StageFright (1987)

This is How Movies Should Be Made

A Disappointing Continuation

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

I last saw this film several years ago on YouTube, and in less than stellar quality. At that time I was not a great admirer of Soavi, perhaps because I was hoping for Dario Argento Jr. and got something different. Since becoming a huge fan of Dellamorte Dellamore (1994), however, I've been planning to re-watch his other films, and now I'm finally getting around to it. This is Soavi's feature debut - before this he cut his teeth as assistant director to Argento, Lamberto Bava, and Joe D'Amato - and here we can see the influence of these various mentors. The flamboyant camera-work and imagery certainly bring Argento to mind, while the premise (an acting troupe gets locked inside a theater with a serial killer) is reminiscent of Bava's Demons (1985). The material isn't so similar to D'Amato's work, but we have him to thank for the film's existence (and for Soavi's directorial career, since he was perfectly content to remain an assistant director), since he produced it and hired Soavi.As a director Soavi hadn't quite found his own voice yet - he's very imitative of Argento here - but to his credit he conjures imagery worthy of the master. No one who has seen this film will forget the bizarre owl mask donned by the killer (an image that would not be out of place in Franju's Judex), and the scene of him sitting on stage with the posed bodies of his victims, tranquilly stroking a cat as feathers descend on them like snowflakes, is one of the most indelible in the whole of Italian horror. What already sets Soavi apart from Argento is his cheeky humor. The comic relief scenes in Argento's films generally come across as rather clumsy and awkward (e.g. the befuddled mailman from Four Flies on Grey Velvet), but Soavi is consistently clever. The opening scene, for instance, thwarts our expectations to great comic effect. Still Soavi knows how to stage an effective death scene, and he doesn't hold back on the red stuff, but even the most horrible scenes tend to have a touch of black humor. One bit I particularly liked involved one of the characters spilling stage-blood all over the dressing room; as their friend is drilled to death, his blood starts to drip onto the fake stuff. I can't help but wonder if this is a tongue-in-cheek criticism of the phony-looking blood in most Italian horror films.The cast is quite strong: Barbara Cupisti is a sympathetic heroine, David Brandon is brilliant as the temperamental director (perhaps Soavi was drawing on his experiences with Argento here), and Giovanni Lombardo Radice is pretty amusing as a flamboyantly gay actor. Special praise must be singled out to the actor playing the silent masked killer (IMDb claims that it's exploitation legend George Eastman), who projects great presence simply through the use of his body language - I'd favorably compare him to Lon Chaney.The experience between my first and second viewings of this little gem is truly night and day. This is not just an astoundingly good film for a first time director, but a minor masterpiece of the genre. Dario Argento must have thought so as well; Opera bears some striking similarities to it, and Argento would subsequently enlist Soavi to direct The Church (1989) and The Sect (1991).

Stagefright is the debut film from director Michele Soavi. Before it he had been assistant director to the likes of Dario Argento and Lamberto Bava, as well as appearing as an actor in various films. He went on to contribute three other horror films over the subsequent seven years. He was effectively the premier Italian horror director in those years and his final film in this sequence, Cemetery Man, feels like the final worthwhile Italian horror film, give or take a few Argento's in the years since. For whatever reason, Soavi has never returned to the genre since, which needless to say is extremely unfortunate. Credit has to be given to exploitation director Joe D'Amato who acted as producer for Stagefright. He seems to have given Soavi free reign to make his film, so long as it met certain commercial genre specifications. The result is a stylish effort that is not so much a giallo as an Italian-style slasher.Written by notable actor Luigi Montefiori (aka George Eastman), the story is about an escaped maniac who ends up on the loose in a theatre where a horror themed musical is being rehearsed by a drama group; in true slasher style, the killer starts picking them off one by one. The events encompass one night, where the rain lashes down constantly outside. Truthfully, the story is utterly by-the-numbers and not the selling point. What makes this one good is the considerable style and freshness Soavi brings to the well-worn slasher genre. The killer wears a large owl mask and the setting is a theatre. This gives the film a somewhat over-the-top operatic aspect, which not only ties it in with Italian culture in general but also makes it a twin of sorts to Argento's giallo Opera, also released in the same year. For a debut feature, this is very assured stuff from Soavi. There's plenty of inventive camera work, nice use of colour and some very well handled tension. Of the latter, a real standout is the scene where the heroine attempts to retrieve a key from under a feather covered stage where the maniac has arranged all his victims in a grim tableaux. Its inspired moments like this one that sets Stagefright apart from standard slasher fare. But Soavi never forgets to supply the bread and butter of this genre as well; to that end there are a plethora of varied gory murders. This mix of generic material with a distinctive and stylish approach means that Stagefright remains one of the better slasher films out there.

