Deep Red

123 Pages·2017·3.104 MB·English

by  Argento, Dario;Kannas, Alexia

DEEP RED
Alexia Kannas
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C U L T O G R A P H I E S
CULTOGRAPHIES is a new list of individual studies devoted to
the analysis of cult film. The series provides a comprehensive
introduction to those films which have attained the coveted status of
a cult classic, focusing on their particular appeal, the ways in which
they have been conceived, constructed and received, and their place
in the broader popular cultural landscape.
OTHER PUBLISHED TITLES IN THE CULTOGRAPHIES SERIES:
THE ROCKY HORROR BLADE RUNNER
PICTURE SHOW Matt Hills
Jeffrey Weinstock
BAD TASTE
DONNIE DARKO Jim Barratt
Geoff King
QUADROPHENIA
THIS IS SPINAL TAP Stephen Glynn
Ethan de Seife
FASTER, PUSSYCAT!
SUPERSTAR: KILL! KILL!
THE KAREN CARPENTER STORY Dean DeFino
Glyn Davis
FRANKENSTEIN
Robert Horton
BRING ME THE HEAD
OF ALFREDO GARCIA THEY LIVE
Ian Cooper D. Harlan Wilson
THE EVIL DEAD MS. 45
Kate Egan Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
DEEP RED
Alexia Kannas
WALLFLOWER PRESS
LONDON & NEW YORK
A Wallflower Book
Published by
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York • Chichester, West Sussex
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright © 2017 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
A complete CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN 978-0-231-18121-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-231-85106-0 (e-book)
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent
and durable acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
Series design by Elsa Mathern
Cover image: Deep Red (1975) Poster Art © Anchor Bay
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction: Falling for Deep Red 1
1 Production, Promotion, Initial Reception 9
2 The Cultification of Deep Red 25
3 Reading Deep Red 41
4 Intermittent Transcendence: The Place of
Deep Red 91
Notes 105
Bibliography 107
Index 113
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Endless thanks to my wonderful editors Ernest Mathijs and
Jamie Sexton, for their patience, trust and expertise. I am
also very grateful to the colleagues and friends who offered
all kinds of advice and support while I wrote this book: Ste-
phen Gaunson, Adrian Danks, Lisa French, Peter Kemp, Al-
exandra Heller-Nicholas, Deane Williams, Adrian Martin, Con-
stantine Verevis, Adele Daniele, Craig Frost, Meg Johnston,
Adam Staples and Ronald Lee Miller. Final thanks to my fam-
ily: Chris, Loris, James, Madeleine and especially Ryan, for
dinner, draft-reading, and for putting up with what happens
when someone endlessly watches the same decapitation
scene for an entire year.
vii

INTRODUCTION
FALLING FOR DEEP RED
In Australia it was possible to grow up watching Italian horror
on free-to-air television. As a kid, I didn’t realise how remark-
able this was. I lived in a corner house at the intersection
of two innocuous streets in Melbourne’s northern suburbs;
the kind of place with freshly-mown lawns, a local milk bar
and plenty of gum trees. Family dinner was eaten at the ta-
ble, but the television was usually on, and we’d spend most
of the time leaning over on our seats to see past whoever
was sitting in the way to steal glimpses of the screen. Af-
terwards, plates were washed and everyone retired to their
quarters to play video games or talk to friends on the phone.
But, if it was a Friday or Saturday night, in just a few hours,
we might reconvene around the television. Shuffling through
the dimmed lounge room wrapped in gowns and blankets,
a blank VHS tape was loaded into the machine, ready to re-
cord whatever extraordinary weirdness materialised on the
screen. The films changed every week, but the ritual was the
same: this was the hour of the SBS (Special Broadcasting
Service) cult film.
1