StageFright

source: StageFright

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.

STAGE FRIGHT is another original take on a common theme by Italian director, Michel Soavi. Typically working with common genres, Soavi infuses his own stylish take on horror films which is a welcome change over many of the dull, derivative "knock-offs" that are usually done. Soavi did the same thing with DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE (another great film...) where he took the zombie genre and stood it on it's head, taking common themes and elements and transforming them into something new and refreshing. Although STAGE FRIGHT isn't a "unique" film in terms of the slasher genre, Soavi makes it more fun and interesting with his own unique twists... The story is about an escaped mental patient who terrorizes a dance troupe who are locked in their rehearsal studio. Being that this is a slasher film at least partly in the "classical" sense, the members of the troupe are knocked off one-by-one in pretty original fashion. One of the main strengths in STAGE FRIGHT are Soavi's obviously intelligent and competent direction. The film has pretty high production value, and the uncut DVD is transferred beautifully. My main gripe is in the sound level settings, where a good bit of the dialog is very quiet, and then when music plays it's exponentially louder than the dialog tracks. Not a big deal, but I had to constantly adjust the volume to hear the dialog during the dialog scenes, and then turn it down so that I didn't blow my ears out during scenes that had music. Speaking of the music, the score is typical early 80's Italian, with weird rock/synth instrumentals that sound like a weird, watered-down Billy Idol song. Not my favorite choice as far as scores go, but not a big deal either, and pretty typical of Italian horror films of that era. The plot in STAGE FRIGHT also had some decent twists, and the gore, although not extremely heavy, is far better than your average U.S.theatrical release. Overall, one of the better of the slasher films, highly recommended for fans of the genre - 8.5/10

Wow. I am not sure what I missed, but it must have been a whole movie, because the pile of trash I just sat through is far from "The 80's best slasher." In fact, I would rate it among the very worst, which is saying a lot. It seems to me that a whole lot of Soavi fans have grouped up here to give this piece of junk great reviews because they like the director. Well, no matter how good Dellamorte Dellamore was later in his career, it doesn't change the fact that Stagefright (or whichever of its million titles you may have seen it under) just plain stinks. Well, thank you very much, Soavi fans, for wasting an hour and a half of my life. Honestly, there is not one single element of this movie that is even tolerable, let alone "good" or "great." The acting is unbearably bad, even for an Italian slasher. The intro was about the slowest, cheesiest and out-of-place thing I have ever seen. I sat down to watch a horror movie, not a pathetic play rehearsal. The much-hyped gore in this movie was there, I guess, but so poorly done that it was laughable. Not to mention that the atmosphere surrounding the deaths was so bland and the characters so unresponsive that no sense of tension was present at all. The "ingenious" killer was pathetic. NO, the owl mask was NOT a good idea. And the soundtrack. I honestly don't know how it could have been worse. It was SO overdone that I actually muted the movie whenever the "scary music" came on, because I was so embarrassed for the filmmakers. I am tired, and really don't know what to say except to avoid this garbage, despite what many of the reviewers here might say. And a note to those reviewers: a movie is not "atmospheric" just because it's Italian; a movie is not great just because the director had some other decent projects; and a mask is not "ingenious and original" just because no one else thought to stick a featureless pile of feathers on their killer's head. In short, an utter waste of time. 2/10.

