Phenomena [Blu-ray]

I'm a big Dario Argento fan particularly of his output starting with "Bird with a Crystal Plumage" up through the ferocious 1987 film "Opera". While his films after "Opera" in my eyes saw a increasingly depressing drop in quality that unfortunately continues to this day, those films from BWTCP up through and including Opera are all great films that are just stunning to watch purely from a craft & filmmaking standpoint. "Phenomena" was released in 1985 to lukewarm reviews as the film was just so out there from a purely stylistic standpoint that many people didn't quite know to make of it. It also didn't help that in America almost an entire half hour was cut out of the film for its release under the alternate title "Creepers". You had a 13 year old Jennifer Connelly who could communicate with insects, Donald Pleasance with a pet monkey that was also his helper and a dwarf killer running around murdering young girls at an all girl school in Switzerland where the film is set to name a few of the delightful oddities that make this film so much fun. I can't neglect to mention the heavy metal soundtrack that plays along with most of the murder scenes too. The film is also puncuated with his trademark over-the-top graphic violence throughout. While I don't think it's Dario's best film, it is my personal favorite movie of his that I come back to the most.Prior to this blu ray release, Anchor Bay had released the 110 minute Europeran cut of the film first in non-anamorphic widescreen DVD and then with a new anamorphic transfer that also preserved the film's original 1.66:1 theatrical aspect ratio. What some people didn't realize at the time was that there was still a longer Italian cut that was close to 116 minutes in length. For the film's blu ray release, Arrow Video decided to release the full 116 minute Italian cut. Since English dialogue hadn't been recorded for these additional scenes, the film occasionally switches back to the Italian language track with English subtitles similar to what Anchor Bay had to do with their DVD/blu-ray of Dario's classic film "Deep Red". It's not nearly as as jarring as it sounds.A lot of people have taken Arrow Video to task for their transfers used on their blu-rays of Argento's amazing 1982 film "Tenebrae" and some of Lucio Fulci's great horror titles. There was also complaints about the transfer of Phenomena too. I find all of these complaints hogwash for the most part because even with the blu-ray's imperfections visually, it still blows the old DVD's away without even trying.The complaint about Phenomena is that digital noise reduction was used to erase some of the film grain which gives the film a cleaner look than people would like. The DNR isn't overdone though and the cast never begin to have any waxy looks like when DNR is used egregiously like the ultimate hunter edition of Predator or Fox's initial blu-ray of Patton. Would I preferred for all of the film grain to have been left in, most certainly. But there is still a ton of detail that is a massive leap both over the older DVD's and the colors really pop in a way that it's truly like seeing the film again for the first time. The difference between this blu ray and the older Anchor Bay DVD is truly like night and day.The sound is presented in two channel stereo which sounds fine. Cool extras include a 52 minute making of featurette, a little over 6 minute discsussion on the original music by Cladio Simonetti and an almost 19 minute Q&A with Sergio Stivaletti discussing the film's creature and gore effects. None of the extras from the Anchor Bay DVD have been carried over including the commentary track so completists will want to hang onto that old DVD.The blu-ray is region free NTSC format including all of the extras so it plays perfectly in all US blu ray players. This is well worth picking up for fans of this criminally underrated film and a great upgrade that all fans should enjoy greatly.

Perfect

With 119 reviews about this movie already written, I'm not going to describe the plot since I'm sure it's been covered. I will say that I don't mind the heavy metal soundtrack at all. Nothing wrong with Goblin, but I also like Iron Maiden. If you like Bruce Dickinson/Iron Maiden, you'll do fine. Ignore the complaints about the soundtrack. I just wish the high-end wasn't rolled-off on the English soundtrack. It sounds clearer on the Italian soundtrack.I am comparing this with the first Anchor Bay release being sold for $39 on here now (Egads!) The video quality on this Blu-Ray is much improved over the old non-anamorphic Anchor Bay version. HOWEVER, the Blu-Ray dropped the 5.1 surround sound, and we are only left with stereo. More importantly, the Blu-Ray also dropped the commentary track!! This was a major disappointment for me, and means that now I must hold onto my DVD (which is apparently getting rare now, anyway). It also drops the 3 music videos, which I didn't care that much about but were nice to have. IT ALSO drops the Dario Argento interview on the Joe Franklin show! Even if that interview wasn't anything spectacular, it's still Dario Argento being interviewed on an American television show, and therefore a piece of history worth keeping. Most Americans still don't know who Dario Argento is. There's so much room on Blu-Ray I'm sure they could have fit compressed versions of the other extras on this.The 5 stars is for the movie itself, and for being able to watch a young Jennifer Connelly in a movie that most people who aren't fans of the genre will never even have heard of. Kudos to Jennifer and Donald Pleasence for taking on these roles!To the reviewer who complained that Jennifer's name in the movie is "Jennifer"... are you mad?!

