Phenomena (1985)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Dario Argento

Writers:

Dario Argento (screenplay)
Dario Argento (story)

Release Date:

2 August 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Jennifer Has A Few Million Close Friends. She's Going To Need Them _All_.

Plot:

A young girl, with an amazing ability to communicate with insects, is transferred to an exclusive Swiss boarding school, where her unusual capability might help solve a string of murders.

Plot Keywords:

Insect | Serial Killer | Sleepwalking | Boarding School | Chimpanzee

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jennifer Connelly	...	Jennifer Corvino
Daria Nicolodi	...	Frau Brückner
Dalila Di Lazzaro	...	Headmistress
Patrick Bauchau	...	Inspector Rudolf Geiger
Donald Pleasence	...	Professor John McGregor
Fiore Argento	...	Vera Brandt
Federica Mastroianni	...	Sophie
Fiorenza Tessari	...	Gisela Sulzer
Mario Donatone	...	Morris Shapiro
Francesca Ottaviani	...	Nurse
Michele Soavi	...	Kurt, Geiger's Assistant
Franco Trevisi	...	Real Estate Agent
Fausta Avelli	...	Schoolgirl
Marta Biuso	...	Schoolgirl
Sophie Bourchier	...	Schoolgirl

Also Known As:

Creepers (USA)

Runtime:

110 min | 116 min (integral version) | USA:110 min (re-release) | USA:82 min (edited version)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian | English | German | Swiss German | Danish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Argentina:16 (re-rating) | Argentina:18 (original rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:R (as "Creepers") (DVD rating) (cut) | Australia:R (as "Phenomena) (DVD rating) (uncut) | Australia:R (original rating) | Denmark:15 (video premiere) | France:-12 | Italy:VM14 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | USA:Unrated (director's cut) | West Germany:18 | Finland:K-18

Filming Locations:

Elios Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

DACFILM Rome

Trivia:

Director trademark: [Dario Argento] Murder victim crashes through window

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jennifer finds the small boy, she removes a sheet from a mirror. In the next shot the sheet is draped back over the mirror again.

Movie Connections:

References Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971)

Soundtrack:

Transmute

Outstanding Italian horror from Dario Argento. ***Spoilers***

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.