I really wonder why so many users get so much excited by this mediocre horror movie.Even if we did not know Soavi was a Argento's protégé,how could we doubt when we see "deliria " aka "stage fright" (not to be mistaken with Hitchcock's work)?This is the same show off,the same gory scenes but there is a very strong difference:Argento's best works did have A SCREENPLAY.His peak "the bird with the crystal plumage" had a labyrinthine story,which encompassed Hitchcock's influence ("rear window" "psycho") but featured a very personal approach. In "deliria" -a tribute to "suspiria",with the actors replacing the ballerinas?-,there's not even the ghost of a tale.It's the umpteenth version of the Jason style killer,a "chamber" "Friday the 13th"(Well ... look...who's going to die know?and who'll die the worst death of them all?)The killer dressed as a giant bird might be the only touch originality although it owns a great deal to Argento.The scene with the killer on stage surrounded by his victims as feathers are falling down all over the place could fill us with enthusiasm,but it's really purely formal and displays no necessity other than gratuitous estheticism.Besides,Mario Bava had already done a similar scene in "la casa dell esorcismo" (1975)but this director was eventually betrayed by his producers and hios movie died commercial and artistical death. Even the ending apes "Friday the thirteen" and all its offsprings that throve in the wake of Jason in the eighties :of course it's not over when you think it is.And even when it's over,it might not be over,well you get the picture . The performances consist of screaming (for the girls) and swearing (for the boys).The "suspense" scenes have been seen at least one hundred times or more by the average viewer.Stick with Argento.

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.

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".

'Stage Fright' is an impressive directorial debut from Dario Argento collaborator Michele Soavi. Like most Italian horror the plot, characters and dialogue are nothing to write home about, the movie is really an excuse for some inventive and visually striking murders. Soavi shows he has learnt a lot stylistically from Argento, and I actually enjoyed this more than many of the latters post 'Tenebre' efforts. Soavi manages to give a refreshing twist on the often tired slasher genre, which is no mean feat, and something that hasn't been able to be achieved in the post-'Scream' slasher revival. While I liked 'Stage Fright', and recommend it, Soavi found his true voice later on with the superb zombie movie 'Dellamorte Dellamore', and the profoundly weird Satanic thriller 'The Sect' (co-written with his mentor Argento). 'Stage Fright' is above average but doesn't compare to the originality of those two.

As an horror fan knows, movies that truly creep you out and make you tense are far too few in existence. This film stands as one of the greatest slasher films made. Soavi doesn't use the cheap tricks(except the black cat jump out in the beginning, but I swear that was put in as a joke) to gain scares, he uses atmosphere and a more human killer. The sets used in this film made me giddy when scenes would start. When our heroine awakens at the end and walks out to look upon an entirely black and blue set, knowing the killer is hidden somewhere in the theatre, I just cringed with happiness and fear. Soavi doesn't waste our time in this one either, he doesn't worry about creating a mystery of the killers identity, we learn very early on much like we did in "Halloween" and then we start the killings. What I find so great about the film, is that he doesn't try the fear involving jump outs, he creates tension. That is the reason I love this film so much, and why "Halloween" also stands as one of my top slasher flicks. He creates situations that you can imagine yourself being in, and that is where the constant fear comes from. Things like the guy left behind in the freshly pitch black theatre collecting his money as the rest of the group runs off without him. Along with that we have the girl who locks herself in a dressing closet to avoid the killer in the costume room. My favorite scene though would have to be after the heroine wakes up, she finds her way to the back and walks down a black and dimly lit very LONG hallway with doors on either side and the camera pans with her, following each step, this entire scene had my stomach jumping with delight. The killer is also human in this which is a relief. He is not all knowing, with each person he kills it is entirely believable that anyone could have found them there. Whether it be from the noise they made, or the fact that he was watching them all along, you won't see anyone disappear and hide only to have the killer somehow be directly behind them. I am a sucker for atmosphere movies and more realistic situations, if you like either, check this out :) But you must give negative credit where it is due also, so here is some of that. It seems as if with each point we reached that needed to tell a plot point in order to advance the story, the plot points just don't make sense. In the beginning when the two girls decide that a minor sprained ankle is worth sneaking out to a mental institute to get it looked at just seemed like a very rushed and a kind of "who cares, it works" idea. The director telling the girl to hide the keys was also very stupid to me, why didn't he just hide them himself? Is not like he would have been tempted to leave. And the last I can think of right now, when our heroine is knocked out(an important point) it is done so in an exceptionally lame, and in a manner that makes no sense at all. There are a few more scenes that just make you say "What? why??", but I guess it does work, because it is minor in comparison to the rest of the film.

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