Blu-ray Review: StageFright (1987)

(aka Deliria, Aquarius, Bloody Bird.)
Release Date: July 27th, 1987.
Country: Italy.
Rating: NR.
Written by: George Eastman and Sheila Goldberg.
Directed by: Michele Soavi.
Starring: David Brandon, Barbara Cupisti, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, and Robert Gilgarov.

StageFright is the story of an acting troupe putting on a show about mass murderer called the Night Owl... and yes, that involves one of them wearing a cumbersome owl mask while jumping around in a retarded frenzy, pretending that they know how to dance. Why is this even happening? Because Italian Horror Cinema goes there, that's why.

SOMEONE IN ITALY HAS OBVIOUSLY BEEN WATCHING FAME.

Unbeknownst to the gang of half-assed Flashdancers, a former actor turned Serial Killer has just escaped from the local mental hospital (which some of the dancers were just at, doing research?), and is heading over to the theater to kill them all in the name of insane revenge, or some such shit. Maybe he just hates dancers who do research, I don't know. It's never really made all that clear, because this is Italian Horror, and who needs clarity?

"WHOOOOO DARES RESEARCH THE NIGHT OWL?!?"

No matter what his motivation, the Night Owl hacks, drills, and slashes his way through the cast of the Serial Killer musical, setting up a pretty intense showdown between himself and one plucky little dancer with a bum ankle; and trust us, that showdown ends up being way better than it sounds.

Classic Italian Horror goodness ensues.

THIS CAN'T END WELL.

It's a shame that Michele Soavi started to come to prominence as a director in the late 80's & early 90's, just as the Italian Horror market was starting to decline, because the man had a unique feel for the Genre, and who knows what else he could have done. Between The Sect, The Church, Cemetery Man, and StageFright, Soavi gave us some of the most nuanced, effective Italian Horror movies that we've ever seen, and that's saying a lot.

Having worked with the likes of Dario Argento, Lamberto Bava, and Joe D'amato, it's really no surprise that he picked up some of their best habits along the way, and forged them into a directing style all his own; a style which makes StageFright an effective Slasher/Giallo hybrid that is to this day remains a largely undiscovered gem.

THERE'S MICHELE NOW, STARRING IN A BLADE IN THE DARK.

We always avoided watching this movie because the idea of a Movie Maniac wearing an owl mask inspired more laughter from us than it did fear; we honestly still smirk a bit when we see the pics of the Night Owl in action. There's nothing amusing about the killer in the movie though, and in fact, we found him to be one of the more terrifying and intimidating killers from an 80's Slasher flick, and we've seen nearly all of them at one point or another.

There are two sequences in the movie where our Final Girl is hiding while the Night Owl is either killing someone (the shower scene), or surveying his carnage (the stage scene), which were so gripping and intense that we had to watch them again to make sure we weren't over-reacting. We weren't. The Final Girl more than earns her title in this one.

LIKE A VILLAIN.

There's nothing more annoying in Horror movies than when someone screams incessantly. I know that sounds like an odd thing to say when talking about Horror movies, because screaming has always been a big part of them, but no one screams over, and over, and over again like that in real life unless they're a bit daft, or more accurately, over-dramatic.

It's like a retarded record stuck on repeat.

PLEASE SHUT UP OR DIE!

Again, as is usually the case with Italian Horror movies, StageFright gave us another nonsensical, "WTF?" type of ending. Don't get us wrong; we love those endings, as they are a big part of what gives most Italian Horror flicks of the 80's their charm, but could jut one Italian director from that era have given us a normal, reasonable ending to their movie? Just one?

FEELS LIKE HE'S STARING DEEP INTO YOUR SOUL, DOESN'T IT? WELL, HE IS.

This movie if full of bloody good moments; some of them happen off-screen and we only get to see their aftermath, but there are still plenty of graphic on-screen moments of brutality and gore to satisfy the even most ardent of Gorehounds.

YEP, IT'S TIME TO GO.

Aside from the dancers wearing skimpy costumes, and one brief shot of breasts from above, there is no nudity in this movie.

THIS IS ABOUT AS CLOSE TO NUDITY AS THIS ONE GETS.

Blue Underground has given us yet another impressive disc with this release of StageFright.

The AVC 1080p transfer is visually pleasing, clean, and crisp. It's not perfect, but the blacks are deep, the colors vivid, and the flaws are few and far between. For most people, this disc will appear as an excellent or stunning visual effort. For hardcore Videophiles with a keen eye though, it will be easy to find flaws to nitpick with this transfer, such as minor color temperature issues. We thought it looked great though.

The best part of its visual presentation however is that for the first time, the film is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, which is notable because most, if not all (we're not sure) of StageFright's previous Home Video versions had been incorrectly framed.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Audio Track is pretty damned stellar, and we're not even big Audiophiles.

Special Features:

• Trailer.
• Poster & Still Gallery.
• Theatre Of Delirium - Interview with Director Michele Soavi.
• Head Of The Company - Interview with Star David Brandon.
• Blood On The Stage Floor - Interview with Star Giovanni Lombardo Radice.
• The Owl Murders - Interview with Make-up Effects Artist Pietro Tenoglio.
• The Sound Of Aquarius - Interview with Composer Simon Boswell.

WHY WOULD ANYONE EVEN LOOK BEHIND THAT CURTAIN?!?

As Italian Horror movies from the 80's go, StageFright is a hidden gem of an effort that deserves to be seen by a wider audience. It's as atmospheric and intense as most other similar movies of the 80's were, and if you're a fan of the works of Argento, Bava, Fulci, et al. from that 80's era, then this is a movie that you will most likely enjoy in equal measure.

If you like Slasher flicks, then this movie is definitely for you. 

B+

StageFright is available now on Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD.

It's not easy finding "non movie" pictures of the ladies of StageFright, so here are a few screenshots of them instead. It's the best we could do.