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Duel 1971 ★★★★
A good illustration of the type of movie that gets by on the mistery. It starts off relatively normal, with an argument between the main character and his wife. Thus giving him the motivation to get home asap.
Then it goes south quick. The main question being: why? What did he do to deserve this? What did he do to irk this truckdriver? And how come all he does only ends up making him look crazier? A plot that somehow paved the way for Rutger Hauer's moment of glory in The Hitcher. Who woulda thunk it?
The tension works well, though I remember the ending being more somber when I watched it the first time.
Well worth a watch. Even if only because it's the debut of one Steven Spielberg.
Deep Red 1975 ★★★★★
Argento's masterpiece starts off with jazzcats. Great.
Then, like the best freejazz, it goes off the rail and off the chain in amarvelous way. The kills – especially the first one – are filmed within an inch of their lives. The horror maestro always finds a way to add an echanting beauty to everything he films. As gruesome as what you see may be.
The two leads take the cake. David Hemmings as the stylish, yet sometimes immature Mark Daly (if he were real, could he be on The Daily Show? Bah dum tss) and Daria Nicolodi as the feisty, energetic Gianna Brezzi. She knows what she wants and when she does, she goes for it, not taking no for an answer. Her boisterous laugh only makes her all the more adorable.
Since this is an Argento-film, one can not go without mentioning the breathtaking soundtrack by Goblin. Groovy, awesome, automatically sweeping you up in the atmosphere of the scene. Leaving you wondering wether they used a theremin (probably) and how some bits were echoed in a Quentin Tarantino-film. Then again, with Quentin Tarantino-film school being a thing, what is not echoed in his films?
This never gets old and I loved it.
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