Movie review of Stagefright

Horrorphile

follow this blog

1043 followers

3405 daily readers

rank of 1

E-mail Subscription

Receive an e-mail notification of new posts on this site:

Stagefright

March 1st 2007 05:43

This is the second review in my theatre of blood quartet, the first being Curtains (1983). Stagefright (1987, original title Deliria, aka Aquarius and Bloody Bird) was Dario Argento protégé Michele Soavi’s directorial debut. And an accomplished first feature it is. Produced by legendary exploitation filmmaker Aristide Massaccesi (aka Joe D’Amato) it’s a full-blown slasher flick with all the excesses and trappings.

A group of twentysomething actors are rehearsing an “avant garde” musical, The Night Owl, about a masked killer on the streets of New York (or some city like it). There’s a pretty hooker, an ingénue, Marilyn Monroe on sax, several dancers who seem to have been plucked from an early Madonna video, and the killer in black with an enormous owl head mask. Yup, this is pure Italian horror nonsense delivered in spades.

After being introduced to the tempestuous actors and the petulant director (David Brandon), two of the actors slip away to a nearby hospital to treat a sprained ankle and where a crazed serial killer is being held. The psychopath escapes and very conveniently ends up at the huge sound stage theatre studio where the actors have returned. After a spot of ultra-violence the killer infiltrates the theatre and steals the huge owl mask … wahey! cue much chaos and carnage!

Short on logic and long on stylistics director Soavi has obviously learnt a few tricks from his mentor. There are numerous split focus shots, a few tricky camera movements, and lots of lingering shots on hysterical or petrified faces, which is fine as the two lead female actors (Barbara Cupisti and Mary Sellers) are very easy on the eye.

With the madman on the loose Soavi keeps the pace a-cracking, picking off the actors one by one in gruesome fashion: pickaxe through the mouth, power drill through the chest, chainsaw through the abdomen, a body torn in half, an arm and head lopped off with an axe, stabbings and stranglings, and a burning too, for good measure!

Despite the high level of gore, the effects work is only average, but the sequences are well executed. If only the performances could match the directorial gusto. Across the board they are pretty dreadful. And to add insult to injury, the dubbing is typically awful. But as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, you take that with a grain of salt as most of these Euro features have been filmed that way (using native actors who don’t speak very good English and dubbing other voices in later).

theatrical tableau #1 with Cupisti front left

The viewer holds suspension of anything remotely logical happening, while director and screenwriter ties in a perverse sense of “suspense logic” which keeps Stagefright from falling from the lighting rafters, where much of the pursuit takes place.

theatrical tableau #2 with Cupisti, Sellers and Brandon, far right

Once you’ve laughed enough over how silly the killer looks with this over-sized owl mask you’ll appreciate just how unnerving the visage actually is. Only the glassy owl eyes glint under the theatre lights, the killer’s real eyes hidden between the feathers, which gives the menacing figure a nightmarish veneer.

So why does this entire lunacy stay bound to the interiors of the theatre? Because everyone, including the killer, has been inadvertently locked in, and the key to freedom has been misplaced, originally being held by the now dead ingénue. It’s up to wide-eyed Alicia (Barbara Cupisti) to locate the key. Will she be able to do it before the psychotic predator spies her with its diabolical owl eyes?

Stagefright is not the most sophisticated of productions, yet Soavi manages to illicit fine work from his crew, and he stages the action well within the labyrinthine confines of the sound stage and its back stage corridors, dressing and storage rooms. There are some genuinely tense scenes, especially those involving Alicia and/or Laurel (Mary Sellers) - the extended clip below (spoiler alert!) is not one for the squeamish:

Hysterical screams, risible dialogue, cheesy effects, loud music, and a ludicrous in-joke ending aside, Stagefright commands that mysterious Euro-cine-trance which American movies very rarely capture. And for that alone the film works a treat. Late night cuckoo fare for the thespian slasherheads.

* images courtesy of www.horror-dvds.com

Vote

subscribe to this blog

follow this blog on Orble

start your own blog

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: No Category

Related Posts:

Relate This Post

[ Previous - Opera ]

[ Next - Curtains ]

Comments

7 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Damo

March 1st 2007 06:13

An owl with a chainsaw?
Reminds me of my first boss.

Comment by Bryn

March 1st 2007 06:18

Horrorphile

You never know ... that could be him under all those feathers!

Comment by JohnDoe

March 1st 2007 23:15

Film & TV on DVD

I vaguely recall seeing this back when I first got into Argento style horror on VHS....another fine title to put back into memory,. will definetly revisit a a DVD version.

Keep up the good work man, love these titles that
slipped through the cracks of my memory.