StageFright (1987) User Reviews

We have all seen Stagefright before, but...

[buddypatrick · 7/10 · 16 August 2009]

We have all seen Stagefright before; it's a predictable typical slasher with an unconvincing killer and young pretty people being axed off though this hasn't been done by Michele Soavi. The most noteworthy elements of the film are the camera-work, cinematography, score and it's violent, brutal deaths which are ranked by horror fanatics as some of the most vicious kills in the slasher sub-genre. It isn't a movie to be taken seriously and a massive 1980's cheese-fest which is what makes it so fantastic.

First off, what Stagefright fails at is classic slasher rules; drugs, sex and language which is all absent from this movie. However I don't think the Guide to Making a Slasher Handbook was Soavi's inspiration as this is, after all, a directional debut. This isn't another Friday the 13th and it isn't another Sleepaway Camp – this is a Michele Soavi movie loaded with outrageous, loopy visuals, bizarre dialogue, bad acting and savage murders. When Soavi came out to the film industry as "Argento's protégé" he really meet expectations and Stagefright along with later films such as The Church and Cemetery Man go to prove it. Yes it does not have naked bodies, the characters are not drug inducing menaces and there is a lack of foul language but so what – this is far better than a lot of other slashers that came out in the 80's because it is just so fun and we can thank Soavi's style for that.

Whilst the movie is completely silly it's still entertaining, especially for the eyes. The visuals are completely wonderful with cinematography exposing colour through the lens in a flamboyant fashion, especially when all the characters in the film are wearing such eccentric clothes. The camera-work is professionally solid and stands out, the panning is soft, the stills are (not always) very still and it's the style of camera-work one would assume would come from Argento's protégé. The score is 1980's cheese but it works a wonder and it fits well in a movie such as Stagefright, it's also a hoot to listen to as you watch a woman being torn in half from the waist down.

I will not spoil the deaths in this review. There are some really nasty eye opening kills in this movie which are illogical, nonsensical and completely derivative but that's Italian Horror for you, and as a matter of fact – that's the movies for you. If someone is into violent slashers then this is perhaps the film you've been looking for though the movie isn't overflowing with gore and eye cringing kills which can be a letdown for gore fanatics.

Stagefright is typically predictable like one would find in any slasher, but it offers something quite unique – it's artistic cinematic elements are fantastic, the music is a thrill ride to listen to, it's easy to watch, the characters are all wearing eccentric 80's fashion like you'd expect from a metropolis stage performer in that era and its environment is at least not a camp, beach, cemetery, small town, or anything you've seen one hundred times before in a film which requires the protagonist to take of their clothes. Stagefright is another run of the mill slasher, but it is Michele Soavi's run of the mill slasher and that is what makes it unique. It's cheese but it isn't like this movie is taking itself serious, so sit back and enjoy this reminder of what Italian slashers were like in the 1980's.

One of the best 80's slashers

[The_Void · 8/10 · 4 July 2004]

Spoilers I'm not a big fan of the slasher sub-genre; there's too many samey films clogging up the genre and seeing a man with a knife hacking topless babes to bits can be a bit tiresome after a while, believe it or not. This one, however, is a cut above (no pun intended) the majority of other slashers.

Stagefright features an abundance of overly gory and creative death scenes. This, of course, is no bad thing. No bad thing at all. The film's first death scene sees the wardrobe assistant take a pick axe in the face, and that death scene alone beats any of the rather dull methods of death featured in other 80's slashers such as Friday the 13th and The Burning single handed; and it gets better than that...one actress is stabbed to death in front of her director and the rest of the cast; power drills, chainsaws, axes and fire also feature in the movie's vast weapon repertoire. On the subject of the chainsaw; it surely has to be the most under-utilised weapon in horror film history. The tool just cries out to be used to maul and saw up victims, and yet it hasn't had a great deal of screen time over the years considering it's potential. This movie, however, has a lovely chainsaw section which sees limbs get lopped, bodies carved up and an incredible death scene in which the victim has the lower half of her body removed while being rescued from falling down a trapdoor.

This film's main downfall according to some people will be it's characters, script and acting. The characters are paper thin, the script, at times, is badly written (although not throughout) and the acting is wooden to say the least. However, as one doesn't go into an 80's slasher movie expecting Oscar winning performances, Oscar winning scriptwriting and great characters; one can forgive these things. What this movie does have lots of though, is style and atmosphere. It's easy to see the influence that master director Dario Argento has had on his understudy Michele Soavi. Soavi, who would later go on to direct his masterpiece, "Dellamorte Dellamore", piles on the style in this movie. The style is very reminiscent of the sublime, 'Opera', actually, which also came out in the great year that was 1987. One scene in particular, involving the main character hiding out in the shower while one of her co-stars is killed in the next booth is very Opera-esque indeed. The creepy atmosphere in the movie comes mostly as a result of the claustrophobic setting, which is made more claustrophobic when you consider the fact that the characters are locked in with the madman. The creepy atmosphere comes into play again towards the end of the movie when the 'slasher trademark' victim has her final duel with the killer; Soavi is able to build up tension through a series of scenes, including one very suspenseful sequence in particular which the key to building is wrenched out of the stage floorboards in front of the killer. The suspense in the build up the killer's downfall is not wasted, as, unlike so many other films, Soavi is able to build the movie up to a satisfying and exciting conclusion.

Stagefright is an underrated gem, and more than deserves the praise that lesser entries in the slasher sub genre, such as Friday the 13th receive. A creepy exhibition of atmosphere and creative gore; Stagefright comes with the highest recommendation from me.

A simply outstanding horror film!

[Coventry · 8/10 · 16 December 2004]

Four films might be too little to judge, but I think Michele Soavi is the best Italian horror director since Mario Bava. Regarding several aspects, his visions and attitude surpass those of praised directors like Lamberto Bava, Umberto Lenzi and even Dario Argento. Stagefright has got a simple plot (much simpler that those in Soavi's later movies) but that makes it all the more accessible and enjoyable. The plot involves an escaped lunatic who stumbles into a theater where a group is rehearsing an artistic play. The mentally weak man, unable to separate reality from his own demented imagination, considers himself to be at home and violently begins to annihilate cast and crew. Even though the premise is perfect for sinking low in gore slashing, Soavi prefers to focus on creating tense situations and making you feel one with the characters and – as a result of this – petrified as well. The stylishly filmed sets and efficient scenery makes it feel like you're watching a more sophisticated version of Bava's "Demons". This is exactly what makes him such a brilliant director! Give him little and he still manages to deliver a fully equipped horror film. Call me nuts, but I think there are directors who actually have the talent to make violence look like art…and Soavi definitely is one of them. Stagefright has a terrific musical score and a few familiar faces in the cast. Most memorable appearance unquestionably is made by Giovanni Lombardo Radice. This Italian cult actor appears in multiple gore highlights and practically always comes to a horrible end… Stagefright comes with the highest possible recommendation. In case you dug this film, you're ready for Soavi's "the Sect" and "Dellamorte Dellamore".

