2019 came and went without a stand out monolith like Hereditary, Get Out, The VVitch or even a Conjuring to dominate Horror fans discourse and definitively declare it to be the year of any particular film. However, with lackluster offerings from major studios and so-so sequels battling comic book blockbusters for mainstream attention, it was truly a year where smaller, indie films and foreign features stood out, while niche streaming truly took over as a major vehicle for horror fans to get their fix outside Netflix. Take a look at some of our favourites over the past year, ranked in no particular order. From exploding pot headed vampires to creeping cosmic horror, from the 1980’s of Paris to the center of the galaxy, it’s been a wild ride with some freaky, fun and fantastic films you just can’t miss.

KNIFE + HEART (UN COUTEAU DANS LE COEUR)

? Director: Yann Gonzalez | French (France)

Directed by M83’s Yann Gonzalez, the world of “Knife + Heart” created a Neo-noir Giallo in the saturated , hyper-sexual 80s vision of a masked murderer’s rampage through Paris’ gay underground. Absolutely stunning visually with a surreal, self-aware script, Knife + Heart managed to make its way to North America in late 2019 via Shudder, just in time to land on our best of list. For fans of Dario Argento and David Lynch alike, this film oozes sex, style and sadness…a perfect mix.

MIDSOMMAR

? Director: Ari Aster | English (USA) | Streaming on PRIME

After 2018’s unstoppable Hereditary , all eyes were on Ari Aster to deliver his follow up, and deliver he did with one of the Best Horror Films Of 2019. A “break up movie” that lays waste to everything it touches, Midsommar boldly stepped out of the shadows with a sun soaked, hallucinatory tale of a cult hidden in the hills of Sweden and what happens to a group of friends who attend their annual solstice festival. Needless to say, things don’t go as planned, and Aster ratchets up the dread and delivers some supremely satisfying gore without relying on either genre tropes OR his previous work. An absolute must-see for 2019, Aster continues to be one to watch in the world of Horror.

TERRIFIED (ATERRADOS)

? Director: Demián Rugna | Spanish (Argentina) | Streaming on SHUDDER

Another delayed arrival to North America, 2017’s Argentinian paranormal shocker Terrified turned the haunted house genre on its head with a tale of an entire neighborhood besieged by strange happenings and the mysterious team of investigators sent to stop them. Brilliant both visually and sonically, Terrified takes every disadvantage of its meagre budget and instead uses it to obscure, deflect and distort the monsters, both human and otherwise, making them infinitely much more effective when they finally come forth. This one had us genuinely gasping throughout!

GIRL ON THE THIRD FLOOR

? Director: Travis Stevens | English (USA) | Streaming on PRIME

“Girl On The Third Floor” is a tightly scripted, deceptively simple story of a not-so-good guy in way over his head during a hellish home renovation, and one easily of the best horror films of the 2019. Heralding the directorial debut of “Starry Eyes” and “We Are Still Here” producer Travis Stevens, this one is a slow-burning, unapologetic B-movie with one of the year’s breakout performances in WWE star Phil ‘CM PUNK’ Brooks and some jaw-droppingly disgusting practical effects for another one of the Best Horror Films Of 2019.

COLOR OUT OF SPACE

? Director: Richard Stanely | English (USA)

Heralding the return of Richard Stanley after a 20+ year hiatus from film-making, the brilliant director of Hardware and Dust Devil takes H.P. Lovecraft’s classic tale of a family farm under siege by cosmic horrors into the 21st century, anchored by Nicolas Cage in one of his best recent performances and filled to the brim with body horror using incredible practical effects that would make even Screaming Mad George blush. With Stanley at the helm, a veteran of the genre has presented a classic horror story without an ounce of post-modern irony, while still paying proper justice to Lovecraft’s often indescribable cosmic landscapes.

COME TO DADDY

? Director: Ant Thompson | English (USA)

When the vapid and aimless Norval (Elijah Wood) receives a letter from his long-lost father, who left him and his mom behind decades ago, he treks out to his dad’s remote cabin in search of the family reunion he has always dreamed of. Noval’s dreams fall apart pretty fast when he meets his brittle and horribly mean, alcoholic father Brian (Canadian acting legend Stephen McHattie). “Come to Daddy” is one hell of a midnight movie (read our full review here!) that’s all but guaranteed to entertain and thrill the genre crowd. Those who have the stomach for bloody antics will soon find director Ant Timpson also laces in solid character development in-between the ultra violence, letting his actors make a meal of every scene.

