It’s officially time to kick off our now-annual feature “Giallo-Days” with Phenomena. This weird and wonderful mix of Italian horror mixed with sci-fi has a fantastic cast, awesome soundtrack, and unique premise. It may not be Argento’s best, but it deserves more recognition than it gets.
- Directed by: Dario Argento
- Written by: Dario Argento. Franco Ferrini
- Starring: Jennifer Connelly. Donald Pleasence. Daria Nicolodi
Phenomena should first be recognized for being Jennifer Connelly’s first role. She plays the sweet and innocent Jennifer, the daughter of a famous movie star studying at an all-girls boarding school in Switzerland. Jennifer quickly gets caught up in an ongoing rash of murders when, while sleepwalking, she witnesses a student being murdered. A local entomologist, Dr. McGregor (Donald Pleasance), discovers she has a telepathic link with insects that might help solve the murders.
Women in Phenomena
Like all good giallo, Phenomena is about women and their contradictions. Usually this plays out with mature themes. But given that we’re talking about high school students, Argento wisely went in a different direction with the dual nature of his protagonist. Jennifer might be young and kind, but she is strong-willed, smart, and stubborn. She pushes back against the authority of the restrictive school’s stern headmistress and the bullying of the students.
Argento goes to great lengths to make her seem both strong and vulnerable, menacing and innocent. Even when she is bravely heading out into the night to search for her roommate, she’s dressed in all-white, gauzy nightgown. This is a stark contrast from the sweatpants she wore the night before when she was just normal sleepwalking. When using her abilities, she’s scary and angelic. The headmistress attaches moral judgment to her abilities, drawing a comparison to demonic powers. Dr. McGregor scoffs at this, seeing only the beauty of nature in her bond with insects.
Of course, neither of these people are unbiased. McGregor needs Jennifer’s help to find a murderer. The headmistress needs complete control of her school and life.
Giallo Elements
By 1985, what defined “giallo” had expanded as subgenres do. Filmmaking techniques expanded, and new technologies changed what movies looked and sounded like. This doesn’t always make for a better movie. Some of the key stylistic elements exist because of the limitations of the time.
With modern techniques, that style has to be replicated in other ways. The bold colors usually found in early giallo are replaced by muted tones, greys, and whites. Shocking colors are substituted for shocking visuals, especially in the third act. Fortunately, the giallo blood is still there, as are some really great camera angles. This is Argento after all.
Argento has elements and themes that he enjoyed returning to in his movies. They frequently featured an artist or creative getting involved in a series of murders. While Phenomena is about a student and not an artist, much of Argento’s signature style is evident here.
As is the shadowy killer, although they aren’t given much screen time. Their backstory and themes are all giallo standards, even if the script doesn’t take much time to really explore them.
What is given plenty of room is the absolutely crazy metal soundtrack. Giallo has some amazing tracks, but none quite like this one. Iron Maiden, Motorhead, frequent Argento collaborator Goblin, and early goth band Sex Gang Children all feature in key scenes.
Using popular music is a departure from the standard and can be a bit jarring if you are only used to the sound of early giallo. It fits the overall mood and tone of the movie, which is a true hybrid of classic tropes and ‘80s sci-fi fun.
Shock, not Substance
Ok, so there may be at least one plot element that probably didn’t need to happen here. It doesn’t age well and it’s a little messy in execution. The movie would work much better without it and still leave the killer solid motivation. Plus, it ends the movie with a weird symmetry, which is about as spoiler free as I can get trying to explain that.
Is it Good?
Um. It’s spectacle. This is a movie where a helper chimpanzee looking to avenge a murder, or telepathic insects are not the craziest plot elements. It’s clear that Argento was in love with his idea of forensic work involving insects and manhandled the rest of the plot around that concept. It’s also clear that it’s filmed beautifully and that Connelly makes even the most reality-stretching plot element seem reasonable, at least in the moment. I wouldn’t spend too much time thinking about this one after the credits roll.
Final Thoughts
Look, there are plenty of other Argento giallo that are probably worth seeing first. Bird with the Crystal Plumage, his first film, is still my favorite. I could spend the entirety of Giallo-Days on Argento films and not regret it. So why pick this one? Simple, it’s weird and for all its flaws, I dig that.
Phenomena is available on streaming.
Read other Giallo-Days reviews here:
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