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5
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5 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Known
in Europe as Deliria or by the inexplicable title Aquarius,
Stage Fright was the directorial
debut of Michele Soavi (The Church,
Cemetery
Man), a protégé of Italian horror masters
Dario Argento and Lamberto Bava. That Soavi studied carefully
under his mentors is self-evident. Yet Stage
Fright is not the giallo one might expect.
It's more a psycho-on-the-loose "slasher" pic of the
type common to American drive-ins during the '80s — a subgenre
well into decline by the time this movie was made. As such it
suffers from all the problems inherent to that (justly maligned)
milieu: shallow characterizations, uninteresting villains, predictable,
simplistic plot points and dumb endings. (Which pretty much
sums up the sequels to John Carpenter's Halloween
as well as the entire Friday The
13th franchise, not to mention every copycat flick thereof.)
It's to Soavi's credit as an artist that he's able to infuse
so much style into the proceedings; his attention to the aesthetics
of horror makes all the difference in the world. So while Stage
Fright may ultimately be just as stupid as its American
peers, its artful execution is in another league altogether.
The
story almost all takes place in a single location —
a theater, where a troupe of young actors is rehearsing for
an upcoming stage play entitled "The Night Owl." The
production, an avant-garde musical about an owl-headed serial
killer(!), is lorded over by a real prick of a director, the
insufferably arrogant and abusive Peter (David Brandon, who
really runs with the part). He treats his cast and crew like
dirt, threatening to fire them at the drop of a hat. Especially
under the gun is Alicia (The Church's
Barbara Cupisti), a dancer who's late with the rent and desperately
needs the job. Concealing an ankle injury, Alicia and wardrobe
mistress Betty (Ulrike Schwerk) sneak out of the theater during
a break to seek medical attention. As luck would have it the
first hospital they chance upon is a clinic for the mentally
disturbed. They're almost thrown out but a kindly doctor intervenes,
treating the shapely dancer gratis. While there Alicia and Betty
witness the arrival of a man tightly bound to a stretcher and
escorted by police. The doctor casually informs them that
the new "patient"
is none other than Irving Wallace (Clain Parker), a former actor
who went nuts and butchered 16 people in a sensational killing
spree. Wallace is being held temporarily at the clinic while
the court reviews his case. He's not incarcerated there for
long, though...
The maniac murders
an orderly and escapes by hiding in the back seat of Betty's
car. Back at the theater, Alicia is in deep shit with Peter.
The callous director fires her on the spot for missing a stage
call. On her way out she discovers Betty's corpse in the parking
lot —
a pickaxe lodged in the dead woman's skull. The police are called
and begin a dragnet of the surrounding area. Instead of shutting
down the rehearsal, Peter is inspired by the potential publicity
boon a real-life murder will bring to the play. In cahoots with
the show's oily producer, the cash-carrying Mr. Ferrari (Piero
Vida), Peter bribes and cajoles the performers into continuing
the rehearsal into the night. He even offers to reinstate Alicia.
She wants no part of it. But when she tries to leave she discovers
all the exits are locked...
Wallace is hiding
inside the theater, of course, and has the others trapped. The
remainder of the film adheres to the tried-and-true Slasher
formula of Stalk and Slay, with the maniac —
ominously dressed as the owl-headed killer from the play —
knocking off his victims in progressively grislier fashion.
(A variety of implements are used, most memorably a power drill
and chainsaw.) Also true to formula, only one character will
be left alive to face the murderer. Ditto the faux "It's
not really over!" climax that leads to exactly the
kind of stupid, nonsensical ending that leaves me cold to slasher
pics in general. But Soavi ultimately saves the film with his
eye for strikingly stylish compositions and ability to fashion
suspenseful, genuinely scary set-pieces. The scene in which
a costumed Wallace murders one of the dancers on stage in the
middle of rehearsal (the others think it's part of the scene
being played) is a real stunner. And be prepared for more blood
and guts than is customary. In typically Italian fashion Soavi
isn't afraid to let the red stuff flow freely. That's not to
say the film goes overboard on
gore a la Lucio Fulci... With Stage
Fright, Soavi displays a keen sense of knowing just when
and how much to play the "Shock Card". Even so, it's
certainly more sanguinary than it's weak-kneed American cousins
in this regard.
If it just didn't
have that dumbass ending...
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| As
with Anchor Bay's release of The Church,
the company's edition of Stage Fright
contains no substantive extras. The theatrical trailer is included
along with the identical onscreen text bio present on the former
disc. Audio/visual quality is also comparable, with exemplary
picture and sound for such a low budget feature. The widescreen
transfer (1.85:1) is anamorphically enhanced for 16x9 TVs. Though
bummed by the dearth of extras — Soavi's is a talent worthy of
further exploration — I was nonetheless comforted by the disc's
low price. (Note: The cover art has me a bit perplexed... It's
got absolutely nothing to do with events in the movie!)
2/19/02 |
| UPDATE
The AB disc reviewed here is going OOP in 2007. On October 30,
2007 Blue Underground is reissuing the title using the exact same
transfer and extras. |
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