BLOOD MACHINES

? Director: Seth Ickerman | French (France)

Essentially an epic music video for synth wave provocateur Carpenter Brut, the hyperactive, hypnotic “Blood Machines” marks the feature debut of directing duo Seth Ickerman. Yes, it is mostly style over substance, with a threadbare story of space scavengers and cosmic sorcerers fighting to steal a rogue AI, but when your style is just so fucking cool does it even matter? Stunning from the first second to the last, “Blood Machines” delivers more in it’s lean 50 minute run time than most blockbuster action films could hope across three sequels, and you won’t even notice the plot holes with your jaw firmly dropped to the floor. This one hits Shudder in 2020, so keep your eyes to the sky.

BLISS

? Director: Joe Begos | English (USA) | Streaming on PRIME

Messy and energetic like a really good mixtape, Bliss is packed with gory, goofy fun and some of the most gloriously over the top ideas we saw in 2019. The tale of an LA artist who’s creative block is finally lifted through some decidedly bloody inspiration, Bliss careens across it’s city setting gleefully lifting the best bits of body horror, vampire movies and crime stories to create a thoroughly entertaining and original B-movie bop.

ANNABELLE COMES HOME

? Director: Gary Dauberman | English (USA)

Full disclosure: we love the Annabelle series, from it’s terrible 1st entry to it’s glorious prequel to this, the 3rd entry in the series spun off from James Wan’s billion dollar horror juggernaut, The Conjuring, so any attempt to argue it’s place as one of the Best Horror Films Of 2019 will be soundly ignored. Not as awful as the first, not as surprisingly well done as David F. Sandberg’s entry, this Annabelle returns the doll to her origins and manages to give us an effective, Halloween friendly horror film that stood out as one of the better mainstream offerings of the year. With plenty of mayhem and some crossovers from The Conjuring cast, there’s no better rain day watch than this.

IN FABRIC

? Director: Peter Strickland | English (UK) | Streaming on PRIME

Blending fear and the fantastic, In Fabric is definitely original; a woman’s life is torn apart by an ambulatory dress that she buys for a night out, and that’s not even the weirdest part. Completely enrapturing and soaked in a somber, romantic aura that adds to the fairy tale like qualities in the film, In Fabric is one that will stay with you long after you finish watching, eschewing gore and guts for something far more frightening.

THE LIGHTHOUSE

? Director: Robert Eggers | English (USA/Canada)

Is “The Lighthouse” a Horror movie? Is it a fantasy? Our answer: who cares. The Lighthouse, from director Robert Eggers, is easily one of the finest films of the decade, let alone the year, anchored by scenery annihilating performances from Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson and stunning cinematography. Tense and unyielding, this tale of two lighthouse keepers slowly going mad as a storm batters their island post not only blurs the line of fantasy and reality, it drunkenly pisses all over it. For any lover of film, this simply cannot be missed.

THE HOLE IN THE GROUND

? Director: Lee Cronin | English (Ireland) | Streaming on PRIME

A young mother living in the Irish countryside with her son suspects his increasingly disturbing behaviour is linked to a mysterious sinkhole in the forest, and fears he may not be her son at all. Another small, atmosphere rich genre film from A24, “The Hole In The Ground” quietly builds a believable sense of mystery anchored by solid performances from leads Seána Kerslake and the young  James Quinn Markey (really, is anything creepier than a ginger child?). Another one of the best Horror Films Of 2019.

LUZ

? Director: Tilman Singer | German (Germany) | Streaming on SHUDDER

Luz is a simple story executed so well you just can’t look away: a young cabdriver drags herself into the brightly lit entrance of a run-down police station. A demonic entity follows her, determined to finally be close to the woman it loves. An interrogation unlike any you’ve ever seen follows. That’s it. Not really available until 2019, we loved Tilman Singer‘s whip-smart story of possession hot-potato so much we had to include it on this best of list. Wildly inventive in its vision and sound design, Luz is a must see for any horror fan, just read our review for more.

THE PERFECTION

? Director: Richard Shepard | English (USA) | Streaming on NETFLIX

Not arriving on International Netflix until 2019, we loved the twisting, twisted tale of “The Perfection” too much not to include it on our list. A slow burn that suddenly drops the entire floor of the film out from underneath you, it’s the story of troubled musical prodigy Charlotte (Allison Williams) who seeks out Elizabeth (Logan Browning), the new star pupil of her former school, sending both musicians down a gruesome path.

