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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
(aka "Profondo Rosso" or "The Hatchet Murders" or "Deep Red: The Hatchet Murders" or "Suspiria 2" )
directed by Dario Argento
Italy 1975
The DVDs and Blu-rays of Deep Red are compared to the 4K UHD edition HERE
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English jazz pianist Marcus Daly (David Hemmings, BLOW-UP) is living and teaching music in Turin. When he witnesses the brutal murder of his psychic neighbor Helga (Macha Meril, BELLE DE JOUR, UN FEMME MARIEE, and NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS), he - along with nosy reporter Gianna (Daria Nicolodi, INFERNO) - begins to investigate the murder and its ties to the murderous recollections Helga picked out from an anonymous audience member and the story of "The House of the Screaming Child." The killer always seems to be on step ahead of Marcus and those who might provide him clues end up brutally murdered and he may be the next victim. In the audio commentary on the new Arrow DVD (recorded for the Another World Entertainment release), Thomas Rostock points out that while the film seems like a stylistic quantum leap from Argento's THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE and CAT O'NINE TAILS, there were were indications of some of these leanings in the lesser-seen FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET. Despite the complex camera tricks and atypical rock score from Ennio Morricone in FOUR FLIES, DEEP RED really encapsulates everything that most associate with Argento at his prime (major American exploitation distributor American International turned down the film because of the unconventional scoring). The plotting (with co-scenarist Bernardino Zapponi who scripted Fellini's SATYRICON and Tinto Brass' ALL LADIES DO IT) is unusually tight and the visual are endlessly inventive (cinematographer Luigi Kuveiller had shot Lucio Fulci's second Giallo LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN and his later NEW YORK RIPPER, where he was assisted by Mario Bava's camera operator Ubaldo Terzano who also operates on this film). Franco Fraticelli's editing clicks with the music of Goblin (on their first scoring assignment for Argento, with some orchestral interludes by Giorgio Gaslini of Antonioni's LA NOTTE) while some of Giuseppe Bassan's art deco art direction is a dry run for the world he would create in Argento's SUSPIRIA. DEEP RED is also an early genre credit for Carlo Rambaldi (who also dished out the gore for Mario Bava's BAY OF BLOOD). Argento novices who may have started out on SUSPIRIA should check out DEEP RED next. |
Posters
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Theatrical Release: 11 June 1976 (USA)
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Comparison:
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Arrow Video (Director's Cut) - Region 0 - PAL vs. Anchor Bay Entertainment (Director's Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Arrow Video (Export Version) - Region 0 - PAL vs. Blue Underground - Region FREE (DC + Export) - Blu-ray vs. Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray |
Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for all the DVD Screen Caps!
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1) Arrow Video (Director's Cut) - Region 0 - PAL - LEFT2) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Director's Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) Arrow Video (Export Version) - Region 0 - PAL - THIRD 4) Blue Underground (both versions) - Region FREE - Blu-ray FOURTH5) Arrow Video (4K both versions) - Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT
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| Box Covers |
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Director's Cut Blu-ray only, no book 4K version coming in May 2016:
US 2-disc Blu-ray Version in April 2018 in the US:
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| Distribution |
Arrow Video Region 0 - PAL |
Anchor Bay Entertainment Region 1 - NTSC |
Arrow Video Region 0 - PAL |
Blue Underground Region FREE - Blu-ray |
Arrow Region FREE - Blu-ray |
| Runtime | 2:01:16 (4% PAL speedup) | 2:06:32 | 1:40:21 (4% PAL speedup) | 2:06:34.086 / 1:44:50.158 | 2:07:14.209 / 1:44:53.078 |
| Video |
2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
2.34:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
2.30:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 42,522,273,541 bytes
Director's Cut: Feature: 21,940,703,232 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 17.99 Mbps Export version: Feature: 17,685,774,336 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 17.97 Mbps |
1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Director's Cut Disc Size: 48,353,813,988 bytesFeature: 39,956,358,528 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Export version: Disc Size: 24,313,100,880 bytes Feature: 23,354,367,360 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 26.00 Mbps |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate:
