I have been wanting to see this film since 1997 and I just bought a copy last week. I watched it, after hearing what a great film it is for so many years, and thought maybe I was watching the wrong one. Where's the gore? Where's the tension? Where's the creativity? The idea was clever, but the filmmaker didn't follow through. I was quite let down, and I am one of the biggest slasher films there is. Did anyone else feel the same way?
shareNo Gore?!! Are you kidding me?!! You sure you didn't watch Hitchcock's Stagefright by mistake?
This is one of the goriest and most inventive slashers out there. Easily ranks with the best slashers.
SPOILER WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SPOILERS AHEAD REGARDING ONE PARTICULARLY GORY SCENE!!!!!!!!!
Pregnant girl cut in half ring any bells?
Eh, I disagree about it being overly gory. I think the uncut versions of F13, My Bloody Valentine and The Prowler were all gorier than this.
Regardless, I love this film! I'm not a big fan of Soavi's other work, though I love Bava and Argento, but this one definitely did it for me. Story was a lot of fun.
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I said exactly the same thing, except i wanted more nudity too. People said the same stuuf to me too.
did you see Cemetary man? That one is cool.
We've got movie sign!!!!
No. I watched it probably 10 years ago or more and was rather taken back by the level of gore. I've been looking for this in stores for a while.
Find them white, make them red, leave them blue
I thought this film was a pleasingly gory and nasty slasher winner.
"We're all part Shatner/And part James Dean/Part Warren Oates/And Steven McQueen"
Slashers in general are totally boring and uninteresting - especially the U.$.A. variety, from the ´80s (I hate the ´80s, by the way). If you´re going to make this kind of movie, you might as well be artistic/creative about it, which this film is. Stagefright is no masterpiece, but i can appreciate many elements of it that transcend typical U.$.A. cinema. It´s a great start for Michele Soavi, in my opinion...
"Cain and Abel will go to Heaven... if they can make it through Hell!"
-Los Hijos Del Topo
I don't know why exactly but the movie really appeals to me. Maybe part of it is the theater aspect appealing to my queer sensibilities and aesthetic. Afterall, I also liked A Clown at Midnight.
I find it to have a very nice look. I am a lover of film. I am a horror fan too but I actually pay attention to stuff like lighting, editing, and everything else you can't not pay attention to after learning to look for it.
As undeveloped as the characters are, I actually like them. I really wish I could see more from all of them. They just seem so perfect to me.
And as predictable as it is, I just don't care. In fact, I really don't know how to express my affinity for this film at this time. I should sit down and analyze it sometime. I analyzed The Doom Generation for a film analysis class and discovered a lot of reasons why I love it and found all sorts of new things to love about it. It's amazing what you find when you watch a movie muted.
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I was very disappointed in this as well, though I think this film was plenty gory. The art direction is very imaginative, but the script and performances never build momentum.
I'm not a huge fan of slashers, but I enjoy them when they build suspense and make me care about the characters. This one did neither, in my opinion. 4/10 stars from me.
I agree with the OP, I was let down by this movie. There was 'some' gore but there wasn't much tension or anything that could make it exciting.
Perhaps, those who gave it a high rating have mistaken it to be artsy just because the plot was based in a theater, but really, there wasn't anything spectacular about it aesthetics wise too.
I would give it a 4.
My pain is constant and sharp, and I do not hope for a better world for anyone.
Say, Love_horror, did you by chance see the dubbed version? I rated it 4/10 also, but I wonder if the subtitled version is less jarring?
shareYes, I have also seen the dubbed version, though I actually prefer subtitled versions for the sake of originality. But I doubt that the subtitled version would make me change my mind.
My pain is constant and sharp, and I do not hope for a better world for anyone.
Thanks for the assessment, love_horror. The first thing I noticed about this was the bad dubbing (and "acting" by the voicers). The next thing I noticed was the mediocrity of the whole film. I also much prefer the original language with subtitles, but I agree it probably wouldn't do much for this film.
shareI also felt that the dubbing was really bad. And I noticed the same thing for Opera 1987. As a matter of fact, for most dubbed Italian movies. Why don't they just leave the movie alone and just add the subtitles?
My pain is constant and sharp, and I do not hope for a better world for anyone.
Yes, the dubbing on "Opera" was horrible. Even "Suspiria," a film I like, has bad dubbing, but that's because it had an international cast that was speaking its native language in all the scenes, apparently.
shareI totally agree. And Suspiria is one of my favorite movies.
I can feel the devil walking next to me.
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