bsam2089 Review of Deep Sleep

Deep Sleep (2013)

Another art film inspired by the Giallo genre but a good one at that

[6/10 · 17 January 2015]

Don't get me wrong here, this is a visually stunning tribute to one of my favorite genre's in cinema history but this is not the return of the giallo. This is another art film that is a tribute to the genre rather than a "new" giallo, much the same as "Amer" (2009). The entire film is shot POV and doesn't for one second give us a conventional shot, the camera is in constant motion, giving a hand-held look that at times shows nothing more than the floor. Sure, it's it fills every second with delirious giallo imagery but I would like anybody out there to name me one real giallo from back in the day that is nothing but this. They weren't, they were wonderful murder mysteries, full of twists and turns, in a style all of there own. As a tribute, it is wonderful but a bona fide giallo it is not. The theme is spot on, the 70's setting and old school effects add to it's authenticity. But what we have here is something akin to a rock album where each track is comprised solely of lead guitar solos - no bad thing but not a complete song structure. I hope that explains what I'm trying to say here. Dialogue is very minimal but then again so is the entire plot. We are entertained through out by a soundtrack that is everything you want it to be without purely ripping off Mr Simonetti, works perfectly with the visuals on screen. Plot wise, we have a black gloved killer (shown only as a pair of black gloved hands with the exception of one or two scenes) who suffers from a childhood trauma. The killer is seen to stalk and murder a very sexy young women only to return home to find that somebody has witnessed this act. The killer receives a set of photos of the deed with a phone number. When calling the number, it is answered by somebody who questions why the murder was done and then threatens to kill the killer. This should have set the scene for a fantastic game of cat and mouse between the two but after one brief confrontation we are then thrown into tons of surreal imagery that leads to a cop out ending. Not an unintelligent ending, mind you, but certainly not original. If you are a big fan of the giallo genre then certainly see this film, you may well enjoy it's over the top excess. However, I will caution you to keep a bottle of aspirin handy and if you do suffer from light sensitivity of any form then be warned.