Arrow Video (Director's Cut)
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Anchor Bay Entertainment (Director's Cut)
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Arrow Video (Export Version)
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| Audio | Italian Dolby Digital 5.1; Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo; English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo/mono |
English Dolby Digital 5.1; English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround; Italian Dolby Digital 5.1; Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 surround |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo/mono |
Director's Cut:
DTS-HD Master Audio Italian 2153 kbps 7.1 / 48
kHz / 2153 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps /
16-bit) Dolby Digital EX Audio English 640 kbps 5.1-EX / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital EX Audio Italian 640 kbps 5.1-EX / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital Audio Italian 256 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 256 kbps / DN -4dB
Export Version:
DTS-HD Master Audio English 2207 kbps 7.1 / 48
kHz / 2207 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps /
16-bit) |
Director's Cut:
DTS-HD Master Audio Italian 1046
kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1046 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz /
768 kbps / 24-bit) Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Export Version: LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
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| Subtitles | English (for Italian track), English (for composite track) | English (for composite English track); English (for Italian track) | English, none |
Director's Cut: English, none Export Version: English (SDH), French, Spanish, none |
Director's Cut: English for Italian track, English (SDH) for
English version, none Export Version: English (SDH), none |
| Features |
Release Information: Studio: Arrow Video Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 12 |
Release Information: Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
DVD Release Date: 25 April
2000 Chapters 32 |
Release Information: Studio: Arrow Video Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
DVD Release Date: 13 December
2010 Chapters 12 |
Release Information: Studio: Blue Underground
1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 42,522,273,541 bytes Director's Cut: Feature: 21,940,703,232 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 17.99 Mbps Export version: Feature: 17,685,774,336 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 17.97 Mbps
Edition Details: Chapters 24 + 20 |
Release Information: Studio: Arrow
1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Director's Cut Disc Size: 48,353,813,988 bytesFeature: 39,956,358,528 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Export version: Disc Size: 24,313,100,880 bytes Feature: 23,354,367,360 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 26.00 Mbps
Edition Details: Chapters 12 + 12 |
| Comments |
The DVDs and Blu-rays of Deep Red are compared to the 4K UHD edition HERE NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. ADDITION: Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray - January 2016 11': The great news is that Arrow's new 4K re-master lives up to its expectations and looks stunning - the image is notably richer than the previous 1080P - flesh tones warmer and more realistic (losing that orangey hue), superior contrast with a max'ed out bitrate on the Director's Cut. The bad news is that this package - in it's present form - is already Out-of-Print - presumably because of the limited edition CD and/or booklet. The package is 3-discs - two Blu-rays - a dual-layered for the Director's Cut - 4K restoration from the original negative also housing the bulk of the extras, a second Blu-ray (single-layered) with the International version (4K) and a Limited Edition 28-track CD featuring the entire Deep Red film score from Italian progressive rock band Goblin and composer Giorgio Gaslini. The screen capture comparisons speak for themselves but I'll only add it looks just as amazing in-motion. This restoration information screen precedes the DC presentation:
