Deep Red (Arrow Video Blu-ray)
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, his 1960 story of a psychopath who kills with knives, set the stage. By the time Deep Red was made in 1975, Italian director Dario Argento felt licensed to go graphic rather than suggestive and actually show the blood—lots of it. Red is the prevailing color of curtains, seat covers, lipstick, objects.
The new Blu-ray box set surpasses previous home releases of Deep Red. It includes the original Italian alongside the “export version,” all fully restored, plus a booklet of essays placing Deep Red in context and other special features. The film deserves the deluxe packaging. Deep Red displays Argento’s eye for composition, his use of sound and close-ups to increase tension and camerawork that lurches and lingers (as if seeing with the eyes of a psychopath). Italian band Goblin provide the score.
The film’s star David Hemmings is familiar from playing the protagonist in Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up (1966) and as in that film, he stumbles into a murder whose visual clues are visible at the margins of sight. Humor is provided by Hemmings’ relations with a scrappy woman reporter whose rattletrap car can only be exited through the sunroof. Deep Red glances sideways at aesthetics, addiction, gay subculture and gender roles. Argento includes a short tribute to Hitchcock with the ferocious behavior of blackbirds inside a house. (David Luhrssen)
“Dolly Parton & Porter Wagoner & Friends: Country Legends” (MPI DVD)
This two-disc set includes episodes from Porter Wagoner’s weekly series from 1967-1977, the period when Dolly Parton was his featured female vocalist. She was already a poised performer with a distinctive Appalachian voice when she debuted singing a rebuke to stupid guys, “Dumb Blond.” The half-hour weekly show, a Grand Ole Opry spin-off, boasted a crack band grounded in country’s rural roots backing Wagoner, a singer whose stoic face broke into frequent smiles of genuine delight. The period vibe is fascinating. Wagoner actually thanks the audience for watching the commercials. (David Luhrssen)
“The Honeymooners’ Specials: A Christmas Carol” (MPI DVD)
The funny thing about this 1977 Jackie Gleason production is that it’s still funny. There’s no topping Gleason’s original TV series from the ‘50s, “The Honeymooners,” but the occasional revivals in the ‘60s and ‘70s retained the old flair. In this tale of holiday mishap, Gleason is the loveable grouch whose aspirations disintegrate on impact with reality. Gleason and Art Carney (as his sidekick, Ed Norton) were physical comedians whose body language was integral to their delivery. Audrey Meadow was in good form as the wife who took no guff from her husband. (David Luhrssen)
The Second (Limited theatrical release and streaming on AppleTV, Dec. 3)
This 2018 Aussie thriller, directed by Mairi Cameron in her feature debut, finally gets its Stateside debut. The leads are known only as the Writer (Rachael Blake), her boyfriend the Publisher (Vince Colosimo), and the woman with whom she shares a history, the Muse (Susie Porter). The trio meet up at a sprawling country estate owned by the writer’s family. She’s there to work on a follow up to her first novel, an erotically charged bestselling thriller. Publisher and Writer seem to balance one another until the Muse arrives. Around the estate’s sunny pool, dark secrets and conflicting perspectives surface. The truth is difficult to discern. (Lisa Miller)
