[quote=“John Welles, post:140, topic:405”]I have just recently got hold of Hammer’s “The Devil-Ship Pirates” and I was wondering if it was any good or not? What are your opinions of it?[/quote]wouldn’t call it a horror film, but as far as i remember it’s ok.
Ah, thanks. I’m quite looking foreward to viewing it.
[url]http://img7.imageshack.us/i/posterdeepredprofondoro.jpg/[/url] Profondo Rosso (Deep Red/1975 - Dario Argento)
![http://img7.imageshack.us/i/posterdeepredprofondoro.jpg/[/url]](http://img7.imageshack.us/i/posterdeepredprofondoro.jpg/%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
Called the pinnacle of Giallo here. I won’t argue since I’m not an expert on gialli. Actually, I’m not a real fan of the genre and have mixed feelings about this film, but it’s by far the best of the three famous gialli I’ve watched over the last few months (apart from this one: Suspiria and The Bird with the Crystal Plumage). It’s one of the most beautiful films I’ve ever seen (and heard), but I found myself emotionally isolated from the things on-screen. Only during some of the most hair-raising scenes, I managed to forget that I was watching a movie.
But allright, I guess these films are more about style than about content, and stylish it is. Along with Nicholas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now and De Palma’s Obsession, this is one of those movies that uses Italian urban architecture to maximum effect. I think Argento was influenced by Roeg’s movie (as well as by Hitchcock), but his style of film making is closer to Antonioni here, with a languid camera scrutinizing the entire image, without ever putting much emphasis on details.
As a fan of prog rock, I loved the soundtrack by Goblin, but one track (used twice in the movie) reminded me too much of Mike Oldfield’s score for The Exorcist. I read somewhere that parts of the Goblin soundtrack were lost; did they by any chance insert some Oldfield music to fill the gaps?
I watched a Dutch DVD (DFW – Dutch Film Works) ; it’s not the greatest of discs, but it contains the longest (Italian) version of the movie in widescreen, running 126 minutes. The opening credits are in English, but the end credits are shown over a reflection of Hemmings’ face in the blood of the killer. The disc has only Italian audio and Dutch subs.
Great review Scherp. I’m not really a fan of giallo either as I find they are too much murder mystery and not enough of the supernatural elements that I prefer to see in horror. I’m also not too crazy about the erotism. If I wanted to see naked women I would just watch porn! I prefer Italian gothic horror like black sunday, castle of blood etc…
Having said that I have seen about 40 giallos and I do like alot of giallos that I’ve seen so far. The latest being All the colors of the dark by Sergio Martino which has an awesome soundtrack by Bruno nicolai. Probably the greatest giallo score I’ve ever heard.
Good review Scherp. Deep Red is actually my favorite movie! I don’t think Argento was that inspered by Don’t Look Now, very hard to say as these movies are not the only ones of their kind. Argento is also sometimes called the Italian Hitchcock.
Just one thing, Suspiria is not a Giallo.
@Col DM (about the erotism): I think erotism is ok in Gialli, it’s a big part of the genre.
After reading scherpschutter’s review, I’m even more excited to see Deep Red
If you’ve been watching horror forever, isn’t there a point when almost no horror film can scare and disturb you anymore?
Kinda seems that way, but there always seems to be some more obscure underground disturbing stuff around the corner… some of the newer debaucheries i’m afraid of even looking at… (August Underground and the like)
You have good point. I don’t get scared by horror movies but I still watch them because even though I’m not scared I still consider these movies “scary”. Much in the same way comedies can be funny without actually eliciting laughter.
That’s why we are still watching Trash Westerns ;).
It’s funny, i’ve been watching horror films since i was akid, though i have to admit i’m not keen on the modern ones and i can’t say i’ve ever seen one that’s actually scared me…disgusted sometimes maybe but not scared…
I agree.
That’s why I stay with 70’s Italian/Spanish Horror.
When a film that is suppose to be a comedy and it is just simply not getting any laughter, then I view it that the film-makers have failed. There is no middle ground for comedy. It’s ethier funny or it isn’t.
I agree with this. When it’s not funny, it simply doesn’t work, ergo is bad.
A bad thriller can still hold your attention because you want to know ‘who did it’, and bad action movies can still work to some extent because some scenes are worth watching. Shalako for example isn’t a good movie by any stretch of the imagination, nor is Rambo:First Blood II, but they occasionally work because some scenes are good, or at least provide some excitement. But a scene that isn’t funny while it’s supposed to be, is downright irritating.
But something can still be funny without making you physically laugh. Especially for some, who may not outwardly laugh as easily as others
Yes, a funny film should at first be funny.
Still I can appreciate comedies as funny without having to laugh. Seems to be a contradiction, but it ain’t.
Autephex has meanwhile made clear what I meant …
I odn’t always laugh out loud because something is funny. It’s funny anyway.
I do not laugh as easily as others, and yes there are films that don’t make me laugh out loud (a lot Woody Allens for example, or some Coens), that I would still call ‘funny’. But I cannot think of a film I appreciated while it was supposed to be funny and in my opinion simply was un-funny. On friday night a commercial Belgian network often shows films like Porky’s etc. Every now and then I watch half an hour or so. Those things can be entertaining in a certain sense, but I don’t think they’re ‘funny’: I suppose they appeal to those lower but basic instincts.