Director – Luciano Onetti (Francesca)
Starring – Luciano Onetti, Daiana Garcia, and Silvia Duhalde
Release Date – 2015
Rating – 4/5
Tagline – “You wish you’d never woken up”
Italian giallo horror thrillers have always been a bitter sweet sub-genre for me. I typically love Italian horror films but giallo usually bores the shit out of me. Sure, they are beautifully crafted but the stories are mostly weak and move so slow that I can watch my nails grow faster than the film can end. I recently caught the giallo inspired horror comedy The Editor from the folks over at Astron 6. This was one hell of a movie experience and this forced me to check out more modern giallo inspired horror flicks.
Sometime last year I saw several horror sites shares reviews and news on an Argentinian made giallo film titled Sonno Profondo, aka Deep Sleep. Not much on giallos, I skipped this release until I checked out The Editor. I reached out to the film’s FB page and they were kind enough to send me a review copy of the film. Thanks for allowing me to check this one out!
**Spoiler Alert**The follows a masked man, wearing black gloves, as he terrorizes the city he lives in. This man is a murderer who carefully picks and chooses his prey but one day he receives word that he has been found out and the hunter becomes the hunted as he is stalked by the unknown person that knows his deep, dark obsession with killing.**Spoiler Alert**
Authentic giallo is known for it’s mystery oriented horror but those that truly pay attention to these films know that they are aesthetically beautiful. Suspiria is the one that immediately comes to mind in a sense of how beautiful each shot was. Every scene in that film can be paused, screen shot, and framed in a museum somewhere. It is stunning down to every detail. Sonno Profondo captured the look and feel of a true giallo down perfectly but it almost went a little too perfectly resulting in little story and more beautiful shots than it has substance.
The acting in this one is non-existent. The cast, which consist of only three people, do not interact at all with one another with the exception of a few scenes where people are dying. The cast was not really utilized but the film did the best it could with it sticking to the giallo style while remaining in the point of view format. The story for this one is simple but could have easily been a short and been just as effective.
The story is pretty much as follows – killer kills people, another killer spots killer killing, other killer plays a game with killer. Simple as that. The film makes up for the weak story with breathtaking cinematography and shots. Just like with Suspira, each scene can be paused and turned into a work of art. Hell, just check out the screen grabs I took. The lack in story bought forth artistic abilities.
Finally, the film does have a kill or two but they are weak as hell and offer up nothing in the way of carnage. So many giallos are known for their kill scenes but this one lacked in that department which, also, means that it lacked in the practical effects department. Overall, Sonno Profondo is a fucking fantastic film that offers up some amazing images and has an amazing attention to detail considering this is a low-budget period piece. The story is weak and lack kills but is still able to pull the viewer in and not let go.
