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Phenomena (1985)

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113 comments in total

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27 out of 30 people found the following comment useful :-
Phenomena rocks the boat., 24 July 2003

Author: (scyphe) from Sweden

This movie seems to be either loved or hated. Those that love it seems to be Argento fans that have succumbed to the style and imagination. Those that hate it seems to get annoyed at script flaws, soundtrack, actors etc.

Most of the criticizers seems to have missed the point. Dario Argentos movies is supposed to be watched and experienced, not dissected looking for flaws etc. which is true for most movies. I have the ability to turn the criticizer off when I watch movies, especially when it comes to horror/fantasy/scifi. They're movies, not documentaries, and they're not supposed to reflect your reality. Think of them as dreams, and we all know that dreams are most often illogical, strange and wonderful. That's the frame of mind I have when I watch Argento movies. And Phenomena is great in that aspect since it builds upon imagination.

Phenomena was the first Argento movie I watched, and it turned me into a big fan of his work. Donald Pleasance is great as useful, and Jennifer Connelly made many of us aware of how much we all want to meet her (at least the male audience). I watch this movie in much the same way as I did Suspiria (masterpiece), as a fantasy horror, a sweet nightmare. The first scene, where the Danish girl misses the bus and looks for help is unforgettable. The fact that the rest of the cast is a bunch of young and inexperienced teenagers is something most of the viewers familiar with Italian horror are used to.

Would I recommend this? Absolutely, it's one of the better Argento movies. Who would like it? Anybody with an open mind and interested in prime italian fantasy/horror.

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16 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
Outstanding Italian horror from Dario Argento. ***Spoilers***, 3 October 2001

Author: HumanoidOfFlesh from Chyby,Poland

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.

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15 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
Total Cult, 12 January 2006

Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

In Switzerland, the teenager Jennifer Corvino (Jennifer Connelly), daughter of a famous actor, arrives in an expensive board school and shares her room with the French schoolmate Sophie (Federica Mastroianni). Jennifer is a sleepwalker, is capable of telepathically communicate with insects and has adaptation problem in the new school. While sleepwalking, she meets and becomes friend of a Scottish entomologist, Prof. John McGregor (Donald Pleasence), and his chimpanzee Tonga. Jennifer decides to help the investigation of Dr. McGregor about a serial killer that is killing young girls in that area.

It may sound ridiculous, but "Phenomena" has never been released on video in Brazil; only two days ago, "Phenomena" was released on DVD in Brazil and now I am glad to have this movie in my collection. The weird story of Dario Argento, one of my favorite directors, is a total cult, showing bizarre characters and situations, maggots, flies, deformed people, serial killer and lots of bodies and body parts. A fifteen years old Jennifer Connelly in her third work, extremely beautiful, shines in the very original role of a sleepwalker that is very connected to insects and develop the skill of communicate with them. Daria Nicolodi, the mother of Asia Argento and former mate of Dario Argento, has a minor, but very important role. And the versatile Donald Pleasence, in the role of a paraplegic researcher, is efficient as usual. The music score, with Goblin, Iron Maiden and Motorhead, is another great attraction of this movie. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Phenomena"

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12 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
deserves to be reviewed twice!, 20 September 2001
Author: troy-32 from Chicago, Illinois

I have already written a review of "Phenomena", but now that I've seen it 8 or so times since then, it's quickly becoming my favorite Argento movie, with the possible exception of "Suspiria". Both movies are dreamlike - "Suspiria" being an outright surrealistic rollercoaster ride with unforgettably bold visuals. "Phenomena" acquires its texture through a more subtly seductive directorial sense. The blue nights are wonderfully inviting and the day scenes out in the country, with unsurpassedly serene, lovely music (The Goblins?), are almost painfully beautiful. I am serious when I say it's almost sad when I long for my senses to experience such a scenario in real life. And these scenes introduce us to a strange feeling of isolation and ensuing terror. The integrating contrasts are very effective here. I really do think Dario Argento should be defended to those who think he's no more than a hack. Although his sensibilities are irretrievably steeped in a visual framework, almost all of his films are separable accomplishments, each different than the other. The murders are actually secondary to the atmosphere in "Phenomena", which is like a lightweight fairy tale with horrifying subtext. It is his most inviting film by far. "Deep Red" is his sharpest, with the best placement of incongruities (miniature toys and great murders). "Tenebre" is his most textured, probably his most sensuous (all the running water and metal surfaces and bright lighting and that unbelievable tracking shot - yum!) and it contains the most horrific murder. "Suspiria" is absolutely his most vivid and memorable. "Opera" is the probably the most suspenseful (the ending of that film approaches "Phenomena" in unexplainable beauty) and has an incredible gimmick (pins under the eyelids). My favorites in order - 1)Suspiria 2)Phenomena 3)Tenebre 4)Opera 5)Deep Red 6)Cat O'Nine Tails 7)Bird with the Crystal Plumage 8)Inferno 9)Trauma

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12 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Absolutely Phenomenal!, 19 January 2007

Author: Benjamin Gauss from Salzburg, Austria

This Is A Review Of The Uncut Version.

