| Jennifer Connelly, Donald Pleasence
, Daria Nicolodi, Patrick Bauchau, Dalila di Lazzaro
Declared "my most personal film" by Italy's premier horror
director Dario Argento, this production marked the director's return
to the eerie thematic territory he pioneered in 1977 with the horror
classic Suspiria. Much like that film, Phenomena conforms to the
logic of nightmares. Jennifer Connelly stars as Jennifer Corvino,
the daughter of an American film star, who enrolls in a prestigious
Swiss boarding school under the tutelage of the prudish Mrs. Bruckner
(played by frequent Argento collaborator and former beau Daria Nicolodi).
Possessing a unique telepathic gift, Jennifer is capable of communicating
with insects on an instinctive level, often while sleepwalking.
This trait soon brands her a "freak" among her snooty
classmates but makes her a valuable asset to entomologist Dr. MacGregor
(Donald Pleasence), who is currently employing the innate forensic
skills of insects to aid police in tracking a serial killer targeting
the boarders at Jennifer's school. As Jennifer's tiny friends (including
the corpse-hunting Sarcophagus Fly) guide her closer to the murderer's
lair, everything from MacGregor's revenge-driven pet chimpanzee
to Bruckner's monstrously disfigured son figure into the mix, providing
not one but three shocking endings. Shot in English and re-dubbed
for various European markets, this graphic thriller was released
in drastically edited form as Creepers in the U.S. and England;
Argento's original cut runs 110 minutes. |