Review of Phenomena (1985) by Drew S — 20 May 2007

Phenomena has aged far better than Suspiria, since it has some semblance of a plot and intelligence. Not much - it's still Argento - but it's there. Argento uses his fantastic cinematography abilities to full effect here and creates some really amazing shots. The man has his talents, even if writing and eliciting good performances isn't one of them.

Connelly isn't bad, given that she was 15 when she did this, but it's a weird role and she seems way too composed considering some of the things she's seeing. None of the other performances are very good at all.

I do like the premise, though. It's kind of fairytale-ish. A neat spin on horror.