Creepers Movie Review

One of the best Dario Argento titles available on home video (if you're lucky enough to run across the uncut 109-minute original INSTEAD of the chopped-up 82-minute version) is the 1985 horror classic Creepers. It stars Jennifer Connelly, then 15, whose youthful beauty was strikingly comparable with that of the young Elizabeth Taylor, and who was certainly a much better actress than Taylor at the same age. As in many early Taylor films, Connelly's character gets along better with animals (particularly insects) than with people. Connelly is stuck in a crummy girls’ school where she is susceptible to sleepwalking, especially when she hears about all the terrible things that are happening to the young girls in the area. The grisly violence in this film is SO overstated that it's doubtful that even the most squeamish viewer could take it TOO seriously. The over-the-top performances by Daria Nicolodi and the great Donald Pleasence emphasize the fact that IT'S ONLY A MOVIE, folks. Anyway, we KNOW that Dario Argento couldn't be such a churl as to let anything happen to Jennifer Connelly, who looks cool and elegant even when she's sticking her finger down her throat. He must be a nice man to provide such excellent acting opportunities for all those bees and maggots, not to mention one scene-stealing monkey! If you can't find Dario Argento movies at the local Bijou, the following titles are well worth the search: 1970's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage starring Tony Musante, 1971's Cat o’ Nine Tails with the late James Franciscus and a great Ennio Morricone score, 1975's Deep Red starring David Hemmings, 1988's Terror at the Opera with the late Ian Charleson, 1982's Unsane starring Tony Franciosa, 1990's Two Evil Eyes with Harvey Keitel in an adaptation of Poe's The Black Cat and, of course, Creepers, the perfect movie to watch when you're all alone without a telephone on a dark and spooky night. AKA: Phenomena.

1985 (R) 82m/C IT Jennifer Connelly, Donald Pleasence, Daria Nicolodi, Elenora Giorgi, Dalia di Lazzaro, Patrick Bauchau, Fiore Argento, Federica Mastroianni, Michele (Michael) Soavi, Gavin Friday; D: Dario Argento; W: Dario Argento, Franco Ferrini; C: Romano Albani; M: Simon Boswell. VHS