Rating: ****
Starring: David Brandon, Barbara Cuspiti and John Morghen
A patchwork horror film done with popcorn fodder sensibilities. A giallo/slasher hybrid focusing more on the kill count and gore, all the while putting it up with the artistic flair Italian gialli are known for. Director Michele Soavi, who hardcore horror fans will remember as the genius behind the psychological zombie flick Dellamorte Dellamore (1994) (AKA, Cemetery Man), did exactly these with his little jab on the bodycounter fare, telling a simple story about a feller who "chops people into little bits"...
A group of dancers were doing a rehearsal for a horror musical concerning the murder spree of a serial killer called the Night Owl when one of the performers sprains an ankle. Hopping unto a van with a friend, the pair visits the nearest hospital they could find, which happens to be a mental clinic who agrees to do a check up anyways. There, they encounter Irving Wallace, an ex-stage performer who went insane for no goddamn reason and chopped people to bits many moons ago. Little to everybody knows, after all of these years in confinement, Wallace finds a chance to escape, killing his way out of the hospital and sneaking into the dancers' van so he can continue his spree, this time targeting the rehearsal.
Stagefright (1987) is a work subgenre love; having the makings of a slasher film with the slick style of a giallo flick, it may lack any strong flow of logic and it does have plenty of overacting or underacting characters, but the movie is more of substance. Managing to bring delight out of the easy plotting by means of cheesy fares, glorious bodycount, beautifully shot cinematography and a booming soundtrack.
The giallo elements are made present and put to good use in the killings, blending into the scene through music and lighting as estranged camera angles make the murders more graphic or unnerving, if not satisfyingly creepy. Aside from that, the film also makes a clever symbolism for all of the mayhem; the killer donning an owl mask that’s huge and awkward looking plays into the maniac's persona being synonymous to animalistic instincts, with the Irving taking the role of the predator and the victims, one by one falling into the killer’s murderous madness, are the helpless prey.
The killer himself, too, isn't that bad of a concept; he’s not trying too hard to make an impression but, rather, he just gets whatever he can find as a murder weapon (and luckily for him, there’s also a workshop on the back of the soundstage, complete with power tools!) and kills his victims with it or improvise by setting traps, waiting in the shadows to spring at his victims and finish them off while they’re vulnerable.
Because of the film's fast-paced and overly familiar territory, very little of the characters are properly developed and the whole movie is just on big cat-and-mouse chase. The sheer randomness of the situation really brings out the nightmare logic from this title, thus Stagefright (1987), with its imperfections, has a modest charm and it succeeds in giving what the audience wants: blood, chaos, massacres and an originally creative killer. Brainless yet entertaining walk through with the familiar and a definite must-try for all fans!
1 male found dying with a syringe sticked to his neck
1 female pickaxed to the mouth
1 female stabbed while being strangled
1 male stabbed with a knife
1 male powerdrilled through the chest
1 male accidentally axed to death
1 female torn in half
1 male eviscerated with a chainsaw
1 male had an arm sawed off with a chainsaw, beheaded with an axe
1 female gutted with knife
1 male shot between the eyes (?)
Total: 11(?)
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