Phenomena (1985) (aka Creepers) Movie Review by azathoth

Written by: azathoth

This is a fine Dario Argento film. The cast includes Jennifer Connelly as 'Jennifer' (Jenn), Donald Pleasence as 'Professor McGregor (Prof), and Patrick Bauchau as 'Inspector Geiger'. 'Frau Bruckner' (Frau) is played by Daria Nicolodi of "Mother of Tears", "Tenebre", and many other Italian horror films. To round out the important characters is Tanga the chimpanzee who play 'Inga', also a chimpanzee. Yes, the chimp is actually a very important character in the film.

The movie starts off with a young Danish lady missing her bus in the middle of the countryside. I suppose she was part of the tourist group that did get on the bus. Not sure what the sightseeing attraction was, but that is neither here nor there. She goes to the one house in the area looking for a phone, where she is attacked with a chain and a very sharp pair of scissors. She runs to a waterfall overlook (the sightseeing attraction?) where she is summarily stabbed and decapitated. Obviously we have a murderer on the loose!

Cut to a scene with the Prof, the police, and his helper chimp Inga (the Prof is in a wheelchair due to his legs being paralyzed). Inga is told not to play with sharp objects. The Prof is an entomologist, with a speciality in forensics. He explains how insects can be used to determine the time of death, a la Grissom from the TV show "CSI".

Next we are introduced to Jenn, whose famous actor father ships her off to a prestigious Swiss school for girls. Apparently, she is very fond of insects. She meets her roommate Sophie, who informs her about the recent spat of young women being murdered. Jenn falls asleep, has a bad dream, and goes sleepwalking (a recurring theme) up to the roof just in time to dream-witness another girl get murdered. She then walks into town, gets hit by two guys in a car who pick her up, but she eventually jumps out of the car and is found by Inga, who takes her to the Prof. Through the miracle of contrivance, all are players are now in place.

Jenn suffers more prescient dreams, sleepwalking, and taunting by classmates. Turns out insects really like Jenn, too. More murders occur. Inga pushes the wheelchair around (it's cool looking). Jenn and the Prof undertake an unlikely course of investigation to try and find the killer. The Inspector finally shows up again, about six hours behind Jenn's investigation.

Actions fly fast and furious for the final 40 minutes. See the Spoilers section at the end for some highlights.

If you have not seen a Dario Argento film before, this is not a bad film with which to start. He is known for his music scores (often utilizing the band 'Goblin'), his visual style and gore FX. This type of movie is often referred to as a giallo, a film that combines mystery/thriller elements with horror. Connelly was only 15 at the time, so she had not yet fully developed her acting skills, though Pleasence is in fine form. Tanga does a great job. The cinematography, soundtrack, and FX are all very good.

Warning- if you have a fear or an aversion of insects, think twice (maybe 4 times) before watching this movie. Otherwise, this is an excellent film. The only negative is that it drags a bit in the middle. The ending is fantastic. A fine movie to add to your collection.

*** SPOILERS ***

Somehow the killer discovers that Jenn and the Prof are investigating and are getting close to identifying them. Yes, them. The bolted person at the beginning of the film is presumable the Headmistress's deformed son. From Inga's actions at the end, it seems the Headmistress killed the Prof. Inga gets understandably upset about the killing of her friend, and wanders off in what seems to be looking for revenge. Why else pick up and carry a straight razor (see, chimps know the use of blades just fine)? So when the Headmistress has Jenn at her mercy at the very end, in comes Inga with the razor to take out the Headmistress. Told you Inga was important.

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