After re-watching Deep Red (1975), my childhood nightmare, I've been trying to catch up on Dario Argento's other horror flicks, maybe because during his heyday he was proclaimed to out-Hitchcock Hitchcock. But boy, this guy's films don't age well. His Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) was the same Deep Red formula, and I was ashamed to even write anything about his Suspiria (1977). The only reason I'm writing about Phenomena, is that I just want to document I saw the movie where a young Jennifer Connelly jumps into a pool full of maggots. The things people do for fame.
Trivia: Incredible. Argento helped Sergio Leone and Bernardo Bertolucci write the screenplay for Once Upon a Time in the West.
Mo says:
Yes Phenomena is a really poor film and Deep Red is not that great. I never did get round to watching Bird With the Crystal Plumage but will one day. As for Suspiria! I loved it and still do, it's a fantastic horror film. The story is bizarre and bit strange to say the least but it somehow works. His murderous set pieces are fantastic and the incredible soundtrack by Goblin finishes off the whole thing nicely.
ReplyDeleteComparing Argento to Hitchcock seems quite ludicrous. A bit like hailing modern bands as the "new" Beatles.
Maybe the reason I had a such a bad time with "Suspiria", was because the DVD quality was terrible. Absolutely terrible! It looked as though they had just stuck a run-down videotape onto a DVD. This has happened to me several times before, where the picture quality totally ruined a good movie.
ReplyDeleteI like your Hitchcock comparison allegory!
;-)