Phenomena 4K 1985 INTEGRAL CUT

One of the reviewers on this site once wrote: 'look for your masterpieces and love them to the end. Well, it seems that I found such a masterpiece with Argento.

Because, perhaps, 'Phenomenon' is not just another shining example of Señor Argento's creativity, it is also a collection of shots and plot devices which are absolutely genius in their genius.

I will not say much about the camera work, the picture is so good that it is difficult to describe it with ordinary human words. Bravo to Romano Albani.

But something that seemed very unusual is worth mentioning.

First of all, the combination of innocence and nastiness in perfect proportion proves to be noteworthy.

One could even say that the film tells us lovingly about the abomination, combining and contrasting them at the same time.

The beautiful girl and the god-awful murderer, the flying insects, the personification of the soul, and the crawling insects, the worms, the devourers of flesh. And slightly off to the side of it all is a chimpanzee with a razor, like vengeance, like Nemesis with a sword.

What must be appealing about 'The Phenomenon' is its duality (as human nature itself). On the one hand, we have before us a rather intriguing thriller about a serial killer. And on the other, a parable filled with symbols, or a terrifying fairy tale about a beauty and a monster, imbued with a truly 'beauty of disgust'.

And if ever in art the ugly was beautiful, 'The Phenomenon' clearly proves it.