StageFright -Aquarius- is a 1987 Italian slasher horror film directed by Michele Soavi (Dellamore, Dellamorte; The Sect; The Church). Also known as Stage Fright, Bloody Bird and Deliria.
The Filmirage production stars Barbara Cupisti, David Brandon (Everlake; Delirium, 1987) and Giovanni Lombardo Radice.
Co-scripted by Anthropophagous actor George Eastman and Sheila Goldberg [as Lew Cooper]. Aristide Massaccesi [aka Joe D’Amato] served as the film’s producer.
StageFright – Aquarius – was Soavi’s first film as director. He had previously worked as an assistant director for D’Amato, Dario Argento and Lamberto Bava and directed the music video “The Valley” for Argento’s Phenomena as well as the documentary Dario Argento’s World of Horror.
A group of young dancers rehearsing in an old theatre is deliberately locked-in for the night by the obsessive director. However, they are not alone. In the shadows, someone is watching, waiting and selecting victims at his demented leisure.
Deranged serial killer Irving Wallace has escaped and is about to put on his own real-life horror show!
The scene where Brett bows in front of the mirror to reveal Wallace standing directly behind him is a homage to Dario Argento’s film Tenebrae (1982), for which Michele Soavi was an assistant director.
During a screening at the Fantasia Film Festival fans threw white feathers from the theatre balcony which showered down on the audience in homage to the haunting finale of the film.
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Our review:
StageFright is far from perfect. The acting is variable, the dialogue is often terrible and several moments are likely to induce unsolicited laughter. There is no escaping the fact that the owl mask is ludicrous, though once you get used to it, it becomes more effective. And it’s certainly an exercise in style over substance, all effort going into making the film look great rather than hold together as a story.
However, StageFright holds up rather better than you might expect for a film so wedded to Eighties imagery. It might ultimately be little more than fluff, but it’s entertaining fluff.
David Flint, MOVIES & MANIA
Trailer:
Free online on YouTube:
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