Dario Argento's "Phenomena" of 1985 is an absolute masterpiece of horror coming along with an ingenious soundtrack by Goblin. Argento has enriched the Horror/Giallo genre by quite a bunch of brilliant films, including such stunning pictures as "The Bird With The Crystal Plumage" (1970), "Tenebre"(1982) and "Opera" (1987), "Penomena" is (in my opinion) his greatest achievement alongside his masterpieces "Suspiria" of 1977 and "Profondo Rosso" of 1975. A brilliant, extremely scary, stunning and visually breathtaking film, "Phenomena" is not only a must-see for every fan of Horror movies or Thrillers, but one of those movies that every fan of motion pictures should see.

Jennifer Corvino (Jennifer Conelly), the daughter of an American movie star, is sent to an elite girl's boarding school in the Swiss mountains, more precisely in a part of Switzerland referred to by locals as 'The Swiss Transylvania'. The area is currently terrorized by a serial killer of girls, whose victims are always heinously dismembered. Although a friendly and lovable person, Jennifer does not make too many friends in the boarding school, and due to her sleepwalking most of the other girls think of her as weird. But sleepwalking is not her only unusual characteristic. Jennifer loves insects, and insects also seem to have a strong affection for her. While Inspector Geiger (Patrick Buchau) is investigating the brutal murders, Jennifer befriends wheelchair-bound entomologist Prof Mc Gregor (Donald Pleasence), who helps the police with their investigations.

Then 15-year-old Jennifer Conelly's acting is simply outstanding, a perfect performance from the beginning to the end. The supporting cast is also very good, the great Donald Pleasence's performance as Prof Mc Gregor is just one of many very memorable performances in "Phenomena". As usual for Argento, the movie is impressively photographed on great, scary locations. Dario Argento has always placed great emphasis on impressive colors (especially red, of course), and hardly ever have I seen a movie as visually stunning and awe-inspiring as Phenomena. The brilliant Progressive Rock Soundtrack by Goblin manages to even intensify the suspense, and is one of the best scores I have ever heard in a horror film.

Partially a Giallo, and partially a horror film with psychic and transcendental elements, "Phenomena" is a creepy film that is scary as hell. It is also easily one of Argento's most brutal movies, and therefore maybe not the kind of film for people who are too sensitive when it comes to violence in movies. Phenomena was also released under the title "Creepers" in the US, but that was a cut (or should I say mutilated) version of only 82 minutes. I have always seen the uncut version, which runs about 111 minutes, and I definitely recommend anybody else to do so, since every minute of the movie is stunning and indispensable, and I can't even imagine which (certainly essential) 29 minutes they cut out in the other versions.

A true masterpiece of horror cinema, "Phenomena" is, in my opinion, Dario Argento's greatest movie alongside "Suspiria" and "Profondo Rosso". Superbly written and directed, outstandingly acted, impressively photographed and extremely creepy and scary from the beginning to the end "Phenomena" is absolutely phenomenal. A stroke of genius! 10/10

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Beautiful, bizarre and imaginative. I loved it!, 29 March 2007

Author: Charlotte Kaye from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I was really taken by surprise by this little gem! It's like a warped and nightmarish fairy tale and I have never seen another movie quite like it. A young and already very lovely Jennifer Connelly (14 years old at the time, I believe) stars as Jennifer Corvino, a troubled American teenager with a famous actor father, who has just arrived at the Richard Wagner Academy in Switzerland. Almost immediately, she discovers there's a serial killer brandishing a metal spear who's killing young women in the area. But plucky and courageous Jennifer isn't about to become the next victim, and sets out on a quest to discover who the killer is. Cleverly adding to the storyline, Jennifer possesses a special gift of being able to communicate with and control insects. This gift (along with the fact she's a sleepwalker) makes her an outcast at school, but it does provide some extra protection when she finds herself in harm's way. While it may sound a little crowded, the storyline is actually very engaging and there's literally a surprise around every corner. The music score was contributed by a number of people, and was mesmerizing throughout. The photography was gorgeous, with all kinds of imaginative camera shots, angles and a very nice usage of color. I have always thought that Jennifer Connelly was one of the most beautiful and talented American actresses working today, so it was wonderful to see her getting her start here. While it's obviously one of her first roles, she's really pretty good here and one of the most appealing central characters in any Argento movie. Of special interest to horror fans are the inclusion of actors Donald Pleasence ("Halloween"), who plays an entomologist with a pet monkey who becomes Jennifer's friend, and Daria Nicolodi ("Deep Red"), who plays a teacher at Jennifer's school. If you like your movies vivid, artistic and weird, this is a must see!