"There's No Business Like Show Business!"....

[azathothpwiggins · 12 November 2019]

STAGEFRIGHT opens with a jaw-dropping, murderous dance routine, featuring some awesome saxophone playing and a "killer" in an owl mask! After this, one might think that anything to follow would be anticlimactic. Ha! This would be a mistake! What transpires after this sequence is even more astonishing!

A troupe of thespians is working on the aforementioned musical, complete with a rape scene (!). In a miraculous turn of serendipitous events, the play's hyper-intense director (David Brandon) decides to keep everyone in the theater overnight. A dark, stormy night! In addition, an escaped, homicidal maniac is on his way to the theater! He's an actor-gone-berserk, don't ya know?! He also loves owl masks!

Let the bodies hit the floor!

Kooky, bloody, and absolutely enjoyable, this movie should be seen by all sentient beings! Especially, those with a hankering for Italian horror cheeeze. Or owls. Stars Barbara Cupisti (OPERA, THE CHURCH) as Alicia, the only character with a functioning brain...

Fine addition to the giallo subgenre

[Libretio · 6/10 · 10 May 2005]

DELIRIA

(USA/UK: StageFright: Aquarius)

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Dolby Stereo

A group of actors become trapped in a theatre with a rampaging maniac who has just escaped from the nearby psychiatric clinic...

DELIRIA not only marked the directorial debut of Euro-cult favorite Michele Soavi (billed here as 'Michael' Soavi), it also marked a reunion of several prominent figures from the heyday of Italian exploitation. Produced by renowned sleaze merchant Joe D'Amato (Aristide Massaccesi - "Buio Omega", "Emanuelle in America") and written by splatter stalwart George Eastman (Luigi Montefiore - RABID DOGS, ABSURD), and co-starring John Morghen (Giovanni Lombardo Radice - CANNIBAL APOCALYPSE, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD), this deceptively modest shocker attempts to subvert many of the clichés associated with 'traditional' slasher movies, and does it with style and grace. Viewers weaned on a diet of bland Hollywood 'horrors' may not succumb immediately to the film's wayward plot developments (including the central device of an off-off-Broadway stage musical which celebrates the very same serial killer who winds up massacring most of the cast!), but once the basic premise has been established, the narrative assumes a near-demonic life of its own.

Beginning with a frankly horrific sequence in which the masked killer is mistaken for an actor during rehearsals and encouraged to 'kill' a female co-star (only to commit the bloody deed for real!), Soavi's direction is razor-sharp and visually appealing. The murders are outlandish and gruesome, though also tragic in places (watch out for a shower sequence which operates both as a suspense set-piece and as a vivid demonstration of human cruelty), and Eastman's clever screenplay strips the characters down to their emotional core, revealing a gamut of fears and prejudices which leave many of them vulnerable to the killer's predations. The climactic sequence - in which a frightened young actress must retrieve an all-important key from its hiding place within inches of the killer's feet - is ghastly, beautiful and terrifying, all at the same time. Outside of these major set-pieces, Soavi's relative inexperience is betrayed by a couple of ragged camera movements and some odd editing choices, while the performances are compromised by flat post-sync dubbing. But overall, the movie is a triumph, one which plays Soavi's mentor Dario Argento at his own game and succeeds beyond all expectations.

(English version)

Superior slasher

[Groverdox · 7/10 · 30 April 2016]

Firstly, "Stagefright: Aquarius" is not a giallo film. Gialli were not just Italian slashers, they were murder mysteries that owed more to Agatha Christie than Wes Craven. There is literally no mystery in this movie. The identity of the killer is never revealed and isn't even treated as a question. The movie also uses that old slasher stand-by of the inescapable location. A group of people are trapped with a masked killer and have to survive long enough to find a way out. We're not surprised when inexplicably, police park outside the place and don't even try to get in.

That aside, "Stagefright: Aquarius" is certainly a superior slasher. It's made with style, and even boasts a scene of actual suspense, which is more than I can say for all other slashers. It plays by the rules, as with a killer who you keep thinking might be dead but of course really isn't, but is just a lot better made than the typical US slasher movie.

The Stage Massacre

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 26 June 2020]

While rehearsing a musical play in a theater, the dancer Alicia (Barbara Cupisti) twists her ankle and the costume designer Betty (Ulrike Schwerk) drives her to a nearby hospital. However, the place is a mental institution but a doctor treats Alicia's ankle. They return to the theater but the dangerous psychopath Irving Wallace (Clain Parker) escapes hidden in Betty's car. He kills Betty outside the theater and Alicia finds her body. They summon the police and the director Peter (David Brandon) decides to promote the play using the press and supported by the producer Ferrari (Piero Vida). He rewrites the screenplay and casts six actors and actresses to immediately rehearse to the opening night, promising additional payment. He asks the actress Corinne (Lori Parrel) to lock the theater and hide the keys. But Irving Wallace has sneaked in the theater and starts a crime spree. Will anyone survive the serial-killer?

"Deliria", a.k.a. "StageFright: Aquarius", is a claustrophobic Italian giallo by Michele Soavi. The direction keeps the tension until the last moment. The screenplay is very well written without the usual flaws that we find in this genre. The performances are good and supported by great cinematography and use of lighting. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Pássaro Sangrento" ("The Bloody Bird")

Note: On 05 Jun 2022, I saw this film again.

A troupe of stage actors is rehearsing when takes place a criminal spree against cast members

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 19 February 2013]

The flick deals with a theatre of death in which a maniacal serial killer attempts to cover his trail by joining the cast (David Brandon , Barbara Cupisti , Mary Sellers , among others) of a play about mass murder . There happens several bloody murders and gruesome executions . A troupe of struggling cast members is rehearsing for a small-town production of a play. Everything seems to be as it should until one of the stage actors appears dead. In a panic, the others attempt to get out, only to find they are now locked in the theater with the murderous. As the other players soon have more to worry about than remembering their lines .

