Jennifer has a few million close friends. She’s going to need them all.

The teenage daughter (Jennifer Connelly) of an American movie star is sent to a Swiss boarding school where a murderer is running loose. This horror movie is a lot better than I first remembered. Full of director Dario Argento’s typical touches (such as victims crashing through glass and scenes set to rock music), it is also very innovative, basically throwing in everything but the kitchen sink – but making sure not to lose the tension. It may be ridiculous at times and the acting is pretty awful (including from 14-year-old Connelly), but the Swiss locations are effective and the film is scary and funny. Memorably disgusting scene in a “pool”.

The YouTube clip shows the trailer.

1985-Italy. 110 min. Color. Produced and directed by Dario Argento. Cast: Jennifer Connelly (Jennifer Corvino), Donald Pleasence (John McGregor), Daria Nicolodi (Brückner), Dalila Di Lazzaro, Patrick Bauchau, Fiore Argento.

Trivia: Original title: Phenomena. The film makes notable use of music by Goblin, Simon Boswell, Iron Maiden and Motörhead, among others.

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Published 2008-10-30 18:15