Visiting Dario Argento’s Profondo Rosso Store in Rome!

It was near the end of a dusty and exhausting trip across Western Europe when I suddenly found myself in Rome for the final night before my departure back to the states. It was then that I was struck by the notion that one of my bucket list items was within my grasp, the Profondo Rosso store. Cellular service is spotty at best and non-existant at most times, so I patched into the hotel wi-fi and used Google Maps to track down Dario Argento’s famous store.

There was little chance that I would make it back this close to the store again in my lifetime, so I was determined to make my way across the city of Rome to find the little shop. I studied the directions as best I could because I knew that once I got away from the hotel signal, that I would lose my connection and my directions.

I counted up what Italian lira I had left and hoped it would be enough to get me into the store and more importantly into the tour below the shop. I saw on the website that it was $5 US, so that seemed like a fee that I could manage, even at this late date. I strapped my shoes back on, washed my face and set back out into the narrow alleys and cobblestone streets of Rome.

As expected, my connection dropped instantly and I was left without directions. Fortunately, I burned the map into my mind’s eye and remained determined to trek across the city. It was only a mile or so away, so I could make it. The sun was going down and the streets were letting up fro the relentless flow of traffic that clogged the roads during the day..

One block, two blocks, and more. I continued carefully and attentively along my path. I made sure to make note of the bridge on this side of the road and the amusement park on the other. This historic building marked a turn while a street vendor became a landmark for another.

Finally, I turned the corner and there it was, nestled into a small slice of the city between several larger stores. The blood-red door stood out like a beacon and I was drawn straight to it. My eyes blinked in the Roman sun as I approached. A feeling like a half-remembered dream came over me, as I could hardly believe that I was about to enter Dario Argento’s famous store and museum.

I first heard tell of the Profondo Rosso in the early years of the New Millennium. I spent those years tracking down every book, movie, and documentary that I could find about the prominent horror directors of the modern era. In my trading and traveling, I came across a DVD with a video tour of the Profondo Rosso store. The audio was in Italian, but the images were pure horror cinema! It showed the little store and the dungeons beneath it to be filled with movie props, posters and a variety of memorabilia. I knew that one day, I had to go there.

Now, I turned the knob on the red door and entered into a horror movie cineaste’s wet dream. Books, photos, props, movies and more filled every nook and cranny of the small shop. It couldn’t have been much larger than an average newstand in middle-town America, but no space was wasted. My only wish was that I had more money to spend on the rarities found within, but at this late point in mu European excursion, my funds were all but drained.

I had the lilra to cover the $5 cost to take the tour in the dungeons below and that was just what I was going to do. I paid the lone employee waiting behind the counter and he struggled in English to explain to me that I could “take pictures”. As far as I was concerned, that was all I needed to know. He flipped a switch behind a row of hanging prop knives and the lights and sounds of Dario’s dungeon sputtered to life.

I made my way to the spiral staircase and passed beneath the image of the cloaked figure of death to the cold caverns below. I was instantly greeted by one-sheets from almost every Argento produced or directed film. Autographed stills, screen-used props and horrifying tableaus from Argento productions screamed at me in silence.

Over the loudspeaker, a creepy tune played as the recording of a man explaining the sights of the dungeon boomed through the cold dungeon corridors. Images from Suspiria, Opera, the Church and so many more lept out to greet me in full glorious color. Argento had always been a visually exciting director and the images he chose to share here were just as striking.

The one feeling that crept over me was one of how incredible cold and unforgiving the stone in this dungeon felt to the touch. I could only imagine being trapped in chains against a wall that may as well be made of ice to those unfortunate enough to be attached to it. I thought of the creature comforts of home and how my soft white ass would break after half a day chained to the cold stone.

I took as many pictures as I could and shot a short and simple video walking through the halls to show my fellow mutants back home. I didn’t want to make a big production out of it for fear of breaking the rules, but this sight was too rare to share.

That oh so familiar feeling of satori washed over me. I felt like I had accomplished something. I made an impossible trip to an impossible place and found that it was a home that I never knew I was missing. I finished my sightseeing and packed away my phone before heading back upstairs to the store proper and the real world of Rome waiting beyond.

I thanked the attendant who handed me a small collector’s card with the store name on it and featuring an image from Argento’s Deep Red. I was grateful and thanked him in my horrific Italian before taking in one last look. I took it all in and savored every moment before heading back out int the streets again.

The sun was going down and the streets were long with shadows. The world swirled around me with tourists buying trinkets and locals riding bicycles. Little did they know what had just happened. Unexpected worlds had collided and I was left reeling and richer for the experience. No one suspected what my slight smile entailed, but the story of what I had just experienced would live with me forever.

Visit the official Profondo Rosso Store website at: www.profondorossostore.com