Jonathan Stryker
04-18-2003, 04:55 PM
Although I had been scared of the television commercial for SUSPIRIA in 1977, my real introduction to Dario Argento’s work was in 1985 when I saw CREEPERS. Along with six strangers (yes, I counted), I spent the afternoon of Friday, August 30 watching the first showing of Argento’s latest work while my parents and younger sister watched BACK TO THE FUTURE.
I emerged from the theater a changed person. I remember being overwhelmed by this incredibly corny though undeniably nightmarish film that tells the story of a young girl who possesses an ability to communicate with insects. The camerawork, the editing, and most of the all the incredible beat of Iron Maiden’s FLASH OF THE BLADE set to Steadi-cam fluidity was breathtaking. It would be more than two years before the full, uncut version known as PHENOMENA would find its way into my hands.
Largely regarded as Argento’s most personal and favorite film of his own filmography, PHENOMENA is also one of his weakest efforts from a plot standpoint. It is my favorite film of his for the aforementioned reasons. There is something undeniably entertaining about the poor dialog and bad dubbing that makes this film so much fun to watch, and these attributes have both been a staple in Italian horror films long before this film was made. Jennifer Connelly was chosen by Argento because, in his words, “she’s beautiful! Tremendously beautiful!” She’s a student in a foreign country (not unlike SUSPIRIA’s Suzy Banyon) who finds herself caught up in a murder, and enlists the aid of insects and entymologist Donald Pleasance to help find her friend’s killer. Argento wisely chose the breathtaking Swiss Alps as the film’s milieu and the results are wonderful. The film makes terrific use of the Steadi-cam and it never feels over-used.
PHENOMENA is by no means original, but it does contain an interesting plot point – the police use the help of insects to determine the exact time of a person’s death. I initially believed this to be nonsense, but I’ve recently heard of real-life cases where this sort of thing does happen.
If you haven’t seen PHENOMENA, give it a chance.
I emerged from the theater a changed person. I remember being overwhelmed by this incredibly corny though undeniably nightmarish film that tells the story of a young girl who possesses an ability to communicate with insects. The camerawork, the editing, and most of the all the incredible beat of Iron Maiden’s FLASH OF THE BLADE set to Steadi-cam fluidity was breathtaking. It would be more than two years before the full, uncut version known as PHENOMENA would find its way into my hands.
Largely regarded as Argento’s most personal and favorite film of his own filmography, PHENOMENA is also one of his weakest efforts from a plot standpoint. It is my favorite film of his for the aforementioned reasons. There is something undeniably entertaining about the poor dialog and bad dubbing that makes this film so much fun to watch, and these attributes have both been a staple in Italian horror films long before this film was made. Jennifer Connelly was chosen by Argento because, in his words, “she’s beautiful! Tremendously beautiful!” She’s a student in a foreign country (not unlike SUSPIRIA’s Suzy Banyon) who finds herself caught up in a murder, and enlists the aid of insects and entymologist Donald Pleasance to help find her friend’s killer. Argento wisely chose the breathtaking Swiss Alps as the film’s milieu and the results are wonderful. The film makes terrific use of the Steadi-cam and it never feels over-used.
PHENOMENA is by no means original, but it does contain an interesting plot point – the police use the help of insects to determine the exact time of a person’s death. I initially believed this to be nonsense, but I’ve recently heard of real-life cases where this sort of thing does happen.
If you haven’t seen PHENOMENA, give it a chance.