Phenomena(1983)/Older review

 September 2008 user comments. This was from the Anchor Bay cut. I included a few snips from a scene of Switzerland with Connelly that, with the Goblin score, knocks my block off. This landscape popped off my screen.

You get your money's worth with this journey into the bizarre world of Dario Argento. You get a heroic chimp who uses a razor to avenge the murder of her beloved owner, a girl with a telepathic ability to communicate and control insects(..who also assist in helping her find clues in the search for a killer), and a psychotic killer monster boy. The striking beauty of teenager Jennifer Connelly is used to the utmost effect as she sees female girls being stalked, a specific hall which will become very important later on, and the horrified faces of victims, as she sleepwalks. Her father is a popular actor, and she is sent to a very highly regarded Swiss school for wealthy female girls. Treated with disrespect by everyone, Jennifer finds a friend in a gentle, soft-spoken, wheel-chair bound entomologist, Professor John McGregor(Donald Pleasence), who keeps a lab devoted to insects of all kinds, and has assisted the police in determining the time of death for corpses. John finds Jennifer's unique telepathic gift intriguing and useful in perhaps finding and catching a killer who is murdering young female teens in the area. But, both will find themselves in danger as someone will do whatever it takes to keep the killer's identity safe. We see in the opening a young foreign girl, who missed her tour bus, brutally slain by someone who was able to break free from chains nailed into a wall. This event would lead to the string of murders afterward. Daria Nicolodi resembles Norman Bates' mother in a very creepy performance. Dario is unrestrained in this film, embracing the supernatural to tell his story. Violent use of a spear is how the killer often murders his/her victims, such as the girl stabbed through the head, resulting in the blade protruding out of the mouth. A pair of scissors is stabbed into a hand. A head is severed as the victim is attempting to greet Jennifer. A man, to free himself from chains binding him, must smash his broken hand to remove the shackles. A face is sliced repeatedly by the vengeful monkey. My favorite sequence has Jennifer discovering the watery pit containing various skulls and body parts, kept by the killer as tokens(..she actually falls in, attempting to drag herself out of it with heavy resistance by the guardian of the psycho). I think less discriminating viewers will lap this crazy little horror flick up, while others will find it hogwash. I thought it was fun. I guess you could call this a supernatural giallo. Odd mixture of musical score and rock(..Iron Maidan & Motorhead)layered throughout. It was neat seeing Pleasence working in an Argento film. He has a really strong supporting role, very sympathetic character and extremely likable.