DEEP CRIMSON = Deeply Disturbing
This Spanish oddity from from Arturo Ripstein is an exceedingly black comedic examination of two very darkly evil souls who become codependent on their downward spiral of madness and murder. Based on an actual case out of Mexico in the 1940s, an obese, neurotic nurse becomes infatuated with a small-time gigolo when he bilks her of money after a misguided personals date. She proceeds to infiltrate his existence after dispatching her two children to a nunnery and begins an insane spree of killing recently widowed women and taking them for whatever they are worth. Brave performances by Regina Orozco and Daniel Jimenez Cecho who memorably portray these two despicable characters, but to what end? It is a disarming, ultimately unsatisfying blend of dark humor and horrifying sequences - especially the final female victim and her small daughter. Totally leaves the viewer with an unpleasant feeling even though justice is served in a most crude and banal way...