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
a great and weird film, 5 January 2000

Author: cygnus x-1 from roanoke va

for years this dario argento film has only been available in america in a butchered 82 minute version called Creepers. anchor bay entertainment graciously decided to rerelease this movie in its almost uncut 110 min. version (almost meaning that it's still missing 6 minutes of dialogue from the italian version) and it is definitely the version to see. jennifer connelly plays a girl sent away to a swiss boarding school where a killer has been murdering girls in various ways. jennifer has the most unique ability to communicate with insects and this ability plays heavily into later events in the movie. donald pleasance plays a retired professor who studies insects who befriends connelly ( and his pet monkey almost steals the film) the events that transpire in the film are surreal yet somewhat coherent. like most of argento's films, notably Suspiria, this movie has an almost dreamlike feel to it. it may not make complete sense at times but the style definitely saves it.

i would have to rank this as my second favorite argento movie (with Suspiria being first and Tenebre being third). and remember not to rent american version titled Creepers and check out the original version.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Another Argento Work of Art -- This Time With Jennifer Connelly!, 8 August 2007

Author: Gavin Schmitt (gavin6942@yahoo.com) from Kaukauna, Wisconsin

The American daughter of a rock star is in Europe at a boarding school (not unlike other Argento films, like "Suspiria"). And then those around her begin to get killed off by an unknown killer (oh, it's like "Suspiria" again). But the girl has the amazing power to communicate with insects, and they are more than willing to help her track down the killer...

At age 14, and a year before "Labyrinth", Jennifer Connelly stars as Jennifer Corvino. She is featured alongside horror veteran Donald Pleasence, as the wheelchair-bound Prof. John McGregor. By now, Argento has made enough films to have really mastered his imagery (not to say "Suspiria" and "Inferno" weren't already masteries), and he is now working with 1980s technology and no longer the poor, grainy film that Italian horror is unfortunately associated with in my mind.

Donald Pleasence ("Halloween") never disappoints, and here he comes across as the mentor figure he's been known to excel at. I have said on multiple occasions and in many locations that I think Jennifer Connelly may be the greatest actress ever, as she even makes rubbish like "Dark Water" watchable. She is young here and not as sophisticated as her later roles, but still not bad and a pleasure to watch. By the following year with "Labyrinth" she is in her groove, and we see her working to perfect that in this film.

I have to say the special effects were decent, given the year. The firefly special effects were decent, and there was at least one swarm scene that I thought looked pretty good. Argento typically seems to rely on more traditional, natural effects (such as huge quantities of maggots) but he did alright to choose something more modern here. These days, he's using even more modern effects (see "Pelts") with success, so I guess you could consider this a training phase.

Did you ever want to see a monkey with a knife? If you did (and of course you know you did), then this is the movie for you. Sure, you could watch "Monkey Shines"... and there's nothing wrong with "Monkey Shines". But here it's a monkey... with a knife! And the monkey uses the knife, don't you worry!

Jennifer Connelly, Donald Pleasence, Dario Argento... and a monkey with a knife. I think you know this is a movie that horror fans can't live without. I certainly enjoyed it. Maybe not Argento's best film (this may still be "Suspiria"), but I think it might be the most enjoyable of his earlier works... a joy to watch.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
A bizarre horror masterpiece, 22 January 2007

Author: Mother_of_Tears

Phenomena has long been one of my favourite Dario Argento films. It definitely seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it kind of film, even more so than most Argentos, and I think it's his most unjustly underrated piece of work to date.

A 14-year-old Jennifer Connelly shines in the lead role, playing a sleepwalker who has a bizarre telepathic bond with insects and uses them to help her solve a string of gory murders at a girls boarding school in the Swiss Alps. She is one of my favourite Argento heroines, a tough, brainy and eccentric little girl somewhere between Nancy Drew and Snow White. She deserves special credit for taking on some truly gruesome scenes, like when she falls into a pit of maggots, slime and rotting corpses. As for the rest of the cast, Donald Pleasance is good as the wheelchair-bound Scottish entomologist and Daria Nicolodi has fun with a small but juicy role.

Argento really let his imagination run wild making this one. Phenomena is a surreal, magical and surprisingly beautiful film, as much a dark fairytale fantasy as it is a horror film. It's visually stunning and I loved the incongruity of having all this gory mayhem happen against the picturesque backdrop of the Swiss Alps. Claudio Simonetti's electronic score is perfect, particularly the haunting main theme with its 80s synths and choral soprano vocals.

With its girls boarding school setting and unseen killer on the loose, Phenomena can be taken as a companion piece to Argento's earlier classic Suspiria (1977). But the introduction of slimy maggots, a razor-wielding pet chimp and six million buzzing insects set it apart. It all descends into glorious chaos for the Grand Guignol climax, which is perhaps the most thrilling house-of-horrors funhouse ride Argento has yet given us.

A remarkable film.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Argento has a knack for the weird, 7 June 1999
Author: Barry Iverson from Washington, USA

I first saw this movie as Creepers, the heavily cut American version of Phenomena. After watching the newly available uncut version I feel I have seen a full film. There are 28 additional minutes of footage found in the uncut original version, but almost all of it is dialogue that makes the first half sluggishly drag on without much happening. The second half, however, kept me very interested. Some say this movie is very predictable, and I have to agree. The plot is set up for you to expect certain things, and those things do happen, although not in the way you anticipated. It is hard to explain what I mean, but people who have seen this will probably understand. I really do like this movie, it seems very similar to Suspiria in style. That movie also had a slow start, but picked up towards the end. You can't really question a movie like Phenomena, it just unfolds before your eyes. Many people won't get it, and that's fine; Argento films aren't for everyone.

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