Ancient Cult Files #8 -- Dario Argento's Phenomena

   Dario Argento is one of horror's finest and most inventive directors from the latter twentieth century, specializing in the film subgenre of giallo (thriller murder-mysteries) as well as dabbling in the supernatural world with his The Three Mothers trilogy, among them the surrealist masterpiece Suspiria. During the seventies, eighties, and first half of the nineties, he was hailed as a modern Alfred Hitchcock for his unique visuals and story-telling techniques. It was hard to choose just one of his films to first share here, given that each one carries its own style and unforgettable moments. After much consideration, I have decided to start with the film that has stuck out to me the most out of Argento's work, and has since become one of my favorite films period.
   Phenomena (Creepers in the United States) was released in 1985, and was the first leading role of cult darling and mainstream beauty Jennifer Connelly. It also starred Argento's frequent collaborator Daria Nicolodi and Donald Pleasence, known famously from the Halloween series and as a James Bond villain.

   The film is set in the beautiful region of Switzerland known as the Swiss-Transylvania, where mountains and lush forests seem to flow like water. It begins with a young tourist named Vera Brandt (played by Argento's daughter Fiore) missing the bus that tours through the valley. She attempts to chase after the bus but is unsuccessful, and

A house tucked into the valley

then stays on the now empty road as the wind picks up, vexed by her situation. She spots a house nearby, which she goes to for help. She enters the house, which seems to be empty. The girl is then attacked with a chain by an unseen person, stabbed with a pair

of scissors through her hand, and flees. The killer corners her at the glass viewing area behind a waterfall (which was most likely why the bus stopped there) and kills her, then throws her decapitated head into the water while dragging the rest of the body away.
   Eight months later, Inspector Rudolf Geiger and his assistant Kurt are consulting the entomologist John McGregor (Pleasence) for clues after finding Vera's decapitated head in a lake, having finally been found and now significantly decomposed by insects. McGregor explains that given by the progression of the number of generations of maggots which have lived and then reproduced there suggests the date the girl died. It is also revealed that multiple other girls have disappeared since, including McGregor's young assistant Greeta.
   Meanwhile, the fifteen-year-old daughter of the famed actor Paul Corvino, Jennifer (played by Jennifer Connelly) arrives from the United States to attend the Richard Wagner International School for Girls while her father works on a film in the Philippians. En-route to the school, a bee gets into the taxi, which causes the school official sent to collect her, Frau Brückner (Nicolodi), and the driver much distress. But Jennifer calmly catching the winged insect, which does not sting her, much to the surprise of the older woman. The girl simply explains that insects never sting or bite her, furthering Brückner's bewilderment.

Jennifer and a new friend

   Jennifer arrives at the school and meets her new roommate Sophie and the headmistress, who seems to be extremely wary of her. The girls spend the evening bonding, mostly talking about Jennifer's father who Sophie founds very attractive. Sophie admits that she is happy to not have to sleep alone any longer, revealing to the newcomer that a murderer has been on the loose taking girls around their age and hiding the bodies. 
   Later that night on the school grounds, another young girl is being apprehended by the unseen killer. She attempts to take shelter in the abandoned wing of the school, but is only chased further. At the same time, Jennifer begins to sleepwalk through the academy and out onto the roof, where she then sees the killer murder the girl by stabbing her through the back of the head and through her mouth. 
   She flees the school, still in the trance of her sleepwalking, and wanders into town, ultimately ending up alone in the forest. She then encounters McGregor's pet chimp Inga, who takes her back to the professor. He helps her recover from her journey from the school, which she remembers nothing about, and notices her gifted ability with insects.

A sleepwalking nightmare

   The next day at the school, the headmistress believes Jennifer's behavior is a sign of a serious medical problem and forces her to take a EEG test, which brings back flashes of the murder. Frightened that the killer will now come after her, she attempts to get in touch with her father's agent to come and remove her from the school, but is unsuccessful. She asks Sophie to keep an eye on her the following night so she won't sleepwalk again.
   However, Sophie herself sneaks out to meet her boyfriend and is ultimately caught and killed by the murderer. After awaking from a failed attempt at sleepwalking, Jennifer goes to look for her friend and is lead to the only thing left behind of Sophie by a firefly; a glove infested with maggots, which cause Jennifer to see flashes of her roommate dead.
   Following Sophie's disappearance (since the headmistress convinced the police that Jennifer was unreliable for information), she again goes to McGregor for support. He examines the glove and confirms that it indeed belonged to the killer since it has been obvious throughout the case that they keep in physical contact with

