Michele Soavi's directorial debut StageFright: Aquarius is simply excellent, a slasher film on par with Halloween, Black Christmas and Scream. The plot itself isn't fantastic, a psychotic actor, now serial killer, escapes from a psychiatric hospital and hitches a ride with two actresses to a theatre, where a group of struggling thespians are working on new production. Once there the actors are locked in with the killer, who dons an owl mask from the costume room and wrecks havoc with various sharp objects. But when one looks at a slasher film the plot isn't important, it isn't why we watch a slasher film, if story is what we are after we would watch The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby or Psycho.
StageFright is stylish, fast-paced and gory with a groovy soundtrack and some genuine scares. Soavi seems to take influence from various other Italian horror directors, including Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci and Mario Bava. The setting is used to maximum effect, especially the main stage with its eerie blue lighting and the backstage corridors, dimly lit and claustrophobic. The killer's outfit is very simple, all black but with a giant owl's head, this sounds silly but is actually very creepy, with large glowing eyes it makes for a unique and entirely unforgettable villain.
Soavi also knows how to stage some incredible scenes, two of particular note include a character trying to pry a key from underneath the killer and the killer appearing during a rehearsal and being mistaken for an actor, and when told to kill by the director does just that. These scenes are so well crafted it is hard to believe this is Soavi's first film. This being a slasher one would expect gory deaths and this film does not disappoint, with power drills, axes and chainsaws being used to dispatch our cast.
The film maintains a serious, dark tone up until the very end in which the director pokes fun at slasher conventions in a rather amusing, if not out of place way. Ignoring this change in tone in the last five minutes StageFright is basically a perfect slasher film, expertly crafted and although not entirely original, is definitely unforgettable.
5/5
StageFright is stylish, fast-paced and gory with a groovy soundtrack and some genuine scares. Soavi seems to take influence from various other Italian horror directors, including Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci and Mario Bava. The setting is used to maximum effect, especially the main stage with its eerie blue lighting and the backstage corridors, dimly lit and claustrophobic. The killer's outfit is very simple, all black but with a giant owl's head, this sounds silly but is actually very creepy, with large glowing eyes it makes for a unique and entirely unforgettable villain.
Soavi also knows how to stage some incredible scenes, two of particular note include a character trying to pry a key from underneath the killer and the killer appearing during a rehearsal and being mistaken for an actor, and when told to kill by the director does just that. These scenes are so well crafted it is hard to believe this is Soavi's first film. This being a slasher one would expect gory deaths and this film does not disappoint, with power drills, axes and chainsaws being used to dispatch our cast.
The film maintains a serious, dark tone up until the very end in which the director pokes fun at slasher conventions in a rather amusing, if not out of place way. Ignoring this change in tone in the last five minutes StageFright is basically a perfect slasher film, expertly crafted and although not entirely original, is definitely unforgettable.
5/5