![]() ![]() There are a few moments when a swarm of flies play a key role, but for the most part Jennifer just handles the occasional bug on camera while discussing matters with Dr. ![]() One imagines a remake of Phenomena would focus more on Jennifer’s power as ‘Lady of the Flies’, with scenes where she controls creepy-crawlies to aide her investigation and stop the psychopath, but Argento’s movie has only a passing interest in her powers. It’s unfortunate not much is made of Jennifer’s ability to control insects, as that’s a big draw for the movie’s premise, but the story could easily survive without it. Some of the movie’s oddest, weakest moments are also eliminated for the 110-minute International version.) Daria Nicolodi as Frau Brückner. (A scene deservedly cut for the 83-minute Creepers version. For example, seemingly rational adults are quick to describe Jennifer as “diabolic” and that her sleepwalking is a sign of an emerging dual personality, before performing an unnecessary EEG scan on her. The characters don’t always behave normally, which I’ll perhaps generously assume was an intentional move to make us fear for Jennifer’s situation in this strange land. It feels more like a late-’70s movie than a mid-’80s one to me, with an off-kilter tone and strangeness that’s always charming and often engrossing when the drama and horror work in tandem.Ī few things date it visually, like one instance of a rubber hand getting stabbed, or sequences where an animated swarm of flies protect Jennifer, but for the most part it feels authentic and delightfully weird. What stands out about Phenomena is its otherworldly qualities, which are heightened by Argento’s Italian sensibilities, and the fact it’s become something of a time capsule to the pre-digital filmmaking era. Jennifer peers into McGregor’s microscope. Only a year later she’d headline children’s fantasy movie Labyrinth, so she either improved dramatically in those months, or felt more comfortable working with Jim Henson. Connelly’s notably more relaxed and present during scenes with Donald Pleasence (a fellow native English speaker), so maybe Phenomena’s Italian experience was too much for the teenage Connelly to properly handle. Consequently, she never looks entirely comfortable on camera, and often has a rather blank expression when not speaking her lines. This was Jennifer Connelly’s first leading role, and it must have been challenging working on a foreign project with such bizarre elements at such an impressionable age. A lot of the movie now feels dated and slightly amateurish, while some of the performances are a little stilted. I’m a little hesitant to heap too much praise onto Argento’s work here. McGregor.Īrgento’s skill with the camera is well remarked upon, and in Phenomena he got to play with the relatively new Steadicam, but it’s his longtime collaborator Franco Fraticelli’s editing that sells the stinging moments of horror - especially when the music snaps into silence as a frightening image flashes on screen. It’s unintentionally amusing when Jennifer walks very slowly across frame, following a firefly into dark woods, as ludicrously uptempo music plays over. Controversially, Argento also uses tracks by Heavy Metal bands like Iron Maiden and Motörhead, but I found these very awkward fits for the eerie material. Their music is beautifully weird and drizzled in ’80s synth and invigorating guitar licks filled with bewitching melodies that give Phenomena much of its allure. ![]() Phenomena is a very interesting and atmospheric film, helped enormously by the excellent soundtrack by prog band Goblin (who’d previously worked on Argento’s Suspiria and Tenebrae), and composer Simon Boswell. It’s not long before Jennifer’s abilities and tendency to sleepwalk make her a social pariah at school, even causing her teachers to make arrangements to commit her to a psychiatric facility, but with the help of McGregor she’s determined to use her paranormal gift to find the killer’s hideout. What makes Jennifer special is how she can telepathically control insects a talent she only begins to make sense of after befriending local entomologist John McGregor (Donald Pleasence), a forensic specialist with a pet chimpanzee who’s helping the police with their investigation into the spate of murders. The movie concerns a 15-year-old girl called Jennifer Corvino (Jennifer Connelly), who arrives in the “Swiss Transylvania” to attend a girls boarding school, eight months after a Danish tourist was stabbed and beheaded by a serial killer still at large. Already a force in horror thanks to his early-1970s giallo movies, before coming to wider attention with supernatural thriller Suspiria (1977), Italian director Dario Argento combined those genres for his mid-1980s horror Phenomena (retitled Creepers in the US). ![]()
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