Deep Red
Deep Red is a 1975 film from Italy, directed by Dario Argento, running 126 minutes. reelscum files it under giallo.
- Year
- 1975 · 1970s films
- Country
- Italy
- Runtime
- 126 min
- Director
- Dario Argento
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026
- Obscurity
- known (15/100)
- Also known as
- The Hatchet Murders · Dario Argento's Deep Red
- Banned in
- UK
Defined in the glossary: Giallo
Listed under Section 3 as liable to seizure, despite being among Argento's most acclaimed work.
Argento's best. Goblin's score does half the work and knows it.
The high-water mark. A pianist witnesses a murder through a window, becomes convinced he saw something in the room he can't place, and spends two hours failing to remember it. The film does the same thing to you.
Argento is at his most controlled here: the camera prowls objects rather than people, the clue is on screen in the first ten minutes in plain sight, and Goblin's prog score is so aggressive it functions as a second antagonist. David Hemmings is doing an intentional callback to Blow-Up, and it lands.
The English dub is significantly worse than the Italian. Find the 126-minute Italian cut.
Trailer
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Where to watch
Legal options in USA
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Written about
- The giallo, 1963 to 1976
A line of yellow paperbacks, a killer in black gloves, and Mario Bava building the American slasher a decade before Hollywood cashed the cheque.
On these lists
- The giallo starter pack
Six films, in this order. By the end you will know whether you can live without the plot making sense.
- Gateway drugs for horror normies
For the friend who liked Hereditary and thinks that is the deep end. Nothing here will make them leave the room.
Filed alongside
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Argento's debut, and the film that made the giallo an export.
Phenomena
Insect telepathy, a Swiss boarding school, and a straight-razor chimpanzee. Argento off the leash.
A Bay of Blood
Bava invents the slasher a decade early. Friday the 13th copied two kills outright.
Tenebrae
Argento's coldest and cleverest. That crane shot earns its reputation.
Inferno
Argento's sequel to Suspiria. Even less plot, even more colour. A building that is alive.
Suspiria
Barely a giallo and barely a plot. Possibly the most beautiful horror film ever shot.
Blood and Black Lace
The template, and still the best-looking film on this list.
The Cat o' Nine Tails
Argento's least favourite of his own films. He is roughly right.
Four Flies on Grey Velvet
Argento's third. Unavailable for decades, and worth the wait for the last shot.
Opera
Needles taped under the eyes so she cannot look away. Argento's last truly great film.
Don't Torture a Duckling
Fulci's best film and his angriest. A giallo about mob justice in a village.
What Have You Done to Solange?
Unusually sad for a giallo, and much better for it.