Disjointed Digression

As most of you know, I have a slight obsession with Jennifer Connelly. It’s not a stalking obsession, I just think she’s hot Hot HOT! So thanks to Netflix.com I have been trying to see all the movies with her in it that I can. I got Phenomena the other day. This movie was made in 1985, and was put out under the title Creepers in the US. The movie is actually Italian, by the way. It is a Cheesy horror flick. Yes with a capital C! Jennifer plays a girl who is put into the Richard Wagner School for girls in Switzerland (or so it would seem due to the Swiss flags all over town). Of course it’s a boarding school with girls from all over Europe, but they all speak English. The movie begins with a brutal slaying of a girl who gets lost near the school. And it goes down hill from there. Jennifer’s character which is conveniently named Jennifer has the ability to communicate with bugs, which is how the film ties in a professor of Entomology who is wheel chair bound. The Prof. also has a helper, a chimp that does things for him. So now I’m digging this flick, JC (even though she is a bit young…I’m not a complete letch), a chimp, and is Cheesy horror! But wait there’s more! As one of the school girls is getting lost and being chased by the killer, the “scary music” is Flash of the Blade by Iron Maiden! Score! This movie should have come with chips so you can put them up to the screen and get instant nachos from all the cheese! The funny thing is that the film quality does not look like a B movie. The effects are not too bad, so I think they actually had a fair budget on the film. They try really hard to be scary but the story gets absurd, then down-right stupid at the end. From out of nowhere is a plot twist that makes no sense, but then I can’t say I expected anything better. There is some interesting shots of JC swimming underwater with flaming gasoline on top of the water. The movie is bad! But in a good way. It’s not as bad/good as, say Teenage Cat Girls in Heat, mainly because Phenomena seems to try to stay serious all the way through the film. I honestly laughed out loud at some portions of this movie. I don’t think that is the reaction the film-maker was looking for. If you are looking for a Cheesy horror flick to go MST3K on, this would be a good one to choose. I will say this, at times I did check to see how much longer was left in the film. But I did finish watching it and had a good laugh at the end! It’s not for everyone, but I think if you dig Cheesy horror flix you might get a giggle out of this one. Don’t forget the bonuses of the chimp and Iron Maiden!

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 31st, 2004 at 3:18 pm and is filed under Movie Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.