Recently, I watched Dario Argento’s 1985 horror film, “Phenomena.” My understanding of the movie was limited to a vague knowledge of the premise — a girl who can communicate with bugs. Judging by this, I expected a campy and fun movie. It delivered on this, but I found it to offer even more.
“Phenomena” centers around Jennifer, a girl who has been sent to a boarding school in Switzerland that is haunted by a series of violent and gruesome murders. Upon arriving, Jennifer’s habit of sleepwalking puts her in the line of danger and at the center of a mystery. Along the way, she also befriends an entomologist (bug scientist) with a chimpanzee nurse named Inga. The scientist proposes that Jennifer use her connection with bugs to solve the mystery.
Set up like many horror movies, “Phenomena” features a mysterious evil presence and a sole character with the ability to stop it. The pacing is relatively slow and almost repetitive until the end, but I didn’t mind because the setting and cinematography is so beautiful. It created a really peaceful atmosphere that contrasted with the horror that also appeared on screen. The suspense doesn’t really build effectively until the last half hour, but the climactic ending solidifies it as a great horror movie. It includes a plot twist that is genuinely unexpected, along with a lot of gross and gory moments.
Speaking of gory moments, the special effects were so well done. I think the realism of the effects helped me take the movie more seriously. Horror movies where the antagonist has an unoriginal motive or no motive at all often aren’t the most interesting, which is a category “Phenomena” falls into. However, the creativity of the insect subplot along with the special effects carried the horror aspect of the movie.
The standout performance, to me, was definitely Inga the chimp nurse, played by Tanga (also a chimp). Honestly, I don’t really understand why she was a necessary part of the movie, besides an effort to cater to chimpanzee lovers, and hey, they got me so I guess it was successful. But from my very limited research it sounds like she was under intense emotional stress during filming and actually bit off part of one of the actresses’ fingers.
Overall, this certainly wasn’t a perfect movie. But something about it is really sticking with me. It was interesting to see the main character so unperturbed by bugs getting freaky on her. It was nice to see Inga the chimp perform nurse duties and seek revenge. Most importantly, “Phenomena” is whimsical in a way that horror movies don’t always get to be, while still providing suspenseful and scary moments.
Featured Image: IMDb
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