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Post by stefancrosscoe on Sept 24, 2017 14:30:32 GMT
"A nightmare ALIVE!"Terrible things has been taking place late at night in the windy surroundings of Switzerland, not far from the famous Richard Wagner academy for girls, however the headmistress do not want to cause any panic or damage to the school's reputation, so instead she decides to keep it as a secret, for now. But when american student Jennifer Corvino (Jennifer Connelly) arrives, she along with her special gift becomes an instant threat for those who want to cover up the gruesome happenings, and which puts the school's latest newcomer into a very dangerous place to stay.Phenomena aka Creepers is my favorite Dario Argento movie, right in front of Suspiria (1977) and Inferno (1980). Dreamy, hypnotic and in some places almost acts out like some weird fever dream, Phenomena turned out be one hell of an introduction towards Argento's world of cinema, and one that contains some very impressive performances such as the main lead by the talented and beautiful Jennifer Connelly as Jennifer Corvino, the daughter of an american movie star, who find herself being thrown at the wolves the moment she discovers the horrifying secret of what is really going on late at night at her new school. Donald Pleasance does a solid job as the english professor John McGregor who befriends and helps Jennifer to understand and try and control her powerful gift, as the two make a good team in the mystery of trying to reveal the grisly serial killer. The locations and surroundings in Switzerland are stunning at times, but also creepy/unsettling, and while the choice of music/songs might not be to everyones taste, I have no trouble with any of them. Anyway, Phenomena is an 80s classic, full of memorable characters, beautiful and nasty scenes, special effects and gore, and a fantastic opening scene which drew me right in and did not let go, for one second, with the almost chillingly windy weather coming down from the alps and helped create an almost dreamlike experience.
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Post by Captain Spencer on Sept 24, 2017 16:05:27 GMT
Spot-on review, stefancrosscoe. I think that Phenomena was one of Dario Argento's last great films before he went on a major slump. Even though Argento rips off plot elements from his own movies (Suspiria; terror at an all-girls school/Deep Red; murdering to protect a loved one), he makes up for all that with his usual stylish visuals, surreal images, and creative murder scenes. I have no problem with the soundtrack, either. I enjoyed the original score by Claudio Simonetti, and that crazy telephone scene made really good use of that Iron Maiden song.
As you've pointed out, Phenomena is alternately beautiful and nasty. Beautiful for its imagery and stunning photography, and nasty for its use of graphic violence and gore. That scene with Jennifer falling in a pool of rotted corpses and maggots was a true stomach-churner!
Definitely an 80s horror classic and was a huge box office hit in Europe, further solidifying Argento's reputation as the "European Spielberg".
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Post by theravenking on Sept 24, 2017 19:39:55 GMT
They don't make movies like this anymore.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2017 20:48:19 GMT
One of my favorite Argento's. Love the atmospheric beginning with the girl who misses the bus.
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TheSowIsMine
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Post by TheSowIsMine on Sept 25, 2017 7:32:42 GMT
I love this movie. There is a great vibe to it and the soundtrack is amazing. Definitely my favourite Argento film.
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Sept 25, 2017 8:04:02 GMT
6/10 Its pretty good.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Sept 26, 2017 11:53:58 GMT
I think that Phenomena was one of Dario Argento's last great films before he went on a major slump. Even though Argento rips off plot elements from his own movies (Suspiria; terror at an all-girls school/Deep Red; murdering to protect a loved one), he makes up for all that with his usual stylish visuals, surreal images, and creative murder scenes. I have no problem with the soundtrack, either. I enjoyed the original score by Claudio Simonetti, and that crazy telephone scene made really good use of that Iron Maiden song. Agree, and while Opera is stunning and very impressive (visually) in places, still I felt the story/acting was not up to his older ones, and I was left somehow disappointed by it, where as most of his films from the 70s and up to Phenomena were (for me) classics. Even the ones that many of his fans/critics deem as "mediocre". Yeah, the soundtrack and choices of music might be either a "turn on" or a big "turn off" for viewers who might be more used to orchestral horror scores, and where Argento and other italian movie makers would often include popular (at that time) music in their films, and somehow I have rarely been bothered by it, in fact some of the scenes becomes more intense by using them. As you've pointed out, Phenomena is alternately beautiful and nasty. Beautiful for its imagery and stunning photography, and nasty for its use of graphic violence and gore. That scene with Jennifer falling in a pool of rotted corpses and maggots was a true stomach-churner!
Definitely an 80s horror classic and was a huge box office hit in Europe, further solidifying Argento's reputation as the "European Spielberg". Oh yeah, that is a nasty as they come horrific scene, however the one that left with the chills was this one, (there is something creepy/unsettling about kids and horror movies, specially if it is done proper, with gruesome make-up effects, music, locations and of course a great build-up) which I think Phenomena succeeds in every way at doing. Hell, I even had several nightmares about this "thing" being hid under my bed, grabbing my arm and then I try to look underneath of what is there, only to see right into this terrible face:
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Sept 26, 2017 12:00:10 GMT
One of my favorite Argento's. Love the atmospheric beginning with the girl who misses the bus. That beginning with the scandinavian teen girl reminds me almost of some nightmarish and twisted version of a classic fairytale, in which little red riding hood goes way off course, in the big dark woods, only to end up meeting a gruesome end. The music used do remind me of some of the stuff the Boards of Canada would make later in the 90s.
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Post by petrolino on Oct 1, 2017 11:54:56 GMT
Supernatural spookfest.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jan 21, 2018 10:59:39 GMT
Sorry about the bump, but I just happened to "stumble" upon that Phenomena was given a new Blu-ray/DVD release this week, and while I think they have already released it once or more, still I thought it might be interesting for fans of it: January also sees the release of Argento’s gory 80s classic Phenomena, starring Jennifer Connelly (Labyrinth) alongside Donald Pleasence (Halloween) in a terrifying slice of fear cinema that mixes extreme violence, pounding Metal music, a vicious chimp wielding a scalpel, and enough buzzing insects to choke an entire school – all presented in a sumptuous new 4K restoration, and with a newly created “hybrid” English/Italian audio track on the full length 116-minute Italian version, and featuring a new feature-length documentary on the film. - Arrow I already own a few copies of the film from before on DVD, but I am very tempted to check this one out. However I noticed that a special limited edition was released a year ago, which included 3 versions of the film and as much as I love it, I am not gonna buy the same movie 2-3 times over, if this more reasonable priced 2018 release have as good or maybe even better sound/picture quality than the one last year.
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