Review of Phenomena (1985) by Matt B — 16 Sep 2016

By now it seems that many horror directors have lost their magic, from John Carpenter, Wes Craven-a so called horror master-, George Romero, Brian De Palma and Tobe Hooper. But sadly, the biggest fall from grace of the genre has to be giallo master Dario Argento,as ever since the 90s he hasn't been able to craft a film of the same caliber of his 70s and 80s films. While the turning point is still debated by horror aficionados, many consider "Phenomena" his last good film or the beginning of the end. Which of those statements is correct? Could it be both or neither?

Jennifer Corvino, or as I like to call her Carrie Aburame, is a teen girl who's the new girl in a prestigious Swiss academy. With the help of John McGregor, an entomologist, she discovers she poses the ability to control insects, so the pair decides to use this power as a mean to capture a local serial killer, unbeknown that this decision will unleashed death in their path.

"Phenomena" represent a major downfall as the cinematography is bland (the saturated Argento coloration is missing), the acting is quite bad (but to be fair, even the best actor/actress couldn't give a solid performance with this awful dialogue), the story is arguably the dumbest/less cohesive and worst executed in Dario's career (the plot has never been a strong point in his films but this is quite something, even if it is predictable and nonsensical), the use of music is just awful (I adore Motörhead and Iron Maiden, but the constant use of "Flash of the Blade" and "Locomotive" comes out of nowhere and it distracts you) plus the Goblin score lacks a memorable piece, it repeats many beats from "Suspiria", it lacks a macabre atmosphere (while some will argue it has a dreamy atmosphere, it does come off as a failed duplication of the first installment of The Three Mothers trilogy), the amount of subplots is unnecessarily big and they create a number of plot holes, plus the editing fails at making them feel integrated; and Argento's direction feels uninterested in the majority of the film (every time we have a talky scene, it feels like Argento is on autopilot). But with all those enormous problems being said, this might be Argento's most fun and rewatchable film. The story is so insane and keeps getting crazier as it goes on but it manages to hold your attention; the killings are more subdued than Argento's previous works but they are still creative and gory (what you expect from the man), it doesn't overstay its welcome, and it has possibly the best ending in horror history (I challenge you to find a more memorable, creative and funny ending for a horror film).

"Phenomena" is an extremely uneven bloody fairytale filled with bizarre decisions, to say the least, but it is charming and quite entertaining. While the story and all of its ideas are bug nuts, this is a hilariously funny B movie that walks the thin line between style and self parody but the result is quite a joy to watch.