Satánica inocencia

This movie seems to be either loved or hated. Those that love it seems to be Argento fans that have succumbed to the style and imagination. Those that hate it seems to get annoyed at script flaws, soundtrack, actors etc.

Most of the criticizers seems to have missed the point. Dario Argentos movies is supposed to be watched and experienced, not dissected looking for flaws etc. which is true for most movies. I have the ability to turn the criticizer off when I watch movies, especially when it comes to horror/fantasy/scifi. They're movies, not documentaries, and they're not supposed to reflect your reality. Think of them as dreams, and we all know that dreams are most often illogical, strange and wonderful. That's the frame of mind I have when I watch Argento movies. And Phenomena is great in that aspect since it builds upon imagination.

Phenomena was the first Argento movie I watched, and it turned me into a big fan of his work. Donald Pleasance is great as useful, and Jennifer Connelly made many of us aware of how much we all want to meet her (at least the male audience). I watch this movie in much the same way as I did Suspiria (masterpiece), as a fantasy horror, a sweet nightmare. The first scene, where the Danish girl misses the bus and looks for help is unforgettable. The fact that the rest of the cast is a bunch of young and inexperienced teenagers is something most of the viewers familiar with Italian horror are used to.

Would I recommend this? Absolutely, it's one of the better Argento movies. Who would like it? Anybody with an open mind and interested in prime italian fantasy/horror.

Dario Argento is very good at lining up nice shots. If only he could hire someone to review the screenplays and point out all the errors. Any idiot of the street could do it for $10 an hour. Yes, yes, I know the whole "My movies are like a dream" crap, but it's hard to get absorbed in the dream when you keep being smacked over the head with plot inconsistencies and intensely moronic characters. Credit to Phenomena, Jennifer Connelly made one of the few appealing Argento protagonists, and generally didn't behave like a complete nitwit (with several exceptions). David Lynch's movies feel like dreams also, but don't pull you out of your suspension of disbelief with patent stupidity. If you don't know Argento, don't start here. If you've never liked Argento, this won't change your mind. There are some effective moments and nice shots that make the movie not a complete wash, but nothing to really justify it's existence.

Dario Argento is a genius... this is a fact. The film starts off with a beautifully gory scene, then somewhat mellows out for a while. Some great scenes of night walking/dreaming/etc stand out, but it's not until about 2/3 of the way through the movie that it becomes a classic.

Beheadings, stabbings, and a pool of body parts ensue. But by far the creepiest thing of the movie is when the son who is left alone "with his crazy thoughts" turns around from his corner, revealing his face. This is possibly the scariest thing I have EVER seen on film... even scarier than the robot-butler-doll from Deep Red. And that's saying something.

An amazingly spooky and incredibly gory battle follows, leading up to the gorgeous, bloody end.

Dario Argento can do no wrong.

(****1/2 out of *****) My personal favorite Argento picture, this stars a young Jennifer Connelly (who would later go on to win a best supporting actress oscar for "A Beautiful Mind") as an American student in a snobby Swiss boarding school that is being terrorized by a brutal serial killer. Helping Connelly find the murderer are crippled Donald Pleasance, his intelligent primate assistant, and the entire insect world, with which Connelly has an unexplainable psychic connection. This movie may be short on sense and logic, but it more than makes up for it with outrageous style and bizarre uniqueness. It's like a twisted fairy tale, with heroic flies, disfigured killer midgets, and vengeful chimpanzees with straight razors. As in Argento's "Opera," some of the use of annoying late ‘80s metal bands (like Iron Maiden and Motorhead) doesn't work half as well as the ominously beautiful score composed by Claudio Simonetti. Argento's never been a great writer of dialogue, so some of the lines seem pretty stilted, and you also have to put up with some so-so acting from a good majority of the cast (also, unfortunately, typical of a lot of Argento's movies), but these things are easy to overlook in the midst of the nightmarish beauty and creepy atmosphere on display here. Also stars Daria Nicolodi in a more wicked role than usual and Patrick Bauchau as a police detective.

HIGHLIGHT: The plot becomes more and more freakishly surreal until Connelly finds herself, first, in an underground tunnel, following the extension cord of a telephone (a scene reminiscent of Alice in a seriously frightening Wonderland), and, later, in a filthy pool full of human bones and maggots.

I first saw this movie as Creepers, the heavily cut American version of Phenomena. After watching the newly available uncut version I feel I have seen a full film. There are 28 additional minutes of footage found in the uncut original version, but almost all of it is dialogue that makes the first half sluggishly drag on without much happening. The second half, however, kept me very interested. Some say this movie is very predictable, and I have to agree. The plot is set up for you to expect certain things, and those things do happen, although not in the way you anticipated. It is hard to explain what I mean, but people who have seen this will probably understand. I really do like this movie, it seems very similar to Suspiria in style. That movie also had a slow start, but picked up towards the end. You can't really question a movie like Phenomena, it just unfolds before your eyes. Many people won't get it, and that's fine; Argento films aren't for everyone.