Stage Fright

aka Deliria

aka Aquarius 

Director - Michael Soavi (Cemetery Man)

Starring - David Brandon (The Blade Master), Barbara Cupisti (Flesh and the Devil), and Domenico Fiore (Warehouse 13)

Release Date -1987

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "The threatre of death"

Format - BluRay (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

      Slashers are easily my favorite sub-genre but this sub-genre is so vast that they can be split up into groups. We have the slasher in the woods/camp, slashers in high school, slashers in college, the 90's self-aware slashers, and at the height of the slasher craze we had the Italian take on the slasher genre which dived deep into the Giallo sub-genre.  In 1987 Italian director Michael Soavi crafted the slasher Stage Fright while Joe D'Amato produced.  The film was one that I had always wanted to see but friends of mine that loved slashers said the film was not that good.  As time went on I found the film Cemetery Man and I fucking loved it.  When I found out it was directed by Soavi it made me wanna see Stage Fright even more but with time I forgot about the film until Blue Underground released the film on Blu and was nice enough to send me a review copy.
     The film follows a group of actors who are rehearsing a musical about a killer owl.  During rehearsal one of the ladies hurts her ankle.  The director refuses to get her help so she sneaks out with another cast member.  They go to a nearby hospital which happens to be a mental hospital.  A doctor helps but they find a mental patient who was once an actor who snapped and killed a lot of people.  This stirs the unstable man and he kills an orderly and sneaks out.  He follows them back to the theater where he grabs the killer owl costumer and kills an actress on stage.  This causes a frenzy among the cast.  Everyone panics and runs for their life as he stalks and kills them one by one.  They try to escape but the director has locked the doors for rehearsal and they try to frantically search for a key but they does not go well as more members of their group turn up dead.  As everyone turns up dead one young lady is able to find a key and get out with her life.
     I love how mindless slasher films can be.  Most do have twist ending but the story is so straight forward.  These are the kind of films I love to watch when I don't to think.  I throw them in and watch the senseless violence befall me without having to think. However, some slasher films try to throw in a story more complex than it needs to be.  These tend to take away from the charm of watching a slasher.  Let's be honest, we only watch slashers for tits and bloodshed.  The acting in this is the mediocre slasher effort that we have became accustomed.  No one is trying to win an award and that shows in every scene.  This is something fans of slashers are used to seeing.  The story for this one is not your traditional slasher story.  There is no revenge in this one which is something different.  Sadly, the story tries to be very detailed and complex which it fails to pull off.  It makes the film feel thrown together.  Also, the killer has a look we are not familiar with that does not invoke fear but brings about laughter.  A killer owl is just fucking ridiculous and takes away from the slasher aspect.  Finally, the film has some very bloody and original kills that make up for the shitty killer and piss poor story.  We get some brutal axe murders, a drill to the abdomen, and even a body cut in half.  How often do you get that shit in a slasher?  Overall, Stage Fright is an artsy take on the slasher sub-genre that just does not sit well with fans of the sub-genre.  However, the kills are very impressive and more than make up for the film.  Check it out if you haven't!