Audio has also never sounded better to my, crusty, ears. The Director's Cut gets the option of a DTS-HD Master mono Italian-language track at 1046 kbps (24-bit) or a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround Italian-language track at 2199 kbps (but only 16-bit) or a DTS-HD Master English mono track at 1031 kbps(24-bit). The surround was notable - and the 24-bit tracks had rich tones - the score never sounding more urgent or deep. Wow. The 1 3/4 hour International version sported a liner PCM - English mono. English subtitle options abound - for all Italian tracks and English (SDH) for the English tracks. Both Blu-ray discs are both Region 'A' + 'B' (and I call that region FREE!) Extras are extensive and the video supplements reside almost exclusively on the DC, dual-layered, Blu-ray, starting with an audio commentary with Argento expert Thomas Rostock - the same one as found on Arrow's previous Blu-ray. There are a few extras duplicated from that release - but also some valuable new ones. There is a short introduction to the DC film by Claudio Simonetti of Goblin - it comes as an option when you press 'Play'. I was quite impressed with the 33-minutes Profondo Giallo new visual essay from Michael Mackenzie offering an in-depth look at Dario Argento's early films and the road to Deep Red. It's very detailed and certainly worth indulging for any level of Argento fan. NOTE: It does contain spoilers for both Deep Red and The Bird With the Crystal Plumage. Rosso Recollections is about a dozen minutes spent with Dario Argento's reflecting on films he admires and his own work. The Lady in Red spends almost 20-minutes with Daria Nicolodi recalling her experiences making Deep Red. Music to Murder For! has almost 15-minutes with Claudio Simonetti discussing the music of Deep Red. Rosso From Celluloid to Shop is a 1/4 hour tour of the Profondo Rosso shop in Rome with long time Argento collaborator Luigi Cozzi. There is also an Italian trailer and on the International version Blu-ray - and English trailer. The package generously contains a third disc - a 28-track CD featuring the entire Deep Red film score from Italian progressive rock band Goblin and composer Giorgio Gaslini, 6 x postcard-sized lobby card reproductions, a double-sided fold-out poster featuring two original artworks, a reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx and the desirable limited edition booklet featuring new writing on the film by Mikel J. Koven, author of La Dolce Morte: Vernacular Cinema and the Italian Giallo Film and an archive piece by critic Alan Jones, illustrated with original archive stills and posters restoration from the original negative. Whew... now that's a complete package! Totally impressive and it's another release already this year that will make waves at our year-end poll!. Incredible. Fans who pre-ordered this will be so pleased and those that buy it later (at a premium) won't be disappointed either - the value here is immense. It's the definitive Deep Red Blu-ray package! Our highest recommendation! *** ADDITION: Blue Underground - Region FREE - Blu-ray - May 11': Argento considers Deep Red his most successful film and Blue Underground are now offering both the Director's Cut and shorter Export version in 1080P on the same dual-layered Blu-ray disc. While these are NOT seamlessly branched I couldn't say I found significant differences in the image quality between the two cuts. It looks very good - clean, some grain and generally speaking the colors are supported by the Arrow DVD. There is some pleasing depth and limited noise. Blue Underground tend to produce some of the best HD transfer and I feel confident that this is the very best at present. NOTE: I don't yet have the Arrow Blu-ray but will possibly compare at some point. Both cuts offer a similar DTS-HD Master 7.1 at a decent 2153 kbps (in the respective languages). There is more depth and range than I have ever heard to date - but it still may be considered more tame by those with modern film expectations. Aside from content - two cuts have similarities although the Italian version offers only English subtitles while the English (Export) cut has English (SDH), Spanish or French subtitles. The translations and positioning and slightly different (see sample below) but nothing that I could ascertain altering the narrative intent. Supplements aren't extensive with no commentary but we get an 11-minute Interview compilation with Co-Writer/Director Dario Argento, Co-Writer Bernardino Zapponi and Goblin (Claudio Simonetti, Massimo Morante, Fabio Pignatelli & Agostino Marangolo. There are both the U.S. and Italian trailers in 480i, a Goblin Music Video - "Profondo Rosso" from 2010 for almost 5 minutes in 1080P and a Daemonia Music Video - "Profondo Rosso" (Directed by Sergio Stivaletti) for 8.5 minutes in SD. I am a big fan of Blue Underground's Blu-ray transfers (se our reviews of Django, Inferno, Daughters of Darkness, The Bird With a Crystal Plumage etc.) I am very pleased with Deep Red via their 1080Pm package - my favorite Argento film and for the director's legions of fans - we certainly recommend! *** Arrow's
HD-mastered transfer is not quite the massive leap in quality
one was hoping for. The image certainly is sharper and brighter
(the brightness may place too much emphasis on an early reveal
for repeat viewers). The differences in color timing between the
Arrow and Anchor Bay transfers is slight but interesting (rather
than ruinous) but the Anchor Bay transfer does have more
peripheral information. There is some stair-stepping on the
director's cut that is not evident on the theatrical cut, but
the theatrical cut has two brief passages of interlaced combing
during the car scene and the following re-enactment scene in the
theatre (these bits are unaffected in the director's cut).
