Phenomena... loved it

Avoid the cut version called Creepers.

It's not my favourite Argento (that'd be DEEP RED) but it's a delicously trippy flick and very stylish. And you gotta love that cheesy 80ies metal music from Motörhead etc.

The Anchor Bay version is actually not the longest one. The Japanese Laserdisc and German unrated DVD (as well as the Italian prints obviously) have some additional dialogue scenes like an extended conversation between Connely and Daria Noccolodi's character ...

I need help with Deep Red.....I just don't like it



I admit, I have never sat down and watched the whole movie



I really want to like it....I just haven't given it a chance


I always pass out while watching it

Well, bunnymud, you're not alone...while I have yet to experience passing out while watching it (the Suspiria docu on the dvd set does that....must be all that Italian hypnotizes me ) I'm not a huge fan of Deep Red either. I originally saw it on a shitty bootleg VHS and it was hard to see some of what was going on, so I'm always thinking that may be part of it. But I can't get myself to buy the DVD.

As for Phenomena...loved it. ANd yes the Jennifer Conneley and Donald Pleasance combo alone is worth a watch, but of all the movies of Argento's that are often described as a 'twisted fairy tale', this one fits the bill in my opinion.

I love this film. It is the first Argento film I ever saw (when it was called Creepers) and I've always loved the surreal "anything goes" plotline. Any film with a razor wielding monkey is fine by me.

As far as it being unappreciated, I have shown this film to a few horor fans over the years and they have all (to a person) loathed it. Different strokes, I suppose.

The first glimpse of PENOMENA I got was in one of those MASTERS OF HORROR docus that aired on TV many years ago. They were hosted by Stephen King and that was the main reason I watched them ... I was a huge King fan then. Anyway, after a brief introduction they showed the scene in which Connely takes a ... um ... bath with a few not-so-fresh dead guys. From then on I was interested. I found it years later on a bootleg VHS that was uncut I believe. Even later I bought the German DVD. I'll have to grab the US DVD sometime for the Argento commentary.

I loved it , and still love it. I am a huge fan of Argento.

Right on the money dear Dr.

And for Profondo Rosso(Deep Red). It is my favourite movie from the guy.

It is so surreal and scary. my favourite moment in the film is when he is taking off the wall paper in the basement.Wow.

How can anyone not love Deep Red? It's so stylishly violent and depraved and has the best of all the Goblin soundtracks. Now Inferno, that's the Dario movie I can never make myself stay awake through. About Phenomena: the only version I've ever seen is it's Creepers form even more cut than it was to begin with because it was playing on a Saturday afternoon on a local UHF TV station. Didn't care for it really.

I dig this flick. I own it, however I have to say... the music messes it up a bit. Iron Maiden takes me right out of it. If it wasn't for the poor use of metal, this would be ten times better. Plus the scene in the car with everyone freaking out over the bee is just awful. But great in a b-flick sort of way, it makes me chuckle.

The ending is simply great.

I like the movie.

- Fixxxer

I watched the Creepers version many years ago on vhs and I remember that I liked it. I love Iron Maiden and even I thought it was weird that they played the entire song for that scene.

I have only seen the old VHS CREEPERS, and if memory serves, I thought it was all over the board, but good ....

I love Argento, and I think SUSPIRIA is visually one of the most magnificent achievments in film history, not to mention an awesome horror film ... DEEP RED is the greatest of the giallo genre, and Goblin is, as usual, great ....

While I am usually of the opinion that orchestra/synth soundtracks are far better than songs, ( espeically metal / rock music ), I remember the Iron Maiden / Motorhead fitting in well and taking the film somewhere cool .... Much the same as w/ DEMONS .....

With all this Argento talk, I'm going right over to Netflix and putting PHENOMENA atop my quene

Don't get me wrong... I love the goblin stuff.. I think it's the addition of vocals that messes it up for me. Not the etheral stuff that goblin does in Susperia. But a straight out Maiden song just takes me right out of the movie.

This isn't my favorite Argento, but it's in the top three.

The storyline is deliciously loopy and the performance from Donald Pleasance is, as almost always, top shelf. Jennifer Connelly turns in one of her best performances. The music is fantastic and, yes, that includes the usage of Maiden. It's one of the first Argento flicks I can remember watching. It, along with the "Three Mothers Trilogy", remains his most unique film.

Plus, any film where a chimpanzee renounces violence is aces with me.

I'm going to try...I'm REALLY going to try...to get into Argento. I like Fulci's BEYOND and Bava's DEMONS, but I've had a hard time with just about everything else Italian horror-wise (ZOMBI, HOUSE OF EXORCISM, HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY, etc.). I watched Suspiria a long time back and just couldn't follow it, but I warn't no so-fist-tic-ate back then like'n I'm now. Have to give it another shot, along with DEEP RED, TENEBRE, and PHENOMENON, esp. as I've been a huge Jennifer Connelly fan ever since Labyrinth.

Hey, don't snicker, I was 14 at the time too, so it's legal. *rowr*

This is considered by many Argento fans to be one of his lesser efforts, which is funny because the last 15 minutes or so represent some of his best work.

The music is LUSH (Simonetti did an awesome pure piano version of it on the European Dragon DVD). Meanwhile, the heavy metal tracks are absolutely fine.

Also, on the various DVD extras I love hearing Dario say "Simon Boswell" and "Andy Sex Gang".

I just finished watching the DVD / Anchor Bay version of PHENOMENA ... Having only seen the butchered VHS years ago, I never completely got behind this one ... until now ...

I really really got into it, and eventhough some of the outlandish / over-the-top stuff got in the way for me, I do think this is one of Argento's best ...

*******SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS********

The music was great ... The Simonetti and Wyman pieces were awesome, and I LOVED the Maiden ... Putting the Maiden in was something that, at the time, was fresh and unexpected, but fitting ... Just as Jennifer's innocence and naivety contrasted with with the surrounding insanity and violence, the metal added the perfect sting to its certain scenes, complimenting the more etheral music ...

The photography was beautiful, and the long shots of and around the killer's first home are stunning, as are Dario's trademark nightime shots .... The scene in which the firefly leads Jennifer to the glove is mesmerizing ... Surrounded by absolute horror, the delicate moments seem shut off from all that is going on around ... great
stuff ....

I wish the child would have been a little different though .... From the time Jennifer was picked up and brought back by Nicolodi to the moment the kid finally revealed his face, Argento had created this incredible cresendo ..... The bedroom scene w/ the doll and bathroom scene were terrifing ... and the limb pool was classic .... but I was slightly let down by the kid's face ..... The doll Jennifer knocked over was much scarier ...

All in all a great film, one of Dario's best IMHO .... Had the kid been as scary as someone like Sadako, I think we would have had some argument for this being as good as
SUSPIRIA .... It was a great film nonetheless ...

Dario's whole thing about insects is pretty fascinating. Also I like how Connelly's character is "special" (she kinda reminds of that girl in X-Men who Wolvie is all protective about)

Just a very cool movie...