Soundtrack Apocalisse

In what seems like news from a completely different dimension, a musical version of Dario Argento’s classic 1975 thriller Profondo Rosso (known to US fans as Deep Red) was recently performed in Italy.  Although this isn’t exactly current news as the musical’s performance ceased in March, Cinevox recently released the soundtrack CD.

I found out the musical a few months back and I just didn’t understand how the film could be transformed onto the stage, and honestly I still don’t.  Argento and the Italian movie market are a source of pride for the country, so in comparison to our Broadway versions of Billy Joel songs and Disney films, in a way it kind of makes sense. The reviews seem to be glowing, and many of the film’s infamous scenes are said to have been included; there’s still the windup dummy, the head still gets decapitated (somehow) by the car at the end, and even the bizarre mirror tricks of the movie have been incorporated.

Reenacted with ballet dancers, a vocal choir, and a somewhat new soundtrack by Claudio Simonetti, the producers say their intent was to bridge a Greek tragedy with surrealism.  Dario Argento did indeed supervise this outing, so it will certainly be interesting to see what the hell this is all about.  That is, if a DVD or Youtube clip ever surfaces of it.

As for the soundtrack, Simonetti rehashes some of the themes from the original score, but gives it a more “modern” feel.  The main theme sounds essentially the same, but sounds more like his Simonetti Horror Project version than the original.  Most of the score is newer compositions created for the stage, including vocal numbers, which are very uncharacteristic from a typical Simonetti score.  There are still trademark Simonetti synth tones and bass grooves though to keep the diehard Simonetti and Goblin fans and collectors happy.

There is plenty more information on the musical, which is completely in Italian, that includes some really bizarre photos that are a must see for the curious (www.profondorossomusical.it).  Sound samples of the main theme are also available on the Cinevox myspace page (http://www.myspace.com/cinevox).

UPDATE: There’s actually a good deal of clips available on Youtube.  All in Italian.  No idea what they’re saying. -Bryan