Welp, thats it! Did you agree with our picks? Noticed something was missing? Absolutely HATE everything we love? Shoot us your comments or thoughts:

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Directed by M83’s Yann Gonzalez, the world of “Knife + Heart” bridges the saturated , hyper-sexual 1970’s exploitation era with the detached tones of 80’s new wave. An absolutely gorgeous film, cinematographer Simon Beaufils captures the world of the burgeoning 80’s queer Paris underground as well as the quiet nature of pastoral France, each shot part of an ever growing mystery that draws us into “Knife + Heart’s” tale of tragic love undone by a knife’s edge. A memorable, and necessarily tragic villain, our killer (played with an unhinged lunacy by Jonathan Genet) stalks the city leaving new clues for Anne to decipher with each of his inventive, and phallic, kills, which thankfully shield the film from an unbearable pretentiousness that seems poised to overtake the proceedings at any moment, but never does. But in its bones, this IS a slasher movie, and for fans of the genre it offers a “fine dining” experience unlike any other, with plenty of stylized violence and smirking humour to enjoy.  Itself on a razors edge between parody, homage, exploitation and vanity, “Knife + Heart” manages that delicate dance between lurid and ludicrous, being “believably unbelievable” at all times and above all else, entertaining for its entire run time. There’s gore, but it’s hardly grotesque, and there’s sex but little nudity, keeping things focused more on the mystery then the mayhem.  Complementing the visuals and performances, M83’s score one ups the baroque-synth legacy of Goblin, providing a fresh, but familiar soundtrack that only further enriches the carefully built world of Gonzalez’ mystery.

To dive into “Knife + Heart” you’ll need to suspend some disbelief: this is hardly a literal film. And while It’s not perfect (a little too much time is spent on the goofy “film within a film” moments and their adolescent humour, occasionally introducing tonal speed bumps that jar us from our trance) it succeeds more often than not, with rich visual impact and memorable characters, and most importantly leaves us wanting to see more of Yann Gonzalez directorial visions to come. Currently available on Shudder, check the trailer below for a taste of “Knife + Heart”

On a rainy night, Luz (Velis) has abandoned her cab somewhere in a nameless German city, and her fare has gone missing. Rattled and bloody, she lands and a moribund police station, being questioned by hardened detective and a translator as they wait for their chief interrogator, Dr. Rosinni (Bluthardt) a master of unconventional hypnosis, to help unravel her story of being attacked by a possessed woman. Across town in a sterile bar, Rosinni is accosted by a femme fatale (Julia Riedler) with her own strange story to tell, a tale of her time back in Chile and her catholic-school crush, who we come to learn is Luz herself and how It went terribly wrong. To tell more would’t only rob the film of the impact it’s head-spinning story shifts hit the audience with, but any plot synopsis has a way of misrepresenting a genuinely original movie such as this. With “Luz” the “what” of the story takes a well deserved back seat to the “how”, with the endlessly inventive interrogation centrepiece cementing the film as a truly refreshing take on a classic horror cliche.

Realism is secondary to the story Singer tells in “Luz“; with scenes awash in a near permanent haze and lovingly shot on old-school 16mm film (but with new-school anamorphic lenses that were created for the new digital RED cameras) by young cinematographer Paul Faltz, everything becomes a dreamlike vision, both hyper realistic and ephemeral as the fuzziness of the story and the film stock itself intertwine. Evocative and striking even in a palette of grainy grey and bureaucratic beige, “Luz” also deploys a wildly inventive soundscape that’s as much a part of the film as any performance, and the score from Simon Waskow shines through with all the right notes of synth-heavy, retro tinged 80’s Giallo grandeur and percussive free-jazz without becoming shameless reproductions. Rigorously framed images shock with intensity, paired with equally evocative physical performances from the leads, who inhabit their characters bodies entirely as the film dances between hypnosis, memories, reality and hallucination with a deft hand.

