Product Details

• Actors: David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi
• Directors: Dario Argento
• Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), Italian (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Blue Underground
• DVD Release Date: February 27, 2007
• Run Time: 126 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (158 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000KRNG4U
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,218 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Deep Red" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Considered by many to be Dario Argento's first masterpiece, Deep Red recalls his first hit, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage. British star David Hemmings (Blow-Up) plays an American jazz pianist who witnesses a brutal, bloody murder from afar and turns detective to find the killer. Kooky Italian journalist Daria Nicolodi (Argento's wife and cowriter on Suspiria) joins him as comic relief and tepid romantic interest, but the real costar is Argento's high style: gliding camera, razor-sharp editing, and gorgeous but gruesome set pieces. The story is convoluted, to say the least--plotting was never Argento's strong suit and the unnecessary exposition often drags the film down--but his vivid, horrific imagery is perfect for a thriller driven by haunting memories. Deep Red was originally released in the U.S. in a severely cut version retitled The Hatchet Murders (odd since the killer uses a butcher's knife). Producer Bill Lustig has restored the film to its original two-hour-plus running time, though some scenes exist only with Italian-language soundtracks (which are subtitled). It's a bit jarring at first (it makes for an unintended joke when a man suddenly checks his hearing aid after a language switch), but it's the only way to see Argento's original cut. There's also a brief 25th anniversary documentary with Argento and cowriter Bernardino Zapponi, and the DVD offers a choice of English and Italian language versions. --Sean Axmaker

Product Description

Dario Argento's Masterpiece - In It's Full-Length Director's Cut!

An English jazz pianist living in Rome witnesses the brutal hatchet murder of a renowned psychic and is quickly drawn into the savage crime. With the help of a tenacious female reporter, the pair track a twisted trail of deranged clues and relentless violence towards a shocking climax that has ripped screams from the throats of audiences for more than 30 years!

DEEP RED stars David Hemmings (BLOW-UP) and Daria Nicolodi (PHENOMENA, TENEBRE), and is widely considered by both fans and critics alike to be Dario Argento's true masterpiece. Now, with the cooperation of the maestro himself, this classic shocker is presented in its full-length Director's Cut - remixed in 5.1 Dolby Digital, uncut and uncensored for the first time ever!

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 69 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Argento Ever March 6, 2000

By "cinescoper"

"Deep Red" is without a doubt Dario Argento's masterpiece. With a very clear (for Argento) storyline, absolutely dazzling camerawork and an unforgettable score by Goblin (which is bound to sound incredible in 5.1), "Deep Red" is a must for the horror aficionado, especially those with an interest in films that are historically relevant. "Deep Red" is the "Psycho" of Italian cinema. Back in 1975, when it came out, graphic gore was mostly relegated to ultra low-budget movies where carnage was the only point of the movie. With "Deep Red", Argento took gore in a completely new direction, mixing it with classy cinematography and a complex story, and unleashing it upon unsuspecting stars of the Italian stage and screen, people so prestigious in their own way you would never expect them to get it the way they do in a movie. The uncut widescreen version of this film, which has been long overdue in America, will reveal to those who have only seen it in pan-and-scan form the artistry and complexity of Argento's Technovision images. The previously unreleased footage, which I have seen and which was truncated from the version that has been in circulation in this country for decades, adds depth to the characters and the story. In my opinion, you should preferably watch this in Italian with English subtitles -- the English dubbing is atrocious and the Italian original is far more poetic-sounding and apropriate to the story and, besides, Anchor Bay is releasing the added footage in Italian because there is no English dub of those scenes, so you might as well watch it all in its original language. At any rate, this is a must for everyone who appreciates good scary movies, for anyone with an eye for truly spectacular filmmaking and especially for anyone who thinks European movies means Truffaut. An absolute must-have!

43 of 50 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Ignore "Satisfied Reader" May 9, 2011

By Eli M-H

Format:DVD

This is not, as "Satisfied Reader" claims, a censored version of Argento's masterwork "Deep Reed". It is the uncensored "long" English language version of the film, cut by Argento himself for the film's American release. Gone are all the hideously draggy comedy scenes between David Hemmings and Daria Nicolodi that bog down the 126 minute Italian version, still present is all the lovely viscera that made the rosso so profondo to begin with. This is the definitive version of the film, perfectly paced, no fat. It is not "censored", and for what it's worth, Argento has stated that this is his preferred cut of the film.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great Blue Underground Bluray May 26, 2011

By David T.

Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase

After reading a few negative reviews of this release, I'm just throwing my two cents in. I should point out that I'm a huge Argento fan (one of my all time favorite directors) and that unlike some people I've been very pleased with every single Argento-Blue Underground release.

First off, I've watched both versions of the film on this bluray disk, the picture quality is very good. I was slightly disappointed that it didn't make a major leap forward from the old DVDs like I experienced when first watching the blurays of Stendhal Syndrome or Inferno, but I pulled out my old Anchor Bay DVD (the one mentioned by the other reviewer) and watched the first 10 minutes of the DVD vs the Bluray back to back and the bluray is substantially better picture quality wise(don't get me wrong the PQ is very good on this release just with some of the others it felt like I was seeing the film for the first time).

Next since I've seen the uncut Italian version countless times, I was looking forward to finally seeing a quality release of the Uncut English version. I can confirm that as best as I can tell all the gore in intact. The things which seem to be cut are some of the Hemmings pianist scenes. I can see how people feel either way on this, it does make the pacing of the film slightly faster, but I think it you lose some character development. After seeing this, personally I still prefer the 126 minute version.

As for the dvd having only the uncut english version, as someone else pointed out Blue Underground a couple of years ago released the Uncut Italian version already on DVD. Just get the other edition, or move up to the bluray.

Having seen the Italian version many times, I was pretty excited to get to watch it with full Italian audio and English subs. I may be mistaken but I don't remember this being present on the Anchor Bay DVD, if memory serves me correctly only a few parts in old Italian version had subs. Watching the entire film in Italian did give a slightly different feel to it, which I quite liked (I realize that Hemmings was speaking English and was dubbed into Italian).

The most disappointing part to me (as another reviewer mentioned) are the extras, the two Goblin videos weren't very interesting and I've already seen the very short Argento interview. I'm not too disappointed though, because I'd gladly take two versions of the film over any sort of extras. Overall I'm very pleased with this version from Blue Underground and look forward to more of their Argento releases.