DEEP CRIMSON By Harvey Karten, Ph.D. Ivania Films Director: Arturo Ripstein Writer: Paz Alicia Garciadiego Cast: Julieta Egurrola, Bianca Florido, Giovanni Florido, Rosa Furman, Daniel Gimenez Cacho, Sherlyn Gonzalez, Veronica Merchant, Regina Orozco, Marisa Paredes, Patricia Reyes Spindola At: Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St. New York City Films and plays that treat murder in comic ways are abundant, a leading example being "Arsenic and Old Lace," in which a couple of dotty old ladies poison lonely widowers to put them out of their misery. "Deep Crimson," a tortilla-y- frijoles remake of the 1970 cult movie "Honeymoon Killers," uses takes a true series of events which occurred in the 1940s and injects an almost surreal take. The picture, which is called an example of the genre "mad-love," makes cartoon figures out of two petty creatures living seedy lives in Mexico and shows how their merger in mayhem melds them into blood siblings. What a duo! Coral Fabre (Regina Orozco) is obese and just not-all-there, while the man she adores, Nicolas Estrella (Daniel Gimenez Cacho) is handsome enough when he wears his hairpiece, generally bemused, and ultimately surprised by the depth of his feeling for the repulsive Coral. The story begins by showing just how randy and forlorn Ms. Fabre must be. A nurse in a seedy institution, she makes advances on an 80-year-old, wheelchair-bound man. Reading the personals column she discovers an ad that describes the guy of her dreams: a Spaniard who comes across as a true gentleman. When he quickly departs after meeting her complaining of a migraine headache, we assume the pain is a ruse to get away from this humongous creature (played by Shirley Stoler in the 1970 American version). But he returns and during their courtship she rifles through his papers and discovers his plan to extort money from the widows he charms. She is pleased. Teaming up, Coral and Nicolas set their sights on other women whose loneliness makes them as desolate and dried-up as the backwater surroundings. Director Arturo Ripstein lingers over each operation of this larcenous duo as they take care of a fidgety woman who claims she is imprisoned by her gypsy husband; a fanatically religious widow who is warned by her cynical, atheistic neighbor that her new love interest is a fraud, and a young, businesslike woman who seems to need only another mechanic to help run her repair shop and to keep the eyes and hands of the local machos away. "Deep Crimson," which also has the Spanish name "Profundo carmesi," takes its title from Coral's favorite color, one which matches the blood which gushes from their victims whose lives are snuffed out not so much for their money but because of Coral's envy. Unable to tolerate the attentions which her man is giving to the victims, she turns her own madness into serial killing and her beau into an accomplice. Hers is the sort of passion which knows no boundaries: she has even given up the two children she loves to satisfy the whims of her sleazy partner in crime. Hairpieces have always been the subject of jokes. In "Deep Crimson," much is made of the value which Nicolas places on his rug--justifiably, though, since he is a great deal more handsome while wearing it. Ripstein unfolds Paz Alicia Garciadiego's screenplay in a straight, narrative style, drawing us into the activities by cleverly alternating the comic with the disturbing. While Coral's plight calls out for some sympathy from the audience, her loathsome obesity prevents us from commiseration. Not so Nicolas, who, despite his history of embezzlement, is a nice-looking soul who believes he is earning the money he misappropriates by providing his lonely women with the solace and company of a handsome escort. "Deep Crimson" is played less tongue-in-cheek than its predecessor, "The Honeymoon Killers," and so could hardly be a candidate for cult status. It is well acted by an ensemble cast particularly Marisa Paredes as the ultra-religious Irene Gallardo and Patricia Reyes Espindola as the Widow Ruelas. Watch for the scene in which Coral, who has had some experience with embalming, props up one of her victims in a chair "until rigor mortis sets in. Not Rated. Running Time: 114 minutes. (C) 1997 Harvey Karten
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