Michele Soavi's first great success is compellingly directed with startling visual content . This frightening movie is plenty of thrills, chills, high body-count and glimmer color in lurid pastel with phenomenal results . This is a classic slasher where the intrigue, tension, suspense appear threatening and lurking in every room, corridors and stage interior and exterior . Interesting screenplay was written by 'Lew Cooper', one of numerous pseudonyms that writer/actor George Eastman uses , in actuality Eastman's real name is Luigi Montefiore . The thrilling of the story is to find out which one of them committed the murder, and who will get out alive.

The movie belongs to Italian Giallo genre , Mario Bava (¨Planet of vampires¨, ¨House of exorcism¨) along with Riccardo Freda (¨Secret of Dr. Hitchcock¨ , ¨Il Vampiri¨) are the fundamental creators . These Giallo movies are characterized by usual zooms and utilization of images-shock with magenta shades of ochre and overblown use of color in shining red blood , translucently pale turquoises and deep orange-red . Later on , there appears Dario Argento (¨Deep red¨, ¨Suspiria¨,¨Inferno¨), another essential filmmaker of classic Latino terror films and finally Michele Soavi . Soavi was given a chance as an assistant director by director Aristide Massaccesi (aka: Joe D'Amato). In their first film, Soavi acted in an uncredited part, and was the assistant director. Over four more films with Massaccesi, Soavi served as a bit part actor, screenwriter and personal assistant . As Soavi, wanting to get on his own, turned to his previous mentor Aristide Massaccesi to show off his work where the filmmaker offered Soavi a chance to direct his first movie, and finally made this ¨Aquarius¨ or ¨Stagefright¨(1987) , produced by the prolific Joe D'Amato , a typical low-grade terror , even his his second big film project called La Chiesa (1988) had a budget three to four times the budget of ¨Stagefright¨ , with Argento as the producer . Although ¨Aquarius¨ was a box-office flop in Italy, it was a success abroad . Despite the low budget , equivalent to under $1 million U.S. dollars, and low-production values, the picture turns out to be a passable slasher , including some exciting surprises . This genuinely mysterious story is well photographed by Tafuri, though being necessary a right remastering . Furthermore , includes a poor editing involving the soundtrack by means of synthesizer , however resulting to be sometimes atmospheric and frightening musical score composed by Simon Boswell, among others .

The motion picture was well directed by Michael Soavi , remembered to this day as one of the many masters of Italian Horror cinema as a director, screenwriter, actor, and assistant director. Soavi first met writer/director Dario Argento in 1979 where the director took Soavi under his wing after learning of their same tastes with film making. Argento made Soavi the second assistant director for the movie Tenebre (1982) with Lamberto Bava as the first assistant director. Pleased with his work, Bava hired Soavi as his assistant director for the mystery-thriller A Blade in the Dark (1983) with Soavi in a supporting role. Afterwards, Argento brought back Soavi to work as his assistant director in Phenomena (1985) with Soavi acting in a small role. Argento rewarded Soavi by giving him his first assignment as director of a music video "The Valley" featuring music by Bill Wyman for the movie Phenomena, plus as director for a documentary on Argento's films. Soavi worked again for Lamberto Bava as assistant director in Demoni (1985) in which Soavi also appeared. Soavi began to look elsewhere for work where he was hired as an assistant director and cameraman for British actor/director Terry Gilliam with The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988). With new skills, Soavi returned to Argento as a supervisor for special effects in Ópera (1987) where Argento offered him to direct another film, a horror flick titled La Chiesa (1988) and filmed on location in Budapest . The international success of The Church inspired Soavi to direct another film, The Sect (1990). Soavi worked on a number of screenplays, and directed the horror-comedy Cemetery Man (1994) which was a huge hit in the USA. Afterwards, Soavi took a break from working to spend time with his wife and family. Recently, he returned to filmmaking with two made-for-Italian-TV dramas . Aquarius rating : Good, this is an imaginative and acceptable picture in which the camera stalks in sinister style throughout a story with magnificent visual skills.

Stylish gore

[spacemonkey_fg · 10/10 · 14 August 2006]

I recently acquired Italian horror director Michele Soavis Cemetery Man which was released recently for the first time on DVD. I had seen it before, but somehow now it became one of my favorite horror films. It has a style, beauty and grace that many horror films seem to miss nowadays. So naturally I set my eyes on seeing all of Michele Soavis horror films. I had already seen two of them The Church and Cemetery Man, and The Sect isn't out on DVD so I decided to see his only other movie on DVD which is Stagefright. This was Michele Soavis directorial debut, so I didn't really know what to expect. A flawed film made by an at the time rookie? A promising film with glimpses of greatness here and there?

The story is about this group of actors that are putting up a play. They have very little time to practice some of the dance moves and songs so they are all under a lot of pressure. A psycho killer finds his way to the theater and locks everybody inside with absolutely no way out. Then he begins to systematically kill all the actors on the play in some really gruesome ways.

Well its no secret that Soavi was Argentos pupil and I think that out of all of Soavis horror films that I have seen Stagefright is the one in which this is most evident. There's the killers point of view, some strange and interesting camera angles and even an animal themed killer. But thats not a bad thing in my book because eventually Soavi found his own voice and style as evidenced by his last horror film Cemetery Man. Still, Stagefright has a great style and look. What I love the most about Soavis films is that they deal with all these horrible killings, yet the film has a class and a finesse about it that kind of elevates the sleaziness of the slasher genre to a high that it rarely reaches.

Don't get me wrong here, this movie may be artsy and classy, but its still very very much a slasher film. There's some truly brutal deaths here! After the movie sets up its premise the ball gets rolling really fast! Thats one of the things I liked the most about this movie it had a fast pace and wasn't boring in the least! Once the killer puts on that cool as hell Owls Head mask on his noggin things get really gory and interesting. From people being cut in half with chainsaws (great scene man!) to some cool decapitations this movie had me cheering for more! So slasher fans and fiends, you wont be disappointed!

Another excellent thing about this movie was that it wasn't an incoherent mess. I've seen a lot of Lucio Fulci films, a lot of Dario Argento films and a few other Italian directors and they all suffer from the same illness. They cant seem to bring together a story and tell it in a coherent understandable fashion. Not so with Soavis Stagefright. I was surprised at how smoothly the story flowed and I was surprised that I was actually understanding it without any extreme effort. In a sense I would say that Soavi took everything that Argento and Fulci did wrong and did it right. He learned from their mistakes and therefore he is a better filmmaker for it. He is the next step in the evolutionary ladder as far as Italian Horror goes. This might also be why Soavi is heralded as the savior of Italian Horror by many a horror connoisseurs.

