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Phenomena (1985)
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Overview
User Rating:
Your Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
2 August 1985 (USA)
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Tagline:
Jennifer Has A Few Million Close Friends. She's Going To Need Them _All_. more
Plot:
A young girl, with an amazing ability to communicate with insects, is transferred to an exclusive Swiss boarding school, where her unusual capability might help solve a string of murders. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
1 nomination
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NewsDesk:
(13 articles)
50 Influential Scream Queens: Part 1
(From Fangoria. 27 October 2009, 5:54 AM, PDT)
NYC’s Scary Movies 3 gets Red; free tickets to American Werewolf w/Landis!
(From Fangoria. 8 October 2009, 9:47 AM, PDT)
(From Fangoria. 27 October 2009, 5:54 AM, PDT)
NYC’s Scary Movies 3 gets Red; free tickets to American Werewolf w/Landis!
(From Fangoria. 8 October 2009, 9:47 AM, PDT)
User Reviews:
A bizarre horror masterpiece
more (136 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Jennifer Connelly | ... | Jennifer Corvino | |
| Daria Nicolodi | ... | Frau Brückner | |
| Dalila Di Lazzaro | ... | Headmistress | |
| Patrick Bauchau | ... | Inspector Rudolf Geiger | |
| Donald Pleasence | ... | Professor John McGregor | |
| Fiore Argento | ... | Vera Brandt | |
| Federica Mastroianni | ... | Sophie | |
| Fiorenza Tessari | ... | Gisela Sulzer | |
| Mario Donatone | ... | Morris Shapiro | |
| Francesca Ottaviani | ... | Nurse | |
| Michele Soavi | ... | Kurt, Geiger's Assistant | |
| Franco Trevisi | ... | Real Estate Agent | |
| Fausta Avelli | ... | Schoolgirl | |
| Marta Biuso | ... | Schoolgirl | |
| Sophie Bourchier | ... | Schoolgirl |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Creepers (USA)
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Parents Guide:
Runtime:
110 min | 116 min (integral version) | USA:110 min (re-release) | USA:82 min (edited version)
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Netherlands:16 |
Argentina:16 (re-rating) |
Argentina:18 (original rating) |
New Zealand:R16 |
Australia:R (as "Creepers") (DVD rating) (cut) |
Australia:R (as "Phenomena) (DVD rating) (uncut) |
Australia:R (original rating) |
Denmark:15 (video premiere) |
France:-12 |
Italy:VM14 |
Norway:18 (video premiere) |
Spain:18 |
UK:18 |
USA:R |
USA:Unrated (director's cut) |
West Germany:18 |
Finland:K-18
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The role of creepy Patua Bruckner was played by a 26 year old dwarf in heavy makeup.
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Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: After killing the professor, the killer gets in a car and drives away. In the next shot, it shows the killer’s point of view from inside the car as the monkey jumps onto the windshield. But you can clearly see off to the right, a large pine tree branch, and that the car really isn't moving at all.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in Death Is Beautiful: Michele Soavi Directs Dellamorte Dellamore (2006) (V)
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Soundtrack:
Locomotive
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (136 total)
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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.