export version. I've tried to both duplicate (or come close to duplicating) a couple of frames from both versions in some screenshots, while also giving a smattering of other moments as well. As mentioned above, this release is more or less identical to the UK release Arrow brought out in 2016 (with the exception of the missing soundtrack CD on this version). Screenshot 21 reproduces the pre-film text card that quotes the insert booklet about the restoration. The insert booklet goes on to state:

Additional restoration work was undertaken by Arrow Films at L'Immagine Ritrovata to produce both the shorter original Italian cut of the film, as well as the English long and short versions. For the English versions, the new restoration was used except for the titles and inserts which were produced separately by Marc Morris using vintage reference materials.

This is another stellar looking offering from Arrow, one that has a more balanced and nuanced color scheme than the domestic Blue Underground release. (I haven't seen the first UK Arrow release, but both reviews are linked to above for those interested in reading about the differences.) While the nuance in tones in the orange to red range is really remarkable throughout the film, there are still some very minor variances in temperature that crop up almost randomly (pay attention at around 55:00 or so for one example, when an important book is being described) Despite so much of the film being drenched in shadows, detail levels remain pleasingly high overall and close-ups offer sometimes squirm inducing fine detail. Grain resolves very nicely throughout, with some expected spikes in elements like the opening brief snippet of a murder that plays out during the credits sequence. Perhaps in a commendable abundance of caution to preserve the organic look of the transfer, a few very small blemishes have made it through the restoration gauntlet, but nothing that I personally would call at all overly distracting. For an early example of just how eagle eyed you have to be to spot some of these tiny issues, look to the right of the man in the wheelchair at around 4:39 during the opening sequence and a couple of almost miniscule scratches can be spotted.

Deep Red Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The original version of Deep Red features Italian tracks in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio Mono, with a "hybrid" English/Italian track also available in DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (somewhat interestingly, the export version offers its English language track via LPCM Mono, though I noticed no real fidelity or amplitude differences between the two). The Setup menu has the following information about the tracks:

Although Deep Red was shot with the cast speaking English and post-synched into both English and Italian, no English audio exists for scenes removed for the shorter export version. This full length version can be viewed either entirely in Italian, or in a hybrid version which uses Italian audio in instances where no English audio exists.

I should just state up front that I'm not a big fan of the surround mix on this film, even though it considerably widens the excellent score by Claudio Simonetti. To my ears, it also adds too much reverb to provide a sense of spaciousness that's not actually "there", something that I personally found a bit distracting. The Italian mono track is quite nicely balanced, even if sync is almost comically loose at times, as tends to be the case in Italian films. The hybrid English/Italian track has a bit of brightness on the high end, something that can make even dialogue a little brash sounding at times. None of the tracks reveal any outright damage like distortion or dropouts.

Deep Red Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• Original Version (1080p; 2:07:14)


• Introduction (1080p; 00:23) is a very brief "hello" from composer Claudio Simonetti. This is accessible under the main Play Film menu option.


• Profondo Giallo (1080p; 32:57) is an excellent visual essay by Michael Mackenzie that explores themes and imagery, but which contains some potential spoilers.


• Archival Special Features

  Rosso Recollections (1080p; 12:26) features Dario Argento discussing the film.

  The Lady in Red (1080p; 18:47) is an interview with Daria Nicolodi.

  Music to Murder For! (1080p; 14:07) features composer Claudio Simonetti.

  Profondo Rosso: From Celluloid to Shop (1080p; 14:30) features Luigi Cozzi acting as a tourguide of sorts through the Profondo Rosso shop in Rome. Yes, evidently, there's a Profondo Rosso shop in Rome.

• Italian Trailer (1080p; 1:49)


• Audio Commentary with Thomas Rostock is accessible under the Setup menu option.

Disc Two

• Export Version (1080p; 1:44:53)


• Trailer (1080p; 2:43)

Additionally, Arrow has packaged this set very handsomely, with a sturdy chipboard box housing the keepcase, a folded poster and very nicely done insert booklet with writing by Alan Jones and Mikel Koven. The keepcase houses six collectible postcard sized posters printed on heavy cardstock.

Deep Red Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Deep Red is a viscerally disturbing thriller that features some spooky performances and a kind of gritty, seedy quality that is unforgettable. Arrow has done fans of this film right by providing a quality release with excellent technical merits, nice supplements and handsome packaging. Yes, it would have been great had this release also contained the soundtrack CD that was part of the UK package, but as mentioned above, it is possible to find a soundtrack CD separately for those that want one. Highly recommended.