MovieChat Forums > Profondo rosso (1976) Discussion > The acting is absolutely terrible!

The acting is absolutely terrible!


David Hemmings was never able to act, bless him. But the rest of the cast are outrageously bad too! Of course it's not helped by Argento's shockingly poor writing, but the whole thing looks like that occasional spoof Spanish soap they used to do on "the Fast Show"

"There's somebody in the house. They're absolutely trying to kill me, you know?"

Dear, oh dear!

But then again, horror fans seem to pride themselves on rejecting traditional cinematic values. It's almost as if they like to turn things the other way up in a kind of "it's so bad, it's good" way. Nothing wrong with that, I guess. As long as they are aware they're doing it. The people who idolise this film must accept, surely, that technically it is utterly dreadful from almost all points of view.

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Well that's the joy of cinema, we all have our own opinions.

But I do find it very surprising that anyone could describe this as scary in any way. I found the whole thing laughable. The fake blood, for example. Have the film makers ever actually seen blood, I wonder? This looked like poster paint! Can thy really not do any better than that? Pathetic.

Oh, and roegcamel, just in case you think I am a complete philistine:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077402/board/thread/144127229?p=3&d=151813353#151813353

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hmm.. that's interesting. Didn't appreciate that. Thanks for putting me straight.

Look, I am not looking to troll here, really I am not. Perhaps my post was out of order. I apologise.

I am a great lover of the cinema in all kinds of genres, but I have always struggled with films like these which often require much more "suspension of disbelief" on the part of the viewer than I am able to manage. The combination of stilted dialogue and wooden acting (perhaps a deliberate stylistic device, rather than ineptitude, I would concede), coupled with scrappy editing and poor overdubbing are all so distracting that I find it hard to immerse.

I suppose my original point was that I suspect "horror fans" are able to accept this. Indeed, perhaps they are so used to it that they barely notice any more. But you must surely accept that these elements are present, compared to more "polished" movies?

The fact that I like "Dawn of the Dead" seems incongruous in this regard, I admit, as it has much of the above. Perhaps it has something (for me) that Deep Red didn't. As I said in another thread, I wanted to like this film, but found myself very disappointed.

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I think you make an excellent point about Dawn of the Dead. If we are prepared to accept zombies in the first place, what's a little fake blood!

I shall give Deep Red another go. Maybe I was just in a harsh mood. I guess I spend too much time watching Tarkovsky and Bergman! ;-)

As for Hemmings, I take back what I said. I re-watched Blow Up last night (as it's been years). Not only did I re-discover what a fantastic film it is, but Hemmings does a fine and highly believable job as the cocky, successful photographer with the world at his feet.

So thank you!

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I found the movie boring for the most part, with touches of suspense and great cinematography. Visually it was nice but the plot was non existent for the most part and I didn't care much for what is in my opinion a very boring mystery, still I sat through it all and I don't regret it. I also have Suspiria which I am stuck on because I felt if this lacked a plot and horror (or even suspense) I may be left with another boring murder mystery (with great shots). Coincidentally I also found myself bored to tears over Blowup (starring the same guy) another European mystery, being a big fan of Antonioni that was even a bigger disappointment than this.

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Never seen The Passenger, but it's now added to my list (ever growing!). Thanks.

Didn't know that about Storaro. I know him as the cinematographer of one of my favourite fims of all time, Apocalypse Now!

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Hey I watched The Passenger on your recommendation last night. Really good film. I enjoyed the slow, mesmerizing pace in the hot Spanish landscape. A good meditation on identity.

Thanks for that!

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yes, Zabriskie point is a fave of mine. That final scene...!

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really? My God you are a mine of info! I do consider myself on being a Floyd fan, but I didn't spot the variation!

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wow! that's amazing. I didn't know about those at all. I have all the Floyd's albums and saw them a few times in my youth (I am of a certain age :)

Thanks so much for the tips. I shall track them down.

I am from Oxford, UK. You?

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ok, so I found "More" on Amazon, but the other one (if it's this) appears to be unavailable :(

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LA-VALLEE-OBSCURED-BY-CLOUDS/dp/B0014G002C/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1282677136&sr=1-2

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Hemmings can act! Watch Glaiator and for the scenes he is in he is amazing!

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