Phenomena (1984)
Year: 1984
Country: Italy
Director: Dario Argento
Reviewed: June 2014
Country: Italy
Director: Dario Argento
Reviewed: June 2014
For a film that’s incredibly dream-like, it’s somewhat fitting that its entire premise seems like something out of one of my daydreams, purpose-built just for me. I love Suspiria and was obsessed with it for months. I love Labyrinth and have been obsessed with that for as long as I can remember. As well as this, I have an odd obsession with 80s cinema and surreal, dream-like horror films. Therefore, a violent and terrifying horror film directed by Dario Argento starring Jennifer Connelly (best known by me and many others as the star of Labyrinth) made in the 80s and featuring some great music seems like the most perfect film in the world for me. And I was not disappointed. In a way, it’s a very different film than Suspiria. While both films feature the usual Argento trademarks (horrifying murders which seem weirdly beautiful, death by a razor and someone’s face smashing through window), the way it goes about them are very different. Part of what I loved most about Suspiria was its stunning use of colour and the generally weird feeling you get as you watch it. Phenomena, however, doesn’t feature strong use of colour. In fact, it’s quite muted. And the events that take place here are incredibly weird and surreal but aren’t treated as such. There’s a girl who can talk with insects, a chimp assistant, a killer going around slaughtering people, maggots and mutants, yet all of this is portrayed as somewhat normal. It’s not drawn attention to the weirdness of these things (except the communication with insects, but by then we’ve already come to accept that that’s happening) which just adds to the strange dream-like sensation that this film creates. It’s the closest cinematic example to dreaming I’ve yet seen, challenging the viewers to just go along for the ride. The music adds to this immensely. The soundtrack features songs by Iron Maiden and Motorhead as well as Goblin and I was interested to see how this would work. And at first it didn’t seem like it did. A scene featuring slow almost balletic movements was accompanied by heavy metal which initially came across as jarring. I realised, however, that this may have been the point. By creating that sense of alienation from the music, it just becomes even odder and incredibly intriguing. However, the scenes that do feature instrumental music are incredible, simply because the music itself is stunning. The two main themes (Phenomena by Claudio Simonetti and Valley by Bill Wyman) are fantastic and were downloaded almost immediately after I finished the film. But is Phenomena scary? Well, I think my previous description of it as dream-like is somewhat inaccurate. It’s more like a nightmare which you can’t escape from, particularly towards the end. The last half-an-hour of the film is an exercise in how to consistently terrify an audience, with the ending seeming to never come as the
killer(s) just keep getting back up. This also allows for some truly nasty set-pieces, the worst (or best) of which is the pit of decomposing bodies, which Jennifer Connelly struggles to escape from, which almost made me vomit. However, that’s not to say iy’s without competition. The last section of the film also features a poisoning, claustrophobic escape attempts, a man breaking his own thumb in an attempt to get out of handcuffs, a freaky mutant who is attacked by flies, a decapitation, a fiery swim and a chimp attacking the killer with a razor. It’s nasty and terrifying but it’s also better done than many other horror movies. It’s gory, yes, but it never feels exploitive, just incredibly disturbing and freaky. I think Argento’s dream-like style of filming works with this, as well as the fact that most of the killings are so over the top they become almost operatic. Suffice to say that Phenomena has become another of my favourite films, it’s just a stunning piece of cinema. It’s not for everyone, but those who like their horror movies a bit bloody and a bit dreamy should look no further than Dario Argento.
killer(s) just keep getting back up. This also allows for some truly nasty set-pieces, the worst (or best) of which is the pit of decomposing bodies, which Jennifer Connelly struggles to escape from, which almost made me vomit. However, that’s not to say iy’s without competition. The last section of the film also features a poisoning, claustrophobic escape attempts, a man breaking his own thumb in an attempt to get out of handcuffs, a freaky mutant who is attacked by flies, a decapitation, a fiery swim and a chimp attacking the killer with a razor. It’s nasty and terrifying but it’s also better done than many other horror movies. It’s gory, yes, but it never feels exploitive, just incredibly disturbing and freaky. I think Argento’s dream-like style of filming works with this, as well as the fact that most of the killings are so over the top they become almost operatic. Suffice to say that Phenomena has become another of my favourite films, it’s just a stunning piece of cinema. It’s not for everyone, but those who like their horror movies a bit bloody and a bit dreamy should look no further than Dario Argento.
Best Scene: The Body Pit
Overall Verdict: 10
Overall Verdict: 10