PHENOMENA

A project deeply personal for Dario Argento Phenomena has long been considered as a botched affair, uneven in its story and style. This is nonsense, saying more about the critical laziness of reviewers and simplistic expectations of viewers than about the merit of the film. A triumph of visual storytelling, this assault on nerves merges elements of the traditional Faerie Tale with the bleeding theatrics of the Giallo. Shocking, beautiful and repulsive, the mechanics of the plot capture with precision the overall themes of psychosis, false perception, and mystical journeys. Here Argento embodies the human descent into the labyrinthine passages of the mind and the occult. It is puzzling why so many people scream foul at the story because the movie sticks to its rules of internal logic, playing fair with the audience and, most impressively, managing to make the occult and psychological reflect one another in a believable context. Atmospherically speaking, the contrasting tones of the supernatural and cynically realistic are blended together with precision. Perhaps the film has suffered most from its initial promotion; most areas had to make do with an 82 minute copy shorn of a large amount of carnage and minor plot points. While this isn't the first time the picture has been presented uncut and uncensored, Anchor Bay's newest incarnation encourages one to truly soak up the emotional intensity, gothic imagery, and 'heroic quest' element that makes the picture so unique -- both for Argento and the genre as a whole.

Phenomena is a modern homage to and reinterpretation of the classical Faerie Tale, dark as a witch's heart and as misleading as an eldritch mountainside. All the archetypes are accounted for: the misleading old woman/witch figure, hidden secrets, forest /sexual symbolism, magic, and at the heart of it all an adolescent figure -- in this case a female girl -- struggling with both internal and external forces as she takes the 'heroic journey' to meet her destiny. A fable for adults, this fantasy is drenched in the shadows of suspicious adulthood and the curse of cultural betrayal. The modern myth is bathed in lurking shadows, torrents of blood, and the instinct of savagery. Similar in tone and story elements (if not scope) to the gingerbread colors and context of Suspiria, the story blends several complicated sub-plots together to form a complex tragedy of Epic proportions. Again we have a youngish (possibly virginal girl) showing up at a European girls boarding school in Switzerland, dumped there by her father. Awkward and alienated both by her own characteristics (intelligence, sensitivity, courage) and a preternatural ability to communicate with insects, she is in danger as soon as she settles in. She witnesses the pursuit and vicious murder of her peers by an unseen killer during sleepwalking portents. A chance meeting with a local entomologist, John McGregor (Donald Pleasance in fine form) helps her investigate her power over insects, and she soon becomes embroiled in a murder investigation, using the insects as a 'trail of breadcrumbs' or 'magic wand' to discover the identity of the killer -- who is also stalking her. In the meantime, she has to struggle against scholastic intolerance, peer prejudice, and her own powers. When events force her to a house in the mountains, she meets a terror that defies expectation . . . and continues to be one of the most charged and gory endings ever put to celluloid.

Never less than original in his fetishistic displays of hyper violence, surreal imagery, and a stylistic approach that alternates between (and sometimes crosses) the baroque and gothic, Dario Argento is one of the few 'masters' of horror worthy of the term. He delivers in his graphically violent, beautifully photographed nightmares people that find the pleasure in pain, the beauty in ugliness, and attraction in despair. More disturbingly, he constantly probes with subjective camera work and convoluted themes the stability of our minds, the world, and the very nature of perception. In Phenomena he challenges the way we perceive both the world around us and the worlds within us. He challenges us to re-examine the deceivingly world around us as well as our interpretation of it. In this way, then, the movie is an allegory, a parable, and a screaming hyper violent metaphor. A fantasy of flesh, fear, and the occult, the story explores through equally disgusting and titillating imagery the point at which we discover that which we thought we owned really owns us. Phenomena also benefits from a marriage of mood-enhanced realism and supernatural overtones. Confidently directed, lit with colors that emphasize the internal conflict and harshness of character's internal conflicts, the film manages to suggest the paradoxically destructive and/or saving characteristics of self-discovery. In short, this is sterling cinematic storytelling with visual flash and meaning, marrying the Gialo with the supernatural, and the cruel dictates of realism with a world of terror and wonder. What more do you want?!

Part of the Anchor Bay Collection, this follow up to that company's earlier release is crisp and clean in detail, encouraging a dazzling journey through a candy colored Hell. The feature is presented in Anamorphic widescreen in its aspect ratio of 1.66:1. The photography is captured in vivid detail, without grain or splotches. The colors are dreamlike when they should be and realistic when it is warranted. Skin tones are realistic. Audio is also pleasing, featuring English Dolby surround Sound 5.1 and 2.0 (and French Mono). There is no background interference and sound effects and dialogue are distinguishable.

The extras are well worth your time, blending social context with a nice amount of biography. Many of the features dig down into the meat and potatoes of the production. Unfortunately, only "A Dark Fairy Tale" is original to this disc, the others simply ported over from the last release. The above is a thorough if not exhaustive look at the film and what Argento was trying to accomplish, an engaging retrospective. The "Commentary" with Argento, Stivaletti, and Simonetti is lively and infectious, filled with intriguing tid-bits of interest to the fear fan although it often laps into strained silences. Also ported over is "Luigi Cozzi & The Art of Microphotography" (which looks at how the effect of the swarms of flies near the climax were achieved) and Argento's appearance on The Joe Franklin Show. Next up is the somewhat strained "Bill Wyman Music Video 'Jennifer'" and the intriguing "International Trailer." A macabre must have!!!

Review by William Simmons