So in conclusion, Stagefright is a solidly well directed slasher. One that showed promise for what is one of horrordoms best directors,even though his body of work is comprised of only four movies. I hope Soavi wakes up from that dream soon and delivers us with something as good or better then what he has already done. Soavi you the man! Rating: 5 out of 5

Artistic slasher superior to most similar films from the era!

[Snake-666 · 7/10 · 18 October 2003]

A psychotic former actor named Irving Wallace (Clain Parker) escapes from a mental hospital and hides away in an actress's car. After being driven to a theatre where a group of actors are rehearsing a play he quickly dispatches the actress, and then proceeds to lock himself in the theatre for a gruesome night of blood shed.

Italian director Michele Soavi directed this artistic and gory slasher movie. Bypassing the usual clichés of 80's slashers, ‘StageFright' is a welcome change from the likes of ‘Friday the 13th'. Though the plot does on occasion stretch the lines of credibility there is a persistent feeling of realism created by the way that Soavi is able to manipulate the characters and his exceptionally intelligent use of the soundtrack. Soavi makes the soundtrack an integral part of the movie by having parts of it actually in the world in which his characters reside. This means that the killer is able to manipulate (to a point) when music is played in order to instil terror in the viewer, as well as his victims. Many movies have used a similar effect but few have been able to use it as proficiently and inventively as ‘StageFright'. The soundtrack itself is very fitting to the way the film is paced. Soavi astutely blends a fast-paced and exciting first hour with a more methodical, suspense-driven finale. The integration of the pace changes is virtually seamless and really adds to the effect Soavi attempts to create.

David Brandon and Barbara Cupisti head up the cast and portray their characters very well. Brandon's portrayal of the merciless, but soon remorseful, Peter is of a very convincing standard and certainly compliments the constant ominous atmosphere of the movie itself. Although the cast may not be the most talented of performers, none of them really failed in putting in a respectable portrayal of their different characters. One highlight was the casting of perennial victim Giovanni Lombardo Radice (credited as John Morghen) in the role of the rather camp Brett. Radice adds a small, but welcome, element of humour to the movie with his multiple quips and snide remarks towards other cast members of the play. The humour, however, rarely takes priority over the main story and once the killing begins, the humour is all but gone. The murders themselves are brutal and effective. A wide range of weapons are used to kill off the cast in extremely bloody ways, from a knife all the way to the beloved chainsaw. In my opinion it was a shame that the killer wore such a ridiculous looking costume but this did not really have any negative impact on a somewhat harrowing movie.

There were some sporadic moments of badly written dialogue and the occasional inconceivable situation but none of that really harms ‘StageFright'. The movie is a very artistic and imaginative slasher that is executed better than the majority of slashers from the same era. The death scenes are generally inventive and particularly bloody. The special effects are also, generally, of a very high quality and succeed in adding more realism to an already fairly realistic movie. Unfortunately, there are few scenes that could be deemed as scary but ‘StageFright' excels at being an atmospheric horror movie. Stylish and artistically directed, good performances and for the most part well written. I recommend this movie! My rating for ‘StageFright' – 7.5/10.

Not as good as you might expect!

[shes_dead · 3/10 · 20 March 2006]

Despite all the positive reviews here, and being a fan of SOME slasher and giallo films, I found this to be a bit boring and poorly executed.

In a particularly ridiculous scene early on in the film we are introduced to the killer when a couple of the actresses from the theatre production go to a mental institution to see a doctor as one of them has hurt their ankle (!). By pure coincidence a mental guy breaks free from his shackles, murders a warden and somehow manages to escape trouble free into the back of the car the actresses came in (!).

In this type of film it's unfortunate for the audience to know who the killer is immediately as often that is half the fun. The fact that the killer decides to don a rather spooky owl mask for the rest of the film, and with the claustrophobic setting of the theatre that the group were locked in, it would have been a lot more fun to play 'guess the killer'.

The death scenes were OK by slasher standard but not really worth noting. Apart from a struggle between one of the actors and the murderer, and the girl they are fighting over gets torn in half! Although this happens off-screen, it is amusing when the guy falls over and the top-half of the girl lands on him.

There is pretty poor acting throughout and none of the characters were worth caring for. In fact, character development is so insignificant in this film that I didn't even realise the 'main character' was the main character until the end when she survived. This was also a rather ridiculous scene as the caretaker somehow manages to shoot the killer between the eyes despite being at an angle that from which it would have been impossible to do so, then (perhaps preparing for a sequel?) the killer wakes up! After being shot through the head! Very stupid.

Two scenes stuck in my mind. One was where a girl was was acting out being murdered as part of the theatre show, then as she is repeatedly stabbed it cuts to various members of the group as they realise she Really IS being murdered. You really got the sense that they didn't know what to do next. The second was a nice shot where the killer sat exhaustedly on stage between his victims as feathers blew around the theatre and an excellent piece of music played along. Apart from that, this film can pretty much be disregarded!

Classic slasher at it finest

[UniqueParticle · 10/10 · 10 June 2019]

"Stage Fright" is an awesome grotesque frightmare filled with screaming and goretastic fun! The 80's really blossomed some excellent thrill rides. Cool how it's focused on one location about a group of theater actors practicing that gets derailed when a unknown killer starts massacring everybody. Highly recommend this disturbing horror gem!

Also cool that this is my 250th review on here!

STAGE FRIGHT (Michele Soavi, 1986) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 31 October 2011]

Director Soavi, whose debut this was, is the last of the Italian maestros of Horror to arrive upon the scene – by which time Mario Bava, the greatest among them, was dead and virtually all the rest were already past their prime! For this reason, perhaps, his work has been given slightly more than its due attention: with this I mean that, while the film under review is miles ahead of what was being churned out during the last gasp of "Euro-Cult", it does not really elicit the same level of trashy fun that the Giallo subgenre was well capable of during its heyday (despite the fact that Soavi immediately showed his clout with expert use of the Steadicam throughout, not to mention a clever opening which has a suspenseful murder being revealed as merely part of the show, the relentless and loud synthesizer-based score – which places this firmly in the bland 1980s – is positively annoying)! Still, being the third of his efforts that I have watched (with THE SECT {1991} coming up), I can say that I was only really let down by THE CHURCH (1990) – while his bizarre take on the zombie subgenre CEMETERY MAN (1994) remains, by far, his most sustained outing. Anyway, the film has a gazillion alternate titles – such as BLOODY BIRD and SOUND STAGE MASSACRE but also two in Italian, namely AQUARIUS and DELIRIA; besides, having recently mentioned the 2 differing versions of THE NIGHT CHILD (1975) in my review of that picture, this one has too – with the English-language edition (the one I acquired) being the "Director's Cut", while the Italian release print was actually overseen by Soavi's prolific and versatile mentor i.e. cult figure Joe D'Amato!

