Phenomena (1985)

Phenomena is Dario Argento's first conscious attempt to break into the mainstream horror market in the United States.  It is still set in Europe - this time in and around Zurich, Switzerland - but it stars Jennifer Connelly, has known heavy metal and goth bands on the soundtrack along with Claudio Simonetti and Goblin and is paced a bit more like a Hollywood film rather than an Italian production.  The movie was made in English and dubbed for the Italian market and it was even released in a heavily-edited U.S.-friendly version under the title Creepers.  Despite all that it is still recognizably Argento at a time when he was pretty consistent with putting out quality films. 

Jennifer Corvino (Connelly) is the daughter of a famous movie star.  While he is away she is sent to an all-girls school in Switzerland.  Unfortunately, she arrives just as there is a series of disappearances of young women, including an assistant of noted entomologist John McGregor (Donald Pleasance).  While Jennifer immediately begins to clash with the Headmistress (Dalila Di Lazzaro) over her sleepwalking, she bonds with the professor over a strange ability: Jennifer can communicate with and control insects.

At first the Headmistress thinks she is crazy, but then thinks she is possessed after she proves what she can do.  Threatened with incarceration in a local mental hospital Jennifer escapes the school and attempts to contact her family lawyer to get a ticket back to the U.S.  Her concern is real as, while sleepwalking, she witnessed one of the murders and now thinks that the killer may specifically be after her. 

Although he would convince her to come back for a role in Opera this is the last movie that Daria Nicolodi worked with Argento on before their split.  She plays Frau Brückner, the Headmistress's assistant, rather than a major role throughout.  Still, her little screen time is notable, and her absence from future films - and her assistance in writing them - is quite noticeable as Argento enter the 1990s.  

Despite this being a shot at the mainstream it is one of Argento's most consistent and entertaining movies.  I think the conceit with the insects needed to be developed more because there are long stretches where, although it is made clear that this power is central to the movie, she doesn't use it.  I'm certain some of that was budget reasons.  I also have a feeling that Argento, at heart, wanted to do more of a straight giallo film but figured an added paranormal aspect would attract more viewers and set it aside from the slashers that were popular in the States at the time. 

The first time I saw this movie was in the Creepers version and, as always, I enjoyed the original much more.  Characters come and go or pop up infrequently as in many of Argento's films and cutting out the reasoning behind it or certain plot points makes the movie even more confusing.  As usual the major issue is some of the acting, but no amount of editing is going to fix the fact that Argento always sees actors as tools instead of performers and writes them as such. 

Jennifer Connelly did this before doing Labyrinth, so she's 14 here.  Sometimes that can be problematic in European films, but in this case she's treated as a strong young woman rather than a sex object, although she is still running around in nightclothes quite often.  Argento wisely let her carry the film despite her being young and surrounded by a number of better-known actors.  She does hold her own and Jennifer is one of his more memorable characters. 

As usual this has a strange, convoluted ending, but it is one that makes sense despite that.  There is also a tense chase to finish things off that, at one point, involves Jennifer being stuck in a filthy pool with a bunch of corpses.  It's pretty much the perfect movie to show someone as a gateway into Argento and Italian horror as well. 

Phenomena (1985)

Time: 116 minutes

Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Donald Pleasance, Daria Nicolodi

Director: Dario Argento