Trailer—Phenomena

I lost track on how many times I got suckered into renting some movie because Leonard Maltin gave it three stars in his video review book. This was a perfect example, an Italian horror movie from 1984 that stinks. It's plodding, it's stupid and a bit disgusting. A woman who has a strange relationship with insects? Why oh why did I ever watch this? Maybe it was to get another glimpse at a young Jennifer Connelly. The facts are that (1) the dialog is incredibly stupid; (2) the acting is horrible; (3) the film is just Grade B all the way.....maybe Grade C, if there is such a thing. Sometimes the weirder the movie, the more national critics like it. They have seen so many films that only something totally bizarre excites them. That's my guess here, because I didn't see anything worth recommending this film....especially since we've seen almost 25 years of blood and shock since this was made. It's no big deal.

This review applies to the US version that was released by Media Home Entertainment. It is 82mins. and is titled CREEPERS. A young girl attending a Swiss girls school discovers that the school is plagued by a series of grisly murders. An extremely stylish offering by Italy's leading horror genre master. Quite original too, with some unusual sub-plots too that include our main characters ability to control insects and use them to track the killer. Even though this has about 30mins. cut out of it, it really doesn't show, and this offers plenty of gore for all of your gore hounds especially at the scary and exciting end. A really good film. My rating: 9 out of 10.

Dario Argento is very good at lining up nice shots. If only he could hire someone to review the screenplays and point out all the errors. Any idiot of the street could do it for $10 an hour. Yes, yes, I know the whole "My movies are like a dream" crap, but it's hard to get absorbed in the dream when you keep being smacked over the head with plot inconsistencies and intensely moronic characters. Credit to Phenomena, Jennifer Connelly made one of the few appealing Argento protagonists, and generally didn't behave like a complete nitwit (with several exceptions). David Lynch's movies feel like dreams also, but don't pull you out of your suspension of disbelief with patent stupidity. If you don't know Argento, don't start here. If you've never liked Argento, this won't change your mind. There are some effective moments and nice shots that make the movie not a complete wash, but nothing to really justify it's existence.

The name of director could be more significant than the film itself. because , to know the map of Argento universe is real useful for understand "Phenomena". a real good horror. if you ignore the flaws and admire cultural references. and the good performances - Donald Plesance is the most easy example. the work of young Jennifer Connelly is decent and a good revelation for young public to discover the first steps of an interesting actress. in same measure, it is a film of atmosphere. and one of remarkable demonstrations of special art of Dario Argento. a film like a trip across memories. because familiar pieces are present and, in same measure, the drops of magic/old myths are a precious gift.

My review is based on uncut Italian print,which runs 110 minutes.A young Jennifer Connelly can communicate telepathically with insects.The area she arrives in is being terrorized by a psychotic killer,who has been murdering coeds and making off with their decapitated bodies.Desperate for clues,a police inspector visits an entomologist Donald Pleasance("Halloween","Death Line")and eventually Pleasance and Connelly team up to find the killer.It all has something to do with Daria Nicolodi and the deformed creature she keeps chained in the basement.Wonderful atmosphere,gorgeous cinematography and plenty of gruesome gore make this one a must-see.Argento goes totally over the top in "Phenomena" with a swimming pool full of maggots and rotting corpses,a mad dwarf,a razor wielding monkey and grisly decapitations.Great heavy metal songs by Iron Maiden and Motorhead plus a nice musical score by Goblin.10 out of 10.