The movie is basically a retread of Pete Walker's average THE FLESH AND BLOOD SHOW (1972) – complete with a deranged actor (named Irving Wallace!) behind the killing spree; convicted, he escapes from the asylum where he was incarcerated – the far-fetched premise being that the leading lady of a theatrical troupe went to a mental hospital to treat a sprained ankle, and the maniac chose just that moment to bolt (hiding in her car throughout the journey back to the venue where rehearsals are under way)! The first (and most outrageously disposed-of) victim, in fact, is the girl's companion who was somehow delayed in joining the others and summarily receives a pick-axe blow to the mouth! Typically, the atmosphere behind-the-scenes was already tense but, with the murder, things naturally escalate to fever-pitch: besides, the ruthless director (David Brandon) even takes advantage of the morbid situation by deciding to open earlier than expected since the public would flock to see a show from which a principal participant (even if the girl was nothing more than a wardrobe assistant!) had been offed! Soon, strange happenings inside the theater make it blatantly clear that someone else is in there with the troupe: by the way, another manipulative touch by the director of the musical being staged is to have the monster (a man in an owl suit seemingly derived from the incredible opening sequence of Georges Franju's JUDEX {1963}) in the show no longer be anonymous but is christened by the name of the real serial-killer…so that the director of the movie obviously has him actually assume that role by abducting – he turns up behind the victim mimicking a celebrated scene from Dario Argento's TENEBRE (1982) – and hiding the body of the actor (Giovanni Lombardo Radice, from PHANTOM OF DEATH {1988}) playing him!

The stage is thus set for a bloodbath, with the troupe at the mercy of a maniac who, even if clearly outnumbered, always has the upper hand until the extended climax: one man is found tied upside down from the ceiling; another is perforated via a door and right though his chest with a driller (surely among the Horror genre's most popular killing tools!); about four different people are chopped-up with a chainsaw (ditto) – with Brandon having one arm torn off with it and then beheaded with an axe!; Radice is copped by the members of the troupe itself when, attired just like the killer, they mistake him for their pursuer! It is left to the very same girl (she had been left for dead by an envious colleague, whose own demise the heroine later witnesses) that 'liberated' him to eventually supply the murderer's come-uppance: while he is placing all the victims on the proscenium, with himself presiding over them, she is underneath them all trying to retrieve the all-important key to the main door (a Police car stationed outside, then, is completely oblivious to the massacre, thanks also to the pouring rain!). Anyway, he goes after her, she escapes atop a scaffolding and, when he tries to climb himself, she cuts the thick wire with an axe, dropping him to the ground. However, he rises again (incidentally, the killer remains very much a cipher throughout, in the mould of Michael Myers from the "Halloween" franchise) and is engulfed in flames…but he is still not through as, when the heroine returns to the scene of the carnage, he attacks her one more time (why his body should have been left there, when all the others had been removed, is anybody's guess), only now she is saved by the timely intervention of the theatre's gun-toting black caretaker.

Tired, very tired

[DrSatan · 1/10 · 20 October 2001]

I'm not sure if I missed something, or if the lousy condition of the video I rented or the fact that it was not widescreen is to blame, but, in my opinion, this film was very tired. The plot, which revolves around a ridiculous "murderer musical"'s cast being stalked by a mad killer is almost non-existant. Basically-madman escapes, madman stalks isolated group of people, madman kills them (with various handy household items), actors try to escape/fight back, "final girl" finds the bodies of everyone, manages to survive, and comes face to face with a shocking "twist" ending. Sound familiar? Maybe because that's the same formula most slashers have followed since "Halloween". The film does keep one of the things I like about "Halloween"-that the killer does not have a reason, and you know who he is the whole time. But the "shock ending" really doesn't measure up.

Now, I know what you're saying-"Doc, we don't watch *slasher* films for the plot". Well, if you in it just for the gore, this movie is for you. If you're in it for the familiarity, this will do, mostly. In my opinion, and remember, we're talking junky old pan and scan video tape here, this movie lacks style, a semblance of acting, decent sets, decent props, likeable/semi-realistic (i.e. way to much "who the hell would do that?") characters and the ending is just ludicrous. So, next you tell me, "The director's *playing* with the genre's conventions", "The movie is deliberately surreal, blending fantasy and reality" or "It's a spoof". Well, I didn't find it amusing as a spoof, the new "spins" on the formula didn't work, and the "blending" was just lame.

A very satisfying thriller, visually and aurally, worth multiple viewings!

[simonize-1 · 26 October 2003]

STAGEFRIGHT aka AQUARIUS is a very stylish chiller from Michele Soavi, whose critical reputation rests on this film and the later CEMETERY MAN.

Certainly the film is derivative, and fans of this subgenre will surely comment that they have seen it all before; however, Soavi, like his mentor Dario Argento, is astute when he chooses the likes of ENNIO MORRICONE; GOBLIN, and now SIMON BOSWELL to score his films.

Boswell's compositions together with the opening and end titles written by Stefano Mainetti propel the film along, and provide an aural edge to the onscreen visuals. And if their contributions were not enough, the inspired, and uncredited use of Dmitri Shostakovich's 8th symphony, 3rd movement ("allegro non troppo"), reflects the imaginative touches that distinguish this film from many others.

The play/film within a film works quite well, especially as the cinema is acknowledged to be the art of illusion; indeed this conceit looks ahead to the two DEMONS films, set in a cinema, where the audience are overwhelmed with illusion become reality.

The acting is more than sufficient as the characters are written as types, and set up as victims, just as the heroine has a personality that sets her apart. Her final scenes with the killer are very effective indeed; her fearfulness make her vulnerable, her vulnerability draws us to her, and in drawing us to her, we submit to the relentless onslaught the killer pursues.

This is a film where the viewer/audience surely knows the outcome, but the satisfaction comes from the execution - literally - of the route that the filmmaker takes.

I now have this film on a budget UK DVD which reveals little - I am playing it back on a 16:9 TV, and am very pleased with the quality of the sound (mono) and the visuals, plus some of the unusual, though rare basic extras.