Hopefully, the upcoming
Blu-ray
(HERE)
does not have these
issues. Rostock's
commentary is indeed a welcome addition as it provides not only
analysis of the film but also great background detail (Marc's
students in the opening sequence were actually those of
co-composer Giorgio Gaslini, and that Lino Capolicchio was
originally slated for the lead). The commentary is backed by the
Italian track so it may be useful to watch the commentary with
the English subtitles on since Rostock points out and pauses for
some dialogue in the film. He also quotes from the script
(pointing out that some things that are unclear in the film are
pointed out as being ambiguous in the script) and informs us
that the bathroom murder scene was shot by Aldo Tonti. Anchor Bay's
dual-layered disc featured a 25th Anniversary featurette
featuring Argento, screenwriter Bernardino Zapponi, and members
of Goblin as well as the Italian trailer (a montage of static
motion images and action stills minus the solarization effects
of the similar Italian SUSPIRIA trailer) and the more
conventional US theatrical trailer as well as some text talent
bios. The transfer was of Italian theatrical version (labeled
the director's cut by Arrow); as such, the Italian track was
complete (with optional English subtitles) but the English track
featured Italian language segments (and English subtitles) since
the film had been cut down to 105 minutes for English audiences
(the US version was further cut down to just under 100 minutes
to remove some violent content). While the transfer has held up
well in terms of color and framing (there is more peripheral
information than on the Arrow transfer), there are some moments
of combing and the image has been edge-enhanced, the transfer
does not feature the original mono tracks for the English or
Italian mixes (the 2.0 tracks are surround-flagged downmixes of
the 5.1 tracks). The English-language titles had also been
recreated. In addition to the controversial freezing of the
background image during the end credits (it stays in motion in
the original Italian and English end credits), the new titles
also credit Claudio Argento as "executive director" whereas the
old English titles credited him as executive producer (or 'produttore
esecutivo' in the Italian titles). Blue Underground ported over
the Anchor Bay contents for their 2007 edition (HERE)
but they have announced a BluRay and new DVD edition for March
2011. |
Arrow Video (4K both Versions) - Region FREE - Blu-ray
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DVD
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(Arrow Video (Director's Cut) -
Region 0 - PAL - LEFT vs. Anchor Bay Entertainment (Director's
Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Arrow Video (Export Version)
- Region 0 - PAL - RIGHT)
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Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray
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CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Screen Captures
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1) Arrow Video (Director's Cut) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Director's Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) Arrow Video (Export Version) - Region 0 - PAL - THIRD 4) Blue Underground (Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray FOURTH5) Blue Underground (Export Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray FIFTH 6) Arrow Video (4K Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray SIXTH 7) Arrow Video (4K International Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
Subtitle sample
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1) Arrow Video (Director's Cut) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Director's Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) Arrow Video (Export Version) - Region 0 - PAL - THIRD 4) Blue Underground (Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray FOURTH5) Blue Underground (Export Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray FIFTH 6) Arrow Video (4K Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray SIXTH 7) Arrow Video (4K International Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM
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1) Arrow Video (Director's Cut) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Director's Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) Arrow Video (Export Version) - Region 0 - PAL - THIRD 4) Blue Underground (Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray FOURTH5) Blue Underground (Export Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray FIFTH 6) Arrow Video (4K Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray SIXTH 7) Arrow Video (4K International Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM
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1) Arrow Video (Director's Cut) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Director's Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) Arrow Video (Export Version) - Region 0 - PAL - THIRD 4) Blue Underground (Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray FOURTH5) Blue Underground (Export Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray FIFTH 6) Arrow Video (4K Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray SIXTH 7) Arrow Video (4K International Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM
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1) Arrow Video (Director's Cut) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Director's Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) Arrow Video (Export Version) - Region 0 - PAL - THIRD 4) Blue Underground (Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray FOURTH5) Blue Underground (Export Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray FIFTH 6) Arrow Video (4K Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray SIXTH 7) Arrow Video (4K International Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM
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1) Arrow Video (Director's Cut) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Director's Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) Arrow Video (Export Version) - Region 0 - PAL - THIRD 4) Blue Underground (Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray FOURTH5) Blue Underground (Export Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray FIFTH 6) Arrow Video (4K Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray SIXTH 7) Arrow Video (4K International Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM
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1) Arrow Video (Director's Cut) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Director's Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) Arrow Video (Export Version) - Region 0 - PAL - THIRD 4) Blue Underground (Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray FOURTH5) Blue Underground (Export Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray FIFTH 6) Arrow Video (4K Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray SIXTH 7) Arrow Video (4K International Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM
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More Arrow 4K DC Blu-ray Captures
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Report Card:
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Image: |
Arrow 4K Blu-ray |
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Sound: |
Arrow 4K Blu-ray |
| Extras: | Arrow 4K Blu-ray |
| Box Covers |
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Director's Cut Blu-ray only, no book 4K version coming in May 2016:
US 2-disc Blu-ray Version in April 2018 in the US:
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| Distribution |
Arrow Video Region 0 - PAL |
Anchor Bay Entertainment Region 1 - NTSC |
Arrow Video Region 0 - PAL |
Blue Underground Region FREE - Blu-ray |
Arrow Region FREE - Blu-ray |
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