Crazed killer Irving Wallace escapes from a mental institution and makes his way into a theatre where the actors are rehearsing for a play long into the night. A storm rages outside and the doors are locked, one by one the actors become victims of Wallace, who is wearing a large owl mask. The deaths are gory and well staged, the killer uses tools such as an axe, power drill and chainsaw to give this movie plenty of blood and guts. It does take a while to really get going but it is the middle third of the film when most of the kills occur. The final 20 minutes or so has that slasher movie tradition finale, final girl versus killer. Amongst the cast David Brandon is excellent has the very pushy play director and Italian horror regular Giovanni Lombardo Radice is good fun as a camp actor. Made in Italy but set in the US it is not entirely convincing and needless to say many of the actors are dubbed, but if you enjoy Euro horrors then this isn't an issue. Although director Michele Soavi has made a stylish movie this is not a Giallo, there is no mystery here, it is a straight slasher film with a very basic plot. And as such it is good, however I don't consider it to be a masterpiece.
Review of StageFright
