10 Years of FearIt’s Christmastime in a small house and a children’s song is playing. Two figures struggle. A child screams. A bloody knife is dropped to the ground.

Many years later in Rome, the psychic Helga Ulmann (Macha Méril) is reading her audience’s minds, when she realizes that someone in the crowd is a murderer. Later, Helga is in her apartment trying to write down what she saw when someone breaks into her apartment and murders her. At the same time, Marcus Daly (David Hemmings) is taking his drunken friend Carlo (Gabriele Lavia) home and sees Ulmann being murdered. Marcus runs up to her apartment to help but it’s too late–and there’s blood everywhere.

Marcus decides to look into the murder. He heard music playing somewhere and he’s sure that he saw something. He teams up with reporter Gianna Brezzi (Daria Nicolodi) to investigate. Later, the killer tries to get to Marcus and he hears the same music. He manages to lock himself in a room so the killer can’t get him. Later, he plays the song to psychiatrist Professor Giordani (Glauco Mauri) who tells him about a folk tale associated with it. Marcus starts looking to the story. But the killer isn’t finished yet…

Dario Argento has made many horror films over his long career but his best works are the films he made in the 1970s and ’80s. Suspiria, which was remade this year, is usually considered his best, but I’ve always preferred his 1975 giallo, Profondo Rosso a.k.a. Deep Red. There’s a couple of scenes that always make me jump and I love the weird way the plot evolves. Also, Goblin’s classic soundtrack is excellent.  You can read my original 2009 post here.