Jennifer and the firefly

the corpses. She divulges the truth about how she found the glove and explains that she has always had an odd effect on insects and vice versa.
   McGregor comforts her and explains since insects are telepathic in their communication methods that she must also be telepathic in some capacity and is able to communicate with them as well. He encourages her to think of it as a gift instead a curse. When she returns to her room at the school, the headmistress along with Brückner and several other teachers and students have raided Jennifer's belongings and have found a letter she was writing to her father detailing what she has discovered about her abilities with insects.
   The students then all torment Jennifer, calling her insane, with the administrators doing little to stop it since they all agree. Jennifer pulls away in tears, and then using her powers, summons a swarm of insects which surround the school. She then passes out from the experience and is set to be taken away to a mental hospital as ordered by the headmistress, but manages to escape back to the

The swarm of Jennifer's friends

professor.
   McGregor then explains that Jennifer could help stop the murders forever with her powers and gives her a fly that can sense dead bodies over expansive areas, which won't be afraid of her and will lead her to the area where the killer is hiding their victims. She then takes the bus route that Vera took in the opening and the rest of the film concerns Jennifer trying to discover the identity of the killer but also stay alive.
   Phenomena was released in January of 1985 in Italy and was a financial success. For its U.S. release, it was re-titled Creepers, heavily edited and was sent to the drive-in market. It was shot in English, but then dubbed into other languages. This was Connelly's first leading role before her most memorable film as a teen actress in Jim Henson's Labyrinth.
   This film is absolutely gorgeous. It was filmed on location in Switzerland and features breathtaking landscapes, all of which Connelly moves through like a figure in a painting. There are so many shots of her just walking through a scene that, with many of Argento's films, presents the location itself is a character and we are seeing through its eyes as we observe the human characters. Argento also succeeds at building tension with all of the adults that Jennifer interacts with being all slightly eccentric and

Connelly in the zone 

threatening, making the audience feel her unease that we don't know whose eyes the killer may be watching her through. The music is another factor that makes the whole thing so majestic; Bill Wyman's track "Valley" which plays during the opening kill and whenever Jennifer is in the valley alone is so atmospheric that it signals to us when the tranquil atmosphere is plagued with such evil lurking everywhere. The main theme titled "Phenomena" by Argento's musical collaborator's Goblin invokes the references to the opera composer Richard Wagner whom the school is named for and the female protagonist but also entwines the fast-paced race to stay alive that the film runs. It has been described as a modern fairy-tale; a young girl going off into the woods and discover a kind of magic that is key to destroying the evil that casts a shadow over the land. Argento has called this one of his most personal films with using some plot elements from his own life (during the scene of Jennifer revealing how her parents split up) and using an actual reoccurring dream of walking through a passage full of closed doors for the sleepwalking sequences.
   Despite its amazing visuals and class A horror tension, this film is flawed. It suffers from not explaining all the plot points clearly, or in fact introducing them too late in the story. It took me at least two more viewings after my first to get the whole thing straight. Perhaps this was done on purpose to put the audience in the perspective of Jennifer who is thrown into the whole affair suddenly, but it just leaves you after the initial viewing confused. Some of the effects are much more successful than others, but overall they work with the somewhat surreal world they exist in.
   Even with these problems, Phenomena still manages to lure the viewer into wanting to discover the truth with its odd divine glow. The first time I watched it, I thought "What the hell was that?". I decided it was stupid for not being as straight forward as other horror films. But, as the imagery continued to linger in my mind, I decided to re-watch a couple of scenes, but then ended up re-watching the entire movie.
   There's a saying that true art never stops having something to say, and Phenomena fits that definition. Each time I watch this movie I find new symbolism and references that make it so good. It is amazing to see so many layers put into an hour and fifty minutes. 
   All and all, Phenomena is one of Argento's best along with Suspiria, Tenebre, and Profondo rosso. It is atmospheric, has over-the-top Argento gore, and a kind of poetry that only the viewer can see and hear in each and every frame.
   Five stars. Watch it.

