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Master of Italian cinema Dario Argento has had a slew of hits and cult favorites in his long career. He’s most known for his gialli Deep Red and Tenebre, as well as the hallucinatory beauty of Suspiria. Here, with Phenomena, Dario mixes a giallo with the eerie horror of supernatural gifts. While The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and Deep Red were mixtures of thriller and horror intertwined, this 1985 classic is a ghastly fright night all the way. He brings beauty to the world of insects, sticks to his mystery roots, and sets it around a Swiss boarding school. Phenomena manages to horrify without throwing up over-the-top gore as with his most memorable outings. Still, it’s a graphic movie, and one of his darkest. Is this terror another brilliant effort from Argento? And can it rival his previously mentioned wonders?

Jennifer Corvino, daughter of an American film star, arrives in Switzerland in the area known as ‘The Swiss Transylvania’ to attend the Richard Wagner School for Girls. She arrives at the same time as a killer starts stalking the girls at the school. She is befriended by the wheelchair-ridden Scottish entomologist John MacGregor who discovers that Jennifer has an ability to telepathically communicate with insects. As she explores her newfound ability, Jennifer realises that this also offers a means of discovering the killer’s identity.

Director: Dario Argento
Cast: Jennifer Connelly, Donald Pleasence, Daria Nicolodi, Fiore Argento, Fiorenza Tessari
Country: Italy
Genre: Horror, Mystery

3 x BD50 + CD | 1080p AVC, wav | 115 minutes | 125 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English (all discs), Italian (disc one)
Subtitles: English

This release of Phenomena contains three cuts of the film: the 115:53 minute ‘integral’ version; the 110:06 ‘international’ version; and the 83:03 minute Creepers cut. All three versions are housed on separate discs and based on the same source (a new 4k restoration of the original camera negative).

Extras:

DISC ONE (Blu-ray)
*** The Film (Italian Version)
• Audio commentary by Troy Howarth, author of "So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films"
• Italian Theatrical Trailer (2:36)
• English Theatrical Trailer (2:36)
• "Jennifer" music video, directed by Dario Argento (4:11)
• Rare Japanese vintage pressbook (13 pictures)

DISC TWO (Blu-ray)
*** The Film (International Version)
• "The Three Sarcophagi" a new visual essay by Michael Mackenzie comparing the different cuts of Phenomena (31:02)

DISC THREE (Blu-ray)
*** The Film (US Version "Creepers")
• "Of Flies and Maggots" documentary (120:13)

DISC FOUR (Soundtrack CD)
1. Phenomena (4:25)
2. Jennifer (3:51)
3. The Wind (1:17)
4. Sleepwalking (3:48)
5. Jennifer's Friends (3:27)
6. Phenomena (#2) (1:22)
7. The Wind (Insects) (2:30)
8. Phenomena (#3) (1:54)
9. The Wind (Insects #2) (2:30)
10. Phenomena (#4 - Piano Solo) (:59)
11. Sleepwalking (#2) (3:53)
12. The Wind (#2) (2:22)
13. Phenomena (#5) (3:06)
14. The Wind (Insects #3) (6:28)
15. Phenomena (#5 - Piano and Voice) (1:24)
16. Jennifer's Friends (#2) (3:27)
17. Jennifer (End Titles) (4:48)
18. Phenomena (#6 - Video Clip Version) (4:04)
19. The Monster Child (2:09)
20. BONUS TRACK: The Quick and the Dead (3:33)
21. BONUS TRACK: You Don't Know Me (2:38)
22. BONUS TRACK: The Maggots (1:38)
23. BONUS TRACK: The Naked and the Dead (2:36)