Recently, Boris treated the Murder-Hers to mystery shirts from Fright Rags. I was delighted to get this shirt:
Phenomena? What the poop is that? After a quick search I figured out I knew it by another name, Creepers. This Dario Argento film was originally released to the U.S. as Creepers, though in 1999 it was put out on DVD with its proper name of Phenomena.
I couldn’t remember the last time I saw Creepers - ahem! – Phenomena, so I picked it up for a nostalgic horror night.
The movie starts off decently with a build up of suspense as a lost girl gets attacked by an unknown killer who was chained up in an abandoned house. The girl gets her head lobbed off, and in the next scene the deteriorating head is being examined by a couple of inspectors as well as entomologist Professor McGregor who has a pet chimpanzee named Inga. The Professor explains how insects on the corpse can be examined to determine time of death. Being a movie in the mid-80s, forensic entomology was not a publicly well-known science.
Tell us about the bugs, Dr. Loomis, er, I mean, Professor McGregor.
Now enters a young girl named Jennifer (played by a young Jennifer Connelly) who is shipped off to a Swiss all-girls boarding school by her movie star father. Unfortunately for her, the same killer that murdered the young girl earlier in the film is loose in the area around the boarding school. If that wasn’t bad enough, the headmistress and the majority of her schoolmates are heinous bitches who think Jennifer is insane because she sleepwalks. Jennifer’s got a lot on her plate but she also has a special ability to aid her. Jennifer has the ability to communicate with insects.
She loves bugs!
After a sleepwalking incident, Jennifer ends up in the home of Professor McGregor and befriends him based on their mutual love for insects. Together, along with Inga, they try to catch the killer. DUN DUN DUN.
Phenomena is a really creepy film and while the plot seems a little random, it’s done well by Dario Argento. The cast was excellent with Jennifer Connelly, Daria Nicolodi (Argento movie regular – Deep Red, Tenebrae, and Opera) as Frau Bruckner -Jennifer’s chaperone, and Donald Pleasence (Halloween, Halloween II, IV, V, VI) as Professor McGregor. Some would argue the real star of the film is Inga the chimp; I would agree – and I usually hate monkeys!
The movie is obviously dated at this point, but I still appreciated the effects for its time. The murder scenes were quite shocking especially since they’re strewn in between scenes of the gorgeous mountain landscape and the serene Jennifer Connelly. There’s blood, maggots, and a disgusting pool of dead bodies.
Too bad you couldn't talk to bugs, they would have saved your ass.
The music works well for the most part (nice and creepy and totally 80′s!) but sometimes there’s some metal thrown in such as Iron Maiden and Motörhead that doesn’t really work for the scene.
I would recommend seeing this, especially if you’re an Argento fan, though can you really call yourself a fan if you haven’t seen this yet? Then re-watch it! This movie has that special 80′s horror touch where the scenes build up and you (or maybe it’s just me) have to hide behind your hands cause you know something is going to pop out and freak you out soon!
Phenomena is available on DVD
The only thing I remember about Phenomena is the music. It had the same eerie vibe as “Suspiria”. I’ll have to watch it again.
And now that mentioned Suspiria, I’m gonna re-watch that. XD
I need to rewatch this. I saw it sometime in the 90s. BTW ty Tiney for tokyo gore police. I want a “hand”gun
I love TGP! It’s just so surprisingly good.
Phenomena really creeped me out and I wasn’t expecting that. I thought I’d be re-watching an old movie and it’d be a good, fun romp but I was thinking to myself, man, I really wish I wasn’t home alone right now. XD