"I love you. I love you all"

   
   
   

Ancient Cult Files #5 -- Black Sunday

   
   In the 1960's, a new era of fascination for the Gothic genre emerged in all forms of media. With the changing social times, the surreal settings and subtle erotic elements gave a fresh perspective to a younger generation than their excessively popular predecessors from the 1930's and 40's. In this new age of Gothic art, the violence and sexuality were going to be brought out

into the lime light and not shaded under implied circumstances. However, this was still a very early and in comparison what was to come, a fairly tame example.
   La maschera del demonio or The Mask of Satan or Revenge of the Vampire or (as I have always called it) Black Sunday was released in the year 1960 in Italy and was directed by the budding horror master Mario Bava who would eventually become the fore-father of the slasher genre. It starred Barbara Steele (and served as her breakout role), John Richardson, and Andrea Checchi.
   The film begins with the conviction of two occultist practitioners, Princess Asa Vajda (Steele) and her accomplice (or brother in the Italian version, censored for most English speaking audiences due to implication that they share an incestuous relationship) Igor Javutich in 17th century Moldavia. Their execution is overseen by Asa's own brother who also

Princess Asa at her execution

turned her in as a witch; he orders both have a bronze mask of nails be placed over the sinners faces so that for all eternity they will wear their true face, the face of Satan. Before she dies, Asa calls out a curse on the Vajda family and swears that she will live on, for her evil services have made her immortal. They attempt to burn Asa's body, but a storm puts out the fires before they touch her, so she is put in her family's crypt in a special tomb with a window facing a cross facing downwards at the masked face so that the power of Christ may keep the witch from rising again. Javutich is placed in an unmarked grave in the local cemetery.
   Two centuries later, a pair of doctors traveling to a convention, Thomas Kruvajan (Checchi) and Andre Gorobec (Richardson), travel through the region where the Vajda family resides and where the "witches ghost" is said to haunt the forest. Despite warnings from their coach driver to keep away if possible, they travel through the area where the execution was performed. After their coach has a problem with one of the wheels, Kruvajan and Andre explore the once lavish grounds of the Vajda dynasty, now crumbling into ruin. 

Katia Vajda

   In their survey of the area, the stumble upon the crypt where Asa was laid to rest. Kruvajan tries taking a closer look at the witch's mask, but accidentally breaks the stone cross keeping her evil contained in a scuffle with a giant bat living in the tomb. He also cuts his hand on the shattered glass of the window, dripping blood onto the oddly well-preserved corpse. Upon returning from the crypt, they meet a young woman who looks shocking like Asa, but is in fact one of the living members of the Vajda family, Katia (also played by Steele). The melancholy beauty explains that the reason the grounds are in such disrepair is that her father believes that the entire family is cursed because of the witch. They part ways; Andre is completely smitten by her, much to Kruvajan's amusement.
   Meanwhile in the tomb, Asa's spirit is revived with the nourishment of Kruvajan's blood, and sets about ordering her servant Javutich to rise as well. After clawing his way out of the earth and ripping the mask of nails from his face, Javutich sets about terrorizing the living Vajda family. He causes the Katia's father to go into a hysteric fit of fear upon bursting into his

chambers. Katia sends a servant out to the nearby inn to fetch Kruvajan and Andre to aid her father, but Javutich murders him and instead poses as a personnel from Vajda castle himself. He appears to the elder doctor telling him the noble has fallen ill and that Katia sent for him, swaying him to come to along.

Igor Javutich, risen from the grave

   Javutich instead leads him to the crypt where Asa slowly becomes more and more alive; she seduces him with her powers and turns him into one of the undead. Kruvajan goes to the ill Vajda prince and kills him instead, now a slave to Asa's evil will. Asa tells Javutich to bring her Katia; only through drinking her blood can she be fully restored, since she is apparently her reincarnation of some sort. The rest of the film involves Andre and a local priest trying to save Katia and destroy the witch for good.
   Black Sunday under all its titles was an international success both at the box office and with the critics, though it was censored and even banned in many places due to its (at the time) unusually gruesome violence. It launched the careers of both Mario Bava and Barbara Steele, even though the two were famously like fire and ice during production. The cinematography in the film is absolutely stunning; the shadows of the forest and the fog all create a foreboding dread that does let up for one second. Some of exterior and interior shots of the Vajda castle were filmed at a castle in the province of Arsoli.
 

Shot at a real Gothic castle.

 This film has been extremely influential; many modern directors have cited this film as being a major attribute to their own filming style. Tim Burton and Francis Ford Coppola both used imagery from this film in some of their biggest hits Bram Stoker's Dracula and Sleepy Hallow. The opening scene of the inquisition would become a staple of the genre after this film as well.
   I view this film as a transition piece; it feels like a Universal classic with its fog and forest, but its plot-line is much edgier and openly violent, as films would steadily become throughout the decade.
   Black Sunday serves as the bridge between two periods of film, and, in all honesty, has some of the creepiest scenery in all of horror.
   This is must see.
   A solid five stars.

The Mask of Satan