Deep Crimson

Arturo Ripstein's "Deep Crimson" is based on the same Lonely Heart Killers case that inspired "The Honeymoon Killers". Regina Orozco is riveting as the unattractive and fundamentally unlikeable nurse who abandons her children to take up with Daniel Giménez Cacho's pathetic, balding gigolo. They answer letters from lonely widows with the intention of robbing them, but jealousy and general incompetence lead them into a string of murders. Despite the sordid and depressing subject matter, the film has a distinct satirical edge and is often quite funny. Highly recommended, especially for fans of the earlier film.

Smooth-tongued Nicolas and over-sized Coral meet through a sexy advertisement in the personal columns. Coral who adores Charles Boyer clings to Nicolas as the next best thing. They form a partnership and decide on a plan - to seduce rich women and make off with their money and valuables. It looks all too easy.The plan works well until Coral believes he might be over-doing the seductions and falling for the ladies. It really seems we are in for a good comedy. Nicolas is having trouble with his hairpiece and Coral really does have a weight problem.I guess the comic situations do accent the drama which is to follow. The frivolous dialogue starts to become more serious, especially when one of the victims informs them she has become pregnant. Because many of the homes visited are isolated in desert areas of Mexico, it would seem easy to dispose of a human being should that person be involved in some kind of accident.With cold determination Nicolas and Coral become involved in a new plan - one of murder. At this point we grip our seats and anticipate the worst for the unwary victim. The atmosphere is tense, no help is at hand and the murderers carry out their horrible plan. The ending I think is rather abrupt (some scenes have been edited out, perhaps) but it makes the point that crime does not pay. I have seen many road movies, but this one, I must confess, is the bloodiest of them all.

"Deep Crimson", a subtitled Mexican film, tells of a man who uses his hair-piece, good looks, and charm to bilk mature women out of their money. When he woos a very large and homely woman longing to be loved, she divests herself of her children, insinuates herself into his life, and goes off scamming with him while pretending be his sister. The backbone of the story is the strange symbiosis which develops between the partner/lover duo as we watch their relationship grow deeper and their scheming more nefarious. A moderately entertaining though schizophrenic film, "Deep Crimson" is too much of a comedy to be taken seriously and too much of a drama to be funny. The result is a marginally engaging film which will play best to those with a taste for black comedies from south of the border. (B)

The best Mexican cinema has its roots firmly planted in popular genres… "Deep Crimson" is a crime film, based on the real exploits of the so-called Lonely Hearts Club killers in the post-war United States…

Nicolás and Colar are a grotesque version of Bonnie and Clyde, who rob not banks but vulnerable rich women…Nicolás is a middle-aged man of abundant charm with an unconvincing wig, who appeals to the snobbery of elderly widows by his ability to pose as a Spaniard, affecting the accent and mannerisms of the expatriate… Coral is an overweight single mother who drives her children and takes off with Nicolás, pushing him from robbery to murder…

Though money is the apparent motive, Coral is addicted to romance, as we see in the first shot of her bedroom, stuffed with cheap but gaudy clothes, Mills & Boon-type novels, and photographs of film stars… The killings the pairs commit are dictated by Coral's passion for Nicolás… He seduces women in order to steal them, and this incurs Coral's murderous jealousy…

Arturo Ripstein's film is essentially a study of thwarted passion turning repugnant… Coral is vicious, even to the extent of killing a young girl who has witnessed her mother's murder… Yet her gesture of offering her own hair to make Nicolás a new wig is at once tender and ridiculous

Viewed the film for the first time last night. I was familiar with the Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck 'Lonely Hearts Club' murders for years. I had no idea it was turned into a film adaptation. I thought the film was done extremely well. It's disheartening to see two people who seem so insecure go to these lengths to feel they are loved by someone, seemingly anyone. Nicolas who seems to be in total control at the start of the movie, looses the ball.. and Coral, runs with it. He is a confidence trickster who has finally has met his match in Coral, she is just what he was so in need of, a woman who is willing to do anything it takes to be with him. This giving him a boost in his waning self confidence. Leaving her two young children at a doorstep of an orphanage, because he can't be bothered with them, was all she needed to prove her loyalty to him. They begin to portray themselves as brother and sister, in a scam across the countryside to take advantage of widows/lonely women on their own. This starts to go painfully wrong from the beginning. Coral agrees to not be jealous of Nicolas' affections/pursuits toward the women he is out to scam, after all, it's just part of the act. It seems a harder task for her than she assumed it would be. They manage to stay calm and in control all the way through this. The most bizarre thing about this film,is that it really did happen. As, I mentioned it was loosely based on the aforementioned murders. Although mainly a fictional work, some of the mechanics, were there. The strong need in some for submission from another. The longing for a loyal lover, romance and excitement. This remarkable blend of dark lust and true crime won't disappoint.