"Lock the door, and hide the key"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 7/10 · 26 May 2017]

It may be an orthodox slasher film by a first time director and influenced obviously by Dario Argento but it is a gripping film from beginning to end. A psychopathic killer escapes a mental hospital and ends up in a theatre where a dance troupe are rehearsing their upcoming production. What follows is a heady brew of suspense and gore. It is very well shot and the music, which mainly is the strange music used in the production, adds immeasurably to the atmosphere. The killer wears a creepy owl mask and doesn't utter a word which makes him even more disturbing. It is a simple story but there are some tense scenes and the late scene with the finding of the key is immaculately staged, mixing terror with visual beauty to great effectiveness.

It's difficult to assess the acting in a dubbed version but the cast were scared and hysterical and brave in the right proportion. Michele Soavi directs with an assured hand and Renato Tafuri provides splendid cinematography. One used to have great affection for owls but after watching this film I've begun to have doubts....

Stage Fright: a good, stylish Italian slasher movie

[Stevieboy666 · 7/10 · 20 December 2021]

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.

Argento's protege does a very good job in his debut.

[Captain_Couth · 7/10 · 25 November 2003]

Stagefright (1987) is a crazy film about a psychotic running amok inside a dance hall/theater. Michael Soavi takes a turn in directing a giallo style thriller. Unlike his teacher (Dario Argento) this film in really gruesome in some parts. Bloody, creepy and very edgy in some scenes. I highly recommend this picture. I was surprised by the sheer graphic nature of some of the set pieces. Unlike most films of this ilk, a couple of nice set pieces does make a movie. The student has definetly learned a lot from the teacher. Stagefright has some nice photography and very good directing from a first time film-maker.

Highly recommended.

A.

An impressive debut from Michele Soavi

[lonchaney20 · 7/10 · 6 August 2015]

I last saw this film several years ago on YouTube, and in less than stellar quality. At that time I was not a great admirer of Soavi, perhaps because I was hoping for Dario Argento Jr. and got something different. Since becoming a huge fan of Dellamorte Dellamore (1994), however, I've been planning to re-watch his other films, and now I'm finally getting around to it. This is Soavi's feature debut - before this he cut his teeth as assistant director to Argento, Lamberto Bava, and Joe D'Amato - and here we can see the influence of these various mentors. The flamboyant camera-work and imagery certainly bring Argento to mind, while the premise (an acting troupe gets locked inside a theater with a serial killer) is reminiscent of Bava's Demons (1985). The material isn't so similar to D'Amato's work, but we have him to thank for the film's existence (and for Soavi's directorial career, since he was perfectly content to remain an assistant director), since he produced it and hired Soavi.

As a director Soavi hadn't quite found his own voice yet - he's very imitative of Argento here - but to his credit he conjures imagery worthy of the master. No one who has seen this film will forget the bizarre owl mask donned by the killer (an image that would not be out of place in Franju's Judex), and the scene of him sitting on stage with the posed bodies of his victims, tranquilly stroking a cat as feathers descend on them like snowflakes, is one of the most indelible in the whole of Italian horror. What already sets Soavi apart from Argento is his cheeky humor. The comic relief scenes in Argento's films generally come across as rather clumsy and awkward (e.g. the befuddled mailman from Four Flies on Grey Velvet), but Soavi is consistently clever. The opening scene, for instance, thwarts our expectations to great comic effect. Still Soavi knows how to stage an effective death scene, and he doesn't hold back on the red stuff, but even the most horrible scenes tend to have a touch of black humor. One bit I particularly liked involved one of the characters spilling stage-blood all over the dressing room; as their friend is drilled to death, his blood starts to drip onto the fake stuff. I can't help but wonder if this is a tongue-in-cheek criticism of the phony-looking blood in most Italian horror films.

The cast is quite strong: Barbara Cupisti is a sympathetic heroine, David Brandon is brilliant as the temperamental director (perhaps Soavi was drawing on his experiences with Argento here), and Giovanni Lombardo Radice is pretty amusing as a flamboyantly gay actor. Special praise must be singled out to the actor playing the silent masked killer (IMDb claims that it's exploitation legend George Eastman), who projects great presence simply through the use of his body language - I'd favorably compare him to Lon Chaney.

The experience between my first and second viewings of this little gem is truly night and day. This is not just an astoundingly good film for a first time director, but a minor masterpiece of the genre. Dario Argento must have thought so as well; Opera bears some striking similarities to it, and Argento would subsequently enlist Soavi to direct The Church (1989) and The Sect (1991).

Great Italian slasher by Michele Soavi

[Bogey Man · 9/10 · 20 July 2002]

Michele Soavi's feature film debut as a director was this film, Stage Fright (aka Aquarius and Deliria) from 1987. The film was produced by veteran producer, cinematographer and director Aristide Massaccessi aka Joe D'Amato, who is responsible for many hard core porn films, action adventures and horror exploitationers from Anthropophagous the Beast to Buio Omega. Stage Fright is written by Luigi Montefiori aka George Eastman, the man who played the cannibalistic monster in D'Amato's Anthopophagous and Anthropophagous 2: Absurd, so Soavi's debut has many great names in its credits. The actors are also great and include Barbara Cupisti in lead role as Alicia, John Morghen (Giovanni Lombardo Radice) and the director himself in little role as a police officer. D'Amato gave Soavi pretty much freedom to do this film and he did the right thing by trusting this young talent: the result is fantastic piece of slasher cinema.

A group of stage play actors and crew members are practicing their newest number, a horror musical which seems and sounds by the way pretty interesting. It rains hard and one of the actresses hurts her leg, so she and her friend have to visit the hospital nearby. Everything goes fine, despite the fact that in the same hospital, there is a dangerous psychopath killer in mental health therapy and the same guy committed horrible murder some years ago. When he hears some young females are in the hospital, old memories start come his mind and willing to kill seems to be born again. When the girls return to the set, they soon find themselves trapped inside the huge building and someone killing them one by one. This is the structure of this film, and even though it sounds very usual, the film is very noteworthy and made by talented people.

There are great visuals in this film, and it is easy to see Soavi had been working with Argento before his own directorial career. There are twisted camera drives and angles and many little, but more than effective details, which are also among the elements that make Argento's masterpieces so great. There are many worth mentioning scenes and details in Soavi's film, and one is definitely the use of dummies especially at the very end of the film. They are so incredibly ominous at the end scene that it seems like which of the dummies is just dummy and which the killer! Totally stunning imagery and Soavi reminds me of another great horror director, Scott Spiegel, whose films are also full of little but effective details and crazy camera angles/drives. Spiegel is perhaps more positively crazy director than Soavi, who is pretty calm director, but they definitely share this unique style and innovation in their film making.

