One would think that veteran cult filmmaker Greydon Clark ("Joysticks", "Without Warning", etc.) had just been watching "Suspiria" when he concocted this inane script. Also reminiscent of the 1989 version of "The Phantom of the Opera", it has that films' star, genre icon Robert Englund, playing an American choreographer named Anthony Wagner who works at a Russian ballet academy. The newest student is Jessica (Michelle Zeitlin, a professional ballet dancer herself), who was pressured to attend by her fat-cat father (Clark, in a cameo). Wouldn't you know it: Anthony takes a big interest in Jessica since she reminds him of a deceased lover, and murders begin to plague the academy soon after Jessica enrolls.
This viewer is generally a fan of Clarks' offerings, but he doesn't exactly exhibit the kind of flair (or sense of doom and gloom) that Dario Argento brought to "Suspiria". This is a pretty dull "horror" film with a pretty bad script and some VERY bad dialogue. Zeitlin is sexy and appealing, and Englund is always worth watching, but the rest of the cast is highly uninspired. The killings are almost gore-free and underwhelming, there's zero suspense, and the "big revelation" at the end is painfully obvious from the word "go". On the plus side, we do get some decent atmosphere (this was filmed on location in St. Petersburg) and a nice music score by Dan Slider.
I would consider myself a fairly undemanding genre fan, but even I would be hard-pressed to defend this one. As good as Englund is (in one of his typical villain roles), he can't save this picture all by himself.
Four out of 10.
This viewer is generally a fan of Clarks' offerings, but he doesn't exactly exhibit the kind of flair (or sense of doom and gloom) that Dario Argento brought to "Suspiria". This is a pretty dull "horror" film with a pretty bad script and some VERY bad dialogue. Zeitlin is sexy and appealing, and Englund is always worth watching, but the rest of the cast is highly uninspired. The killings are almost gore-free and underwhelming, there's zero suspense, and the "big revelation" at the end is painfully obvious from the word "go". On the plus side, we do get some decent atmosphere (this was filmed on location in St. Petersburg) and a nice music score by Dan Slider.
I would consider myself a fairly undemanding genre fan, but even I would be hard-pressed to defend this one. As good as Englund is (in one of his typical villain roles), he can't save this picture all by himself.
Four out of 10.