Phenomena (aka Creepers)

(1984) ***

Jennifer Corvino doesn’t have the best first day of school. Jetting in from the States, she finds her new Suisse boarding school to be anything but pleasant. Upon arrival she learns that students have been brutally murdered and decapitated by a mysterious assailant. Adding to her stress is her sleepwalking behavior, which causes her to wander into strange places. For whatever reason this behavior causes her headmaster to take an instant dislike to her.



Late one night while sleepwalking, two boys accost Jennifer. Before anything bad can happen, Inge, a monkey who belongs to renowned insect scientist Dr. MacGregor, rescues her and takes her to the doctor’s lab. Upon entering she learns that she has a strange power over insects, which is obserced by Dr. MacGregor.

Dr. MacGregor: "He likes you. The sound you hear, that's its mating call. You're exciting it. He is secreting a gland to attract a mate. He's doing his best to excite you."

Jennifer: "We just met,"

Dr. MacGregor: "It isn't the mating season. I've never seen anything like it,"


Donald Pleasance offers one of those explanations that only occur in the movies.

Typical for horror/sci-fi movies, the scientist/researcher/professor is able to explain extraordinary phenomena a matter of factly.

Jennifer: "I was alone, in the dark, needed help. It was as though the firefly heard me and answered my call,"

Dr. MacGregor: "the things I've discovered my fellow scientists consider absurd. Extrasensory perception. Paranormal powers. Some species can communicate over vast distances by telepathy. It's perfectly normal for insects to be slightly telepathic."

Jennifer: "Normal for insects, but am I normal?"

Aside from the supernatural aspect of Jennifer’s bug power, Phenomena follows a standard who-dun-it formula, which climaxes with Jennifer falling into one of the most disgusting vats of human remains I’ve ever seen in a movie (see also The Descent).




You can’t get me to a shower fast enough!

Comparisons between Phenomenon (1984) and Suspiria (1977) are inevitable. Both films begin with the brutal murder of a woman by unforeseen forces. Following graphic opening scenes both films center upon a young heroine arriving for her first day of boarding school in a foreign land. In Suspiria, the American heroine hails from New York and is attending school in Germany. We learn that her father is a famous film director. Upon her arrival she immediately becomes embroiled in the mysterious murders that are taking place at the school. Goblin wrote the awesome score.

In Phenomena, the American heroine hails from the States and is attending school in Switzerland. We learn that her father is a famous actor. Upon arrival she immediately becomes embroiled in the mysterious murders that are taking place at the school. Goblin wrote the awesome score.

See what I mean?



I’m all grown up! I’m naked and I still look bored.

Octo reviewed this in a recent Horrorthon and was not feeling the love. I think I’m more forgiving of the crazy plot and semi-bad acting. Despite some out of place heavy metal, apparently added to the American cut of the film, I love the dream-like imagery combined with the hypnotic Goblin score punctuated by moments of gratuitous violence.


I like my big eyebrows, want to fight about it?

From imagesjournal.com, “Throughout much of the world, Italian director Dario Argento is widely acknowledged as one of the modern masters of the horror and thriller genres. However, in America, he has never found a breakthrough hit. As a result, motion picture distributors have taken great liberties with his movies, slicing and dicing them like the razor-wielding villains that frequently inhabit his movies. Distributors cut 28 minutes out of Phenomena and 10 minutes from Tenebre. In addition (and adding to the confusion), distributors have frequently retitled his movies. Much to Argento's disappointment, Phenomena was retitled Creepers for American audiences and Tenebre was retitled Unsane.”

Sadly I watched “Creepers”, which means that I watched the butchered version of Phenomena. I intend to get my hands on the original for Horrorthon 2008.