Michele Soavi's directorial debut StageFright: Aquarius is simply excellent, a slasher film on par with Halloween, Black Christmas and Scream. The plot itself isn't fantastic, a psychotic actor, now serial killer, escapes from a psychiatric hospital and hitches a ride with two actresses to a theatre, where a group of struggling thespians are working on new production. Once there the actors are locked in with the killer, who dons an owl mask from the costume room and wrecks havoc with various sharp objects. But when one looks at a slasher film the plot isn't important, it isn't why we watch a slasher film, if story is what we are after we would watch The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby or Psycho.StageFright is stylish, fast-paced and gory with a groovy soundtrack and some genuine scares. Soavi seems to take influence from various other Italian horror directors, including Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci and Mario Bava. The setting is used to maximum effect, especially the main stage with its eerie blue lighting and the backstage corridors, dimly lit and claustrophobic. The killer's outfit is very simple, all black but with a giant owl's head, this sounds silly but is actually very creepy, with large glowing eyes it makes for a unique and entirely unforgettable villain.Soavi also knows how to stage some incredible scenes, two of particular note include a character trying to pry a key from underneath the killer and the killer appearing during a rehearsal and being mistaken for an actor, and when told to kill by the director does just that. These scenes are so well crafted it is hard to believe this is Soavi's first film. This being a slasher one would expect gory deaths and this film does not disappoint, with power drills, axes and chainsaws being used to dispatch our cast.The film maintains a serious, dark tone up until the very end in which the director pokes fun at slasher conventions in a rather amusing, if not out of place way. Ignoring this change in tone in the last five minutes StageFright is basically a perfect slasher film, expertly crafted and although not entirely original, is definitely unforgettable.5/5

A group of actors is locked inside a theater after one of their crew members is killed. Unknown to them, the killer is inside the building and the first one to die has the only key outside hidden. This could be their last night alive.Michele Soavi has made one of the greatest horror films of all time with "Dellamorte Dellamore", and this one -- his first feature -- is not far behind. The acting is superb, the directing keen, and while the slasher genre is riddled with plenty of bland entries, particularly by the time this came out, Soavi keeps it fresh and new here. I have the utmost respect for his work, and the slasher genre in general... could this be the ultimate slasher? Italian horror critic Jim Harper calls this film "a well-constructed and visually impressive film that stands out as one of the highlights of Italian horror in the late 1980s." I could not agree more. Horror, and Italian horror specifically, has more misses than hits... and by the end of the 1980s was a dying subgenre. Soavi kept the fire alive, at least for a few more years than it would have survived on its own (Argento, as great as he his, cannot bear the entire burden of Italian cinema alone). The "visually impressive" part is quite true, as Soavi uses colors to his advantage throughout this one... a technique he likely picked up from Argento.Fans will recognize actor John Morghen, whom Harper calls "waspish", the darling of the Italian horror world. Sadly, unlike past performances, Morghen dies off relatively early in the film and is not given the on-screen death he deserves. (Interestingly, I read an interview with Morghen where he has trashed the horror film and its fans... one wonders why he has made so many and why he shows up at conventions throughout America.) I have to give credence to Simon Boswell's rocking 1980s score. Some reviewers look back now, and knock Boswell for his inclusion of heavy metal into this and other films (such as "Phenomena" or the "Demons" films). Let's be clear, this is not Boswell's doing. The directors at the time did this. I don't really know why. But unlike the others, I don't mind it... it really gives a pumping rhythm to what could otherwise be a slower-feeling film.Fans of horror, slashers, Italian films, Soavi, etc. all need to put this on their list. And if it doesn't already exist, there needs to be a demand for a special edition disc. To my knowledge, there really isn't such a thing yet, and that's a shame. Soavi is often forgotten behind his predecessors, but he is much greater than generally perceived.