Irish Film Institute -PHENOMENA

PHENOMENA

Director:

110 minutes| Italy| 1985| Colour


His recent output has been rather patchy, to say the least, but Horrorthon still loves Dario Argento, which is why we’re proud to present Dario’s original 110-minute cut of his unfairly maligned 1985 classic; if you’re only familiar with the bowdlerised version, released in the U.S. and here as Creepers, then prepare for a revelation. Phenomena stars future Academy Award winner Jennifer Connolly as a young girl who lands at a creepy Swiss boarding school to find a serial killer is butchering the pupils – so far, so Suspiria. Enter wheelchair-bound entomologist Donald Pleasance (yes!), who helps Connolly to use her nascent psychic powers to trap the killer. If you happen to think this all sounds a bit hokey, by the way, then you’re missing the point. As with all of Argento’s finest work, Phenomena is less a film than a sensory experience, driven by Dario’s unmistakable ‘nightmare logic’. Cited by the director as his most personal work, Phenomena is gloriously bonkers, and rather phenomenal.

Includes Q&A with make-up and FX artist Sergio Stivaletti.

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