Interesting if somewhat at times disjointed horror film, I had never heard of it until recently. It stars a rather young Jennifer Connelly as Jennifer Corvino, a young American woman sent by her father to an exclusive all-girls school, the Swiss Richard Wagner Academy for Girls, a school that is being plagued by a serial killer who seems to like to kill and behead young women. Along the way Jennifer comes to understand her telepathic powers of control over insects (and to understand the insects in a limited fashion, a power she knew she had before she went to the school but really comes to understand once in Switzerland) and befriends a local forensic entomologist (professor John McGregor, played by Donald Pleasance, who both helps Jennifer understand her powers and to encourage her to use these powers and his knowledge of insects to solve the string of murders and ultimately confront the killer). Jennifer’s and John’s path cross thanks to his chimpanzee assistant, Inga (not played for laughs), who is helpful when Jennifer while sleepwalking witnesses a student being murdered, falls from where she saw the murder and flees into the woods, becoming lost and is rescued by Inga.There was a lot to like about the movie and a lot to dislike. The good, Jennifer Connelly was wonderful, always good to see her. The idea of her telepathic communication and control of insects was quite interesting and original. The alliance between her and the forensic entomologist was also interesting, a good combination of abilities and knowledge, and I liked how the two characters interacted. Most of the atmospheric music, while very synthesizer 1980s, fit and I liked it. The Swiss countryside was beautiful and I found the school a good setting for this type of movie. There were some exciting action sequences and one scene later of horror that was very well done. The film felt like a very original take on the popular slasher horror films of the 1980s. Pacing was generally good and the climatic scenes were exciting.The bad, there were occasional interludes of hard rock music that did not at all fit the feel of the film. I read the Amazon trivia during the film and wished I hadn’t, as I couldn’t then unsee a few special effects gaffes. Sometimes the acting could be a little awkward or wooden, not enough to be a real problem but every now and then. It is at times a genuine mystery film but all of the elements, even for Jennifer, did not seem to be there for anyone to reasonably be expected to solve the mystery. One of the final villains looked kind of badly done make up wise and stretched credulity a little bit though once you got past that was terrifying enough. There were a few surprises in the climatic scenes, though one can debate how effective or realistic they were (though I grant they were surprises).Overall I liked the film. This is one of those rare films I would like to see what else could be done, not with the bad guy (whose story appears finished at the end of the film) but with Jennifer. What would she do next? What would a person who could control insects do? Would she use them for good (she seems a very kind- and good-hearted person)? Or would she not be a superhero but follow the footsteps of her professor friend?

great~

Soy fan del director Dario Argento y cuando supe que Synapse Films había restaurado en formato 4K Ultra HD, el clásico de 1985 "Phenomena" ó "Satánica Inocencia", la compré de inmediato.Se ve espectacular, mejor que nunca, con una calidad de imagen fuera de serie, por dentro trae portada reversible con la portada original y la nueva portada de esta edición limitada.Llegó rápido y en perfectas condiciones, y la encontré en oferta por el Prime Day 2024!Lo mejor es que si trae el Slipcover de colección.

bon

El vendedor tendría que revisar antes de vender, en algunas escenas el audio pasa a ser original y otras con subtítulos, pero como la película es buena se sobrelleva.

IL film è riuscito in tutte le sue parti.

Arrivé dans le délai prévu avec PARURES ETHNIQUES et super bien protégé dans la grande enveloppe à bulles, en parfait état, merci Momox !DARIO ARGENTO est 1 des Grands Maîtres de L'HORREUR Avec JOHN CARPENTER, DAVID CRONENBERG, TOBE HOOPER et GEORGE A. ROMERO.PHENOMENA est un déluge de Peur qui prend par surprise, DARIO ARGENTO excelle vraiment dans ce registre et il est quasiment certain qu'il a pour modèle entre autres ALFRED HITCHCOCK.Âmes sensibles s'abstenir !