There are many scenes that will scare the viewer especially if the film is viewed in peace and alone in the dark, as recommended. The mask the killer wears is very scary and also many memorable scenes include that mask. The tension lasts throughout the film and Soavi really does great job by using visuals and also music in creating atmosphere and tension so rarely found in nowaday horror efforts. The murders themselves are very gruesome, but also very stylish and not too gratuitous, and that is another thing Soavi has learned without a doubt from Argento. The murders in Stage Fright are gory at times, and they may offend some viewers, but still I think they only serve the film as a whole, since the scenes are horrific without showing too much. I had seen the film previously on murky and bad quality VHS which didn't reveal as near as many little details than the version I saw now. Soavi shows very little at times, but it is much more than if he had shown "more"!

The only negative thing in this extraordinary film I found is the ending, since I don't know what it's all about. I mean the character who stays repeating line "Right between the eyes.." What is the point in this since it is so stupid and gratuitous, especially when the characters are mostly pretty believable and personal in this film. I would like to ask Montefiori, why he included such stupid ending in his screenplay, since it tones a little bit down the whole film and I really was left wondering what's the point in this repeating.

The stupid end is easy to forgive since there are so many positive things about this film. I really appreciate Soavi's work on this film, and also on his other films, like La Setta (Sect), La Chiesa (The Church) which are his films I've also seen. Hopefully this talent manages to continue his personal line and do more films, despite the fact that as a horror/fantasy director, Italy is not as great place to live and work as possible. Stage Fright deserves 9/10 from me.

Soavi's Delirious And Creepy Feature Length Debut

[Witchfinder-General-666 · 7/10 · 20 May 2008]

There is no doubt that Michele Soavi's "Deliria" aka. "Stage Fright" of 1987 is a suspenseful and stylish slasher. As an avid fan of Italian Horror cinema, however, I have to say that the film is, in my opinion, slightly overrated by most of my fellow Italian Horror buffs. The film does very effectively build up tension, however, and while the story is simple it also fast-paced and intense and does not get boring for a second. A group of stage actors, entirely at odds with each other as well as with their arrogant director, are doing rehearsals for a play in a remote theater. They soon have other things to worry about than their little disputes, when the entire theater is suddenly stalked by a murderous madman... I can see why many of my fellow Italian Horror fans love this film. It is a very effective and immensely creepy film, no doubt, but I couldn't say it is an outstanding or brilliant film. Yet it does have many ingenious elements. The killer, who is referred to as the night-owl wears an over-sized owl-mask which looks extremely creepy. Also, the film is often quite artistically done, and the murder sequences are superb. The acting performances are quite good too, Italian Horror buffs will especially appreciate the casting of cult-actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice, who has an atypical role as a very gay dancer. The script was written by another cult-actor, George Eastman ("Cani Arrabiati", "Antropophagus", "Absurd"). All things considered, "Stage Fright" is a creepy and more than worthwhile Horror film, even if it is not the masterpiece some claim it is, in my opinion. Michele Soavi sure is a great director (his Zombie-extravaganza "Dellamorte Dellamore" of 1994 is without doubt one of the greatest Horror films of the 90s), and this is his creepy feature film debut. Enjoy!

When will I learn not to watch these stupid films????

[owlman-1 · 1/10 · 10 July 2004]

**spoilers**

Normally it's my intent to only submit reviews of zombie films to IMDb, but given my user ID, when a friend suggested watching this film I couldn't refuse.

My goodness I wish I had.

Stagefright is an 80s slasher film (an ITALIAN 80s slasher film). And contains all the elements you would expect.

Unlikeable characters? check! Terrible synth/rock music? check! Killer who comes back to be disposed of one last time? check!

And don't forget that low, low budget...

However, Stagefright also adds into the mix a rare dose of arty pretentiousness, and even seems to be a movie with a message...

The story concerns an "intellectual musical" about a killer in an owlmask. When one of the stars seeks medical help for a hurt ankle at a local psychiactric hospital (good call!) she returns to the theatre with a psycho killer hiding in the back of the car. The rest pretty much writes itself.

After one crew member winds up on the wrong end of a nifty pickaxe to the face gag, the director decides to change the theme of the show to be about the escaped killer. The press he reasons, love a bit of death, and that should be good publicity for the show. He doesn't stop to think that perhaps punters may be PUT OFF going to see it as there's an escaped loony hanging around outside the theatre indulging his bloodlust on anyone who happens by.

Except of course, opening night will never come as the killer's still in the building, and after donning the owlmask (WHY????) sets about despatching everyone in the building.

During all this, 2 policemen wait outside, unaware of the carnage taking place inside. Savour their scenes, as the banter with the cops is pretty much the only entertainment you're going to get.

OK, maybe that's unfair. Some of the deaths are pleasingly gory, and the musical numbers are hilarious, but really this film is awful.

The dialogue is terrible enough to have you banging your head against the wall in frustration, the characters are all annoying, and their reactions to the deaths happening RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM are not only completely illogical, but also bafflingly slow..... v e r y s l o w...

By the time the show's obnoxious director drops to his knees screaming "NOOOOOOOOO!!!" at the site of another victim, you'll know exactly how he feels. (Mind you any film that actually has a character do this is worth seeing at least once)

At the end, when only one of the cast is alive (more by luck than heroism, as she happens to be unconscious while everyone else is getting chopped up), the killer - who despite being a mentally damaged murderer has an immediate knowledge of how to use all the theaters lighting and sound equipment - takes time to deck the stage out with a grim tableaux of body parts and mannequins, then sits among it to admire his handiwork (whilst stroking a cat and wearing the owlmask!).

Could the film be intended as a searing indictment of the media's exploitation of violence for profit?

Who cares! What's more important is that the ending of Stagefright is one of the most cack-handed and inept pieces of film-making I've ever seen.

In fact, this whole film is rubbish from beginning to end, not without it's amusement, but as a whole, it's incoherent, pretentious, pompous, stupid and doesn't even have a decent pay-off.

So bad in fact, that I may have to change my user name...

Highly stylish Italian slasher is one of the best!

[Nightman85 · 10/10 · 10 January 2008]

Michele Soavi's debute film was this wonderful Italian horror film that's simply one of the best slasher films ever made!

Cast and crew of a stage production find themselves locked inside their theater with an escaped homicidal maniac!

