GIALLO SOURCE CODE [Deep Red & Hercules in the Haunted World]

The final shot of Dario Argento's DEEP RED (PROFONDO ROSSO, 1975)—David Hemmings staring into the pool of blood that's erupted from the killer's neck, taking stock of the trauma he's experienced for the 126 minutes of the movie—is by now a pretty well-known horror image (at least to those fans aware of, and interested in, the Italian Giallo). But I found myself startled to see what seemed like the source image for this iconic shot in a trailer for Mario Bava's HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD (ERCOLE AL CENTRO DELLA TERRA, 1961). I've never taken the time to watch anything in the Italian sword-and-sandal genre, so it's not surprising that I'd not seen this Bava Hercules pic (even the presence of Christopher Lee as the villain didn't bump it up on my radar). But the trailer sent me to hunting for it. The disc available from Netflix is, to say the least, not an ideal a/v presentation, but it was good enough to take a few screencaps of the image in question.
 
In Bava's film, a woman's throat is slit, and the camera closes in on the blood leaking from the wound. The blood streams across the floor for a few inches before collecting in a pool—a pool that is filled with the reflection of Christopher Lee's face staring down into it with a stern, slightly pained look. I can't imagine that Argento wasn't aware of this shot (considering he was both a movie critic and screenwriter before his directorial debut). And though this movie still won't make me plunge into the peplum genre anytime soon, it does make for an interesting historical document that carries forward a clear influence. (There are also a number of scenes staged in a way that's quintessential Bava; the best of these are the two or three scenes with the mysterious, demonic, mirrored oracle who prophesies to Hercules what he needs to do.)