Phenomena (1985)

Dario Argento

Italy

110 min, color, English

Review © 2005 Branislav L. Slantchev

This film used to circulate in the U.S. on a horribly butchered VHS version that was not only viciously cropped but also cut by nearly half an hour. It was this mockery of Argento's film that I saw first, and it was titled Creepers, although the only creepy thing about it in this emaciated version was the audacity to apply scissors to negative on such a vast and nearly indiscriminate scale. But enuff said: the Anchor Bay DVD restores this remarkable film in its full 110 minute glory, and in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio.

Foreign student pinned by welcoming committee	Check out naked chimp on page 56

For fans of Jennifer Connelly, this is an interesting early film where she stars in a role that you would not normally associate with her. She fifteen-years old (i.e., of Labyrinth age) but her acting abilities are already clearly evident. She plays the American student Jennifer Corvino whose famous actor father has sent away to an all-girl boarding school in Switzerland. Nothing good ever comes of all-girl rural establishments in Argento films, and this here is no exception.

Not all that well preserved head	Near-sting of the Bumble Bee

In fact, the brutal opening shows Argento's daughter Fiore getting stranded in the countryside where one would normally expect only perfectly manicured fields with well-behaved cows delivering Milka chocolate on schedule. But this girl stumbles into a seemingly innocuous house where she is assaulted by the traditional unseen maniac who pins her palm to the door frame with scissors, then pursues her until she is pinned in a cul-de-sac, where he stabs her, and cuts off her head. Although Fiore gets the dubious honor to be the first victim whose head is going to be put through breaking glass in slow motion, she will not be the last.

I will take the poster for... safe-keeping	Pretty alert for a sleepwalker

The murders apparently continue, and the stumped police have asked the entomologist Prof. McGregor (Donald Pleasance) to help them date the decomposed head they had found. The professor uses some advanced techniques that would have the authors of Forensic Files scratching their heads in collective bewilderment. Apparently insects work in uncannily timed shifts on rotting corpses with nearly Stalinist discipline. By investigating which ones are currently at work, the professor is able to tell the detectives (Patrick Bauchau and Michele Soavi) the date the girl had lost her head, plus or minus a couple of days. This establishes that insects will be important to the film.

Next shot censored	Advanced "is-she-a-loon" science

The scene also introduces an echo from Argento's favorite author Edgar Allan Poe: a monkey (chimp). It is highly intelligent, reads National Geographic, and helps the professor grade papers when it is not busy scratching its ass. It's a cute chimp, though, and the scenes it appears in are quite entertaining because of its very human-like behavior. This chimp is very attached to the professor, who, by the way, is confined to a wheel chair on account of some car accident.

Jennifer gets insecticidal on schoolmates	Swiss notions of privacy

When Jennifer arrives to study how to present poetry with PowerPoint, she meets with the usually ominous Daria Nicolodi who wears glasses with huge round frames that are so obviously designed to make her not look threatening that she immediately looks threatening. Her decidedly non-Buddhist attitude toward insects is quickly established as well, much to the horror of young Jennifer who displays such an affection to the little creeper that flies into their car that one would normally have her committed instantly. But we do learn that Jennifer has some paranormal ability to communicate with insects, which (as we later learn) have telepathic abilities of such immense power that they can transmit the entire contents of Encyclopaedia Britannica across the globe in under a minute. Or they can use their abilities to locate decomposing corpses and feces.

Yes, it looks much bigger with this thing	What happens when girls look for psychopathic killers

The murders continue, and the second (shown) victim is played by Fiorenza Tessari whose running through the woods at night begs the question why lone girls wander into these woods at night in the first place, especially when there is a serial murderer on the loose in the area. But nobody can hear you scream in Switzerland, which is almost like vacuum except for the cows. So Fiorenza is stalked, chased, stabbed in the back, pushed face-first through a window, and then pierced in the head from behind such that the blade comes out of her mouth. All this under the startled gaze of Jennifer who has been sleepwalking.

Breaking without entry	I am, like, totally not afraid

For a sleepwalker, she displays enough presence of mind to fall through a hole on the terrace and then get herself run over by a car (long story). When she finally comes to it, she is at the professor's and he is making inane observations about how some insect is getting horny around Jennifer. There's actually envy in his voice. After her room-mate bites the dust on account of mistakenly donning her jacket, Jennifer is led by a firefly to a glove that belongs to the killer. The professor has the brilliant idea to send Jennifer, who is now obviously on the hit list, to scour the country side by herself in search of the killer. The excuse is that she will be carrying one of those super-sensitive bugs that will smell from miles away the corpses that the killer has been stacking in his basement.

Jennifer in early mining role	Syncro-swimming with the corpses

Naturally, all of these unauthorized investigating activities land Jennifer in plenty of trouble. When the finale comes, it is typical Argento: some psychopath who nobody really gives a damn about is satisfying whatever urges these people have, and said maniac is assisted by an even more disturbing character who we should have suspected all along. Suffice it to say that before Mr Poe comes to the rescue, Jennifer is dunked into a pool of rotting flesh, then there's some more beatings, a decapitation, some jostling with a disfigured kid, swimming through flames, and an intense underwater sequence with people who must have gills judging by how long they can hold their breaths.

Daria Nicolodi as usually freakish self	Not to be confused with Blair Witch Project

The film is nicely done, with some excellent music by Goblin's Simonetti and a very neat piece by Bill Wyman. I did not much care for the Iron Maiden and Motorhead songs, mostly because I know them so well that they were quite distracting when they played. In terms of cinematography, this one is nothing to write home about. It has none of the visual flair of the Three Mothers films, for example. It is very gritty and bleak, which I suppose is also a feeling Argento is free to invoke. The special effects, on the other hand, were impressive. Putting aside the occasionally visible string attached to the flying insect, just directing the monkey and filming all these bugs must have been a challenge. It holds up very well even by modern standards.

Jennifer is appalled by lack of aesthetics	Homicidal maniac in post-strangulation phase

Overall, one of the good Argento films that I would not recommend to a newcomer to this director, Phenomena is entertaining enough to warrant purchase of the Anchor Bay DVD. As I said earlier, it is presented in non-anamorphic widescreen at 1.66:1. The picture is nicely mastered, with nice deep blacks and no observable pixellation in scenes involving fast motion. I only listened to the English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, and although the music can be overpowering at times, it is quite decent. There are no subtitles. The extras include a commentary track by the director, special effects guy, and some other people. There is a five-minute behind the scenes with the SFX dude, an interview with Argento from an old TV show, trailers, talent files, and two music videos with the best stuff from the soundtrack, the Simonetti and Wyman pieces. The videos are directed by Argento and Soavi, respectively, and the first one stars Jennifer Connelly. An excellent DVD.

December 23, 2005