Stylish and colorful direction highlight this excellent giallo film. Soavi makes the most of his clever cinematic techniques with inventive camera work and nice set pieces. Soavi has obviously taken a page from director Dario Argento in his artsy directorial style. He turns the dank catacombs of the theater into a dark, shadowy playground for our killer, who wears a truly spooky owl's head. Soavi sets up an atmosphere of great tension, setting the occurrences during a thunderstorm, using great re-occurring imagery and making even the huge theater a claustrophobic trap for our cast. There's some great moments of smart suspense as well, like the sequence with Alicia under the stage.

Being a giallo film, there's a lot of bloody scenery to be had. There's plenty of vicious, memorable murder sequences that will please any gore-hound to no end!

The cast is pretty good, even if they are dubbed something fierce. Barbara Cupisti is fetching as the films leading lady. The film boasts a weird and beautiful rock score that has a awesome contrast with the films visuals.

All in all, Stage Fright aka Deliria is a top-notch film that's a true must-see for horror fans everywhere!

*** 1/2 out of ****

An Avant-Garde Slasher Movie

[Eumenides_0 · 7/10 · 14 December 2010]

I don't like slasher movies. I don't see any appeal in the formula. A psychopath goes around killing teenagers, sometimes for several days, before someone puts two and two together and realises that the murders are committed by the same killer. And they usually happen in public places like colleges, which only demonstrates the police's worthlessness. And once enough people have died to fill a feature-length movie, a sole survivor, usually a young woman, defeats the killer. And then he comes back in the sequel.

I don't like slasher movies, but as a film viewer I try not to go out of my way to watch movies I'll hate. Life is too short, the movies are too many, so I only watch movies I think (hope) I'll enjoy. Stage Fright had been on my radar for a while as a rare exception that I'd probably enjoy watching, and indeed I did. In fact it's a pretty awesome horror movie, a pure cinematic experience. But before I extol its virtues, a few words about the director, Michele Soavi.

Michele Soavi, Italian filmmaker, got involved in horror early in his career; before becoming a director, he worked as an assistant for several famous horror directors: Lamberto Bava, Joe D'Amato and the great Dario Argento, who made Soavi his protégé. He hasn't had a prolific career and his fame rests largely on the 1994 cult movie Cemetery Man. Stage Fright was his directorial debut and it was a pretty good start.

On a stormy night, a group of awful thespians, badly in need of money, rehearse a play called The Nite Owl inside a creepy theatre. Alicia, the main actress (Barbara Cupisti), hurting from a sprained ankle, sneaks out against the orders of the dictatorial Peter, the stage director (David Brandon), and goes to a mental clinic to see if they can give her something to ease the pain. There a lunatic escapes, hides in her car and follows her into the theatre. In a situation worthy of classic suspense movies, the actors unknowingly lock themselves in with the killer and then lose the key. From here on the movie follows the formula to its predictable conclusion. But Soavi, with ingenuity and unusual camera angles, turns it into a unique experience.

Where to start with my love for this movie? Let's start with the play within the movie. It's about a killer in an owlhead mask killing women. It's sensationalist (victims seducing their own killer), gory and sexy, like slasher movies. But the actual movie isn't. Soavi surprisingly keeps the nudity to a minimum, moving the characters away from irresponsible horny teenagers who are punished for being teenagers to working-class people with bills to pay. By making an artistic setting integral to the plot also seems like Soavi is saying that the genre can be more ambitious without losing its identity. His mentor, Argento, had already shown a propensity for protagonists involved with the arts – musicians, novelists, etc.

Next the killer is memorable. He has zero personality, he's not charismatic, he doesn't talk. But once you see him you won't forget him. He's a mixture of the creatures we see in our bizarre nightmares and mythology; dressed in an owlhead mask, we quickly forget we're watching a man and not some evil spirit beyond human reason.

Although the dialogue is poor, the movie has its share of twisted, original scenes. In one of my favourites, the actors are rehearsing a scene where the owlhead killer murders one of his victims. The runaway lunatic enters the stage, dressed in the mask. Peter, thinking he's the actor, urges him to kill the victim, which he easily does, and no one realises what has just happened until a few moments later. Here the movie pokes some fun at horror fans' morbidity. I forgot to say gallows humor is part of the movie's charm too.

The camera work and sound take this movie up another notch. Soavi is no Argento, but you can clearly see the latter's influence in his use of colors and the attention given to the sets and lighting (perhaps at the expanse of the actors) The movie takes most of its place inside a theatre and Soavi fills it with strange objects and films it from several angles to accentuate its strangeness. The music, mostly diegetic, is cleverly used here, sometimes by the killer to taunt his victims, and in one of the tensest scenes noise to distract him while Alicia tries to get the theatre door's key.

Although it's pretty low-key, I'm prepared to say that Stage Fright uses the art of cinema better than many so-called serious movies. It may not have complex characters, emotionally-engaging stories or powerful messages, but there are many movies out there that are little more than animated novels, that prefer to do things that novels and plays can do too instead of using the uniqueness of cinema to their advantage. Stage Fright may not have a lot of food for thought but it's unmistakably a movie in love with its medium; the effect it has on the viewer comes from a clever manipulation and mixture of sound, image and movement. Many moments of awe and terror exist in this movie that couldn't be reproduced by any other medium. I can't pay a movie a finer compliment.

Mediocre, but not a complete waste

[[e-mail] · 5/10 · 20 February 2006]

This film is one of Michael Souvi's first ventures in being the director. To say the least, Souvi has had some high points in his film making career. He's worked with Italian horror Maestro Dario Argento and American director Terry Gilliam (both of whom I have high respect for) as a second unit director and directed the morbidly funny "Cemetary Man." Having seen some of Souvi's work, I had some higher expectations for this film. I was disappointed with this film. A brief synopsis of the plot should clarify some of why I was disappointed.

It starts with a theater company preparing for a slasher/musical. The cast has most of your stereotypical theater types; the bad actress trying to steal her way into a better role however she can, the slime-ball director who would sell his mother to make money, the horny producer, the homosexual leading man, etc. Alicia (the nice girl, down on her luck) has the wardrobe girl take her to a mental hospital (it's the closest hospital) to get her ankle fixed. They inadvertently bring a psychotic killer back to the theater. As expected, the killer starts hacking his way through the cast while wearing an owl mask.

The plot is pretty simple, and it's not too hard to determine who will get the chop next. The acting was moderate (some were better than others) and the music stank (then again, it was the 1980s). Some of the camera work was pretty well done. The finished product definitely was of professional grade, but the movie still seemed to lack something. I didn't really dislike it, but was not overly impressed either. From what I understand, director Michael Souvi didn't like the Italian version of this film. If it had the problems that I saw in the American version, I can see why.

For people who enjoy slasher movies, but don't want any extreme suspense.