Product Description

Brace yourself for an all-new look at one of the most wildly original films ever from writer/director Dario Argento, an insane epic of terror, wonder, and jaw-dropping carnage. Jennifer Connelly stars as an outcast student at a Swiss boarding school who discovers both her telepathic power to control insects and the gore-soaked trail of a razor-wielding killer. Can a kindly professor (Donald Pleasence of HALLOWEEN) now harness her gift to stop the bloodbath of a psychopath? Daria Nicolodi (TENEBRE), Dalila DiLazzaro (FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN) and Fiore Argento (DEMONS) co-star along with a pounding soundtrack by Goblin, Bill Wyman, Iron Maiden and Motörhead in the shocker that remains a favorite of Argento fans as well as one of the most brutally original horror thrillers of the 80s.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24946 in DVD
• Brand: STARZ HOME ENTERTAINMENT
• Released on: 2008-05-27
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 110 minutes

Amazon.com
Italian horror maestro Dario Argento made his name by turning homicide into modern art with a cinematic flourish, but with Phenomena he takes his stylish mayhem in new directions. The film opens with the dreamy grace of a fairy tale: a young girl wandering the green meadows of Switzerland and discovering a gingerbread house, wherein lives a monster more modern than mythic, a psychopathic maniac who plunges the picture into a lush nightmare. Jennifer (Jennifer Connelly in her first starring role), a gifted young girl at a Swiss school, has a psychic link to the insect world and develops a connection with the killer through midnight sleepwalks. With the help of a lonely, wheelchair-bound entomologist (genre stalwart Donald Pleasence, who inflects his sonorous tenor with a gentle Scottish burr) she turns telekinetic detective, which only draws her closer to the killer's lair. The densely plotted story becomes muddled at times (this is the busiest film in Argento's oeuvre) but the lyrical cinematography and gorgeous nocturnal imagery--dreamy sleepwalks, nightmarish murders, hideous horrors that emerge in the dark of night--take on a poetic elegance not seen in his previous work, providing the tale with a kind of dream logic. This is a slasher film reborn as an exquisitely grim fantasy: Jennifer in Argentoland. --Sean Axmaker

Stills from Phenomena (Click for larger image)

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Customer Reviews

Argento's neglected masterpiece

PHENOMENA

(Italy - 1984)

Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Theatrical soundtrack: Dolby Stereo

Originally edited for US consumption and released under the title CREEPERS, the full-length version of Dario Argento's masterwork reveals the method in his madness. Whereas the edited version was a fast-moving collage of half-baked themes which evoked nothing of any significance, PHENOMENA reinstates the crazy-quilt pacing, whereby dream-like passages surrender abruptly to episodes of screaming hysteria, all of which is essential to any appreciation of the film's dark ambitions.

Romano Albani's sumptuous cinematography transforms the breathtaking Swiss locations into a fairy-tale landscape where monstrous eruptions of violence disturb the illusion of tranquility, and Jennifer Connelly drifts through the narrative in a state of near-hypnotic grace, allowing herself to become ensnared by the machinations of a deformed killer and his/her equally psychotic 'guardian'. True, the longer version is bogged down at times by lengthy dialogue scenes which hold up the plot, and the involvement of Donald Pleasence's chimp is no less misguided than before (its final act of retribution crosses the line into absurdity), but the set-pieces are magnificently realised, and the final 20 minutes are as hair-raising as anything in Argento's ouevre.

One of Argentos` best !
Dario Argento throws in all his trademarks in this horror/fantasy extravaganza.A plain crime story mixed with dream sequences, gore, state of the art camerawork, maggots, fireflies, broken glass, running water, beautiful young girls and a brilliant soundtrack. You name it, it`s all here !

Argento has made a lot of mediocre movies the recent years, but this 1984 movie is a true classic.

The film is presented in 1.66:1 with a DD 5.1 soundtrack. Both picture and sound is good, but nothing spesial.Anchor bay has also thrown in some extras, but nothing very interesting in my opinion. There is a dull commentary with Argento and three of his collaborators in very broken english, a trailer, two music videos,a lousy behind the scenes segment, and a ridiculous Argento interview from a Joe Franklin show. And don`t be fooled to believe that the 28 minutes that is restored in this UNCUT and UNCENSORED version is gore.It is simply the full european version, and all 28 minutes are plain story and character building.No doubt that this cut is much better than the "Creepers" cut, though.

It is the feature itself that makes this disc a must-have.They simply don`t make movies like this anymore ! (Neither does Argento, unfortunately !)

Now I can hardly wait for Anchor Bay to release "Opera" and " Suspiria."

Double your terror
Phenomena hooked me right away, even the momentary twinge I felt when the monkey made its appearance (I hate monkeys, especially monkeys in "horror" movies) was short lived; this monkey is actually a device to move the plot along and never overstayed its welcome. The tension continues to build up, right up to the end, which was a nice surprise. Many elements from prior Argento films make appearances here and everything just works.

Inferno is the third and final chapter of the Deep Red trilogy and the second and, so far, final chapter in the proposed Three Mothers trilogy. Inferno suffers from the "Jan Brady" syndrome. She is beautiful and accomplished in her own right, but she follows an even more beautiful and equally accomplished sister. It is easy to be so dazzled by Suspiria that Inferno is obscured in her shadow. But upon a second viewing, the scales fall and the ears become unplugged and Inferno proves to be her sisters equal. Its simply that Suspiria is a fairy-tale whereas Inferno is a symphony.

Phenomena includes a trailer, a couple of music videos, the first of which is absolutely mesmerizing, and an interview.

Inferno includes an introduction by Dario Argento, that unfortunately comes off as an apology, a trailer, and an interview segment.

This gift set, in fact, all three volumes of the Dario Argento collection, represent a tremendous value. Just compare the price of buying these two DVD's separately. This is now the DVD's golden age. Enjoy it while it lasts.