Largely confined to the eerie police station , “Luz” creates a surreal, theatrical battleground (“a chamber play”, Singer said in a recent interview) for past transgressions to play out against the ever growing evil that pursues our lead, and keeps the audience enraptured in a way heavy handed, “indie horror” can never replicate. When a character simply pulling a pen a purse can cause your skin to crawl, you know you’re in the hands of an assured director, and Singer’s confidence shines through every moment of the film. Unlike recent reboots and indie features that try too hard to talk about “the movie” beyond the screen, with “Luz” the film itself the focus, and by combining the profoundly simple ingredients of sound, light and editing together with an original story and commanding performances, Singer’s proven himself to be a young director to watch with excitement of what’s to come next.

“Luz” is currently available for rent on VOD via all major outlets, check the trailer below for a small sample of what to expect.

Creepy Co. Spooky Throw Blankets

On Sale At – Creepy Company

A great Horror gift idea and a perfect excuse to curl up with the horror lover in your life under these hellishly comfortable fleece blankets from the fine folks at Creepy Co. An ultra high-quality print of the cover art for R.L. Stein’s Goosebumps classic “The Haunted Mask”, Sam Raimi’s EVIL DEAD (pictured), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or the original Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark would already be a great horror gift idea, but having that print on a warm and fuzzy blanket just in time for winter? Count us in! PS: Whatever print you pick, we can confirm thorough extensive scientific / cat related testing these are a perfect addition to any bedroom or home theatre.

NECA Action Figures

On Sale At – Amazon

NECA continues to bring the best in b-movie and horror icons to life with their range fully posable 8″ figures. Who wouldn’t want to hang out with Herbert West from Re-Animator, become your own Dr. Loomis with a Killer Michael Meyers set or build your own “David Cronenberg Cinematic Universe” with a ghoulish Dr. Decker recreation from Clive Barker’s creature-feature classic “Nightbreed“? For the casual fan or dedicated collector this is always a great horror gift idea. These figures aren’t cheap bootlegs or movie cash-ins: NECA brings great build quality across the board and they’re easily available from Amazon or your local Comic retailer… but hurry, sine NECA figures are a sure fire hit for any horror nerd in your life, they tend to sell out FAST around the holidays!

Retro-A-Go-Go Vac-Tastic Wall Art

On Sale At – Retro-A-Go-Go

From our personal Favourite MARS ATTACKS (Pictured) to classics like The Munsters, The Creature From The Blue Lagoon and everyone’s favourite cable-tv vixen Elivra, Retro-A-Go-Go delivers kitschy, kooky fun for your spooky decor needs with their Vac-Tastic plastic wall art. Full colour and in eye popping 3D, these are ridiculously goofy fun and a great, lighthearted horror gift idea for any room in your house .. and surprisingly affordable given their impressive size.

Darcy The Mail Girl T-Shirt

On Sale At – Fright Rags

Our #1 Ho-rorr crush Diana Prince has been immortalized on her own officially licensed t-shirt from the fine folks at Fright Rags! Any true “The Last Drive In” Mutant would be happy to wear the iconic Darcy the mail girl, drawn in a super cute classic pin-up style, and show their undying support for Joe Bob and the drive-in traditions of blood, breasts and beasts! For other great horror gift ideas, dive into their site: since each style is limited you’ll be able to get something uniquely special for your special someone.

Horror Decor Candles

On Sale At – Horror Decor

From the seasonally scented Krampus candle to the more summery aromas of “Camp Crystal Lake” and our Screamish staff favourite, the beeswax based “Buffalo Bill’s Skin Lotion” wax candle, Horror Decor has a ton of cheeky choices perfect for the lair any horror fan. Going strong since 2007, be sure to take a look at the rest of the great horror gift ideas in Horror Decor’s online store, from Blockbuster pot-holders to Chop-Top plushies for the Tobe Hooper fan in your life.

Salem’s Lott Hot Sauces

On Sale At – Hot Sauce Unlimited

Hand crafted in Canada by former musician and hot-sauce afficiando Jeff Salem, we’re 100% addicted to his hot sauces after discovering them at Rue Morgue’s Spooky Flea Market last year on the hunt for more horror gift ideas. Baring the grisly visages from some classic horror icons, these super flavourful and wickedly spiced hot sauces add a punch to anything without resulting in death or dismemberment, and can be shipped anywhere in the world. We highly recommend “Be Careful” and the new “Shroom Of Doom” to have your own Hot One’s style showdown.

Dumbgood Goosebumps Collection

On Sale At – Dumbgood

Rep some inner 90s nostalgia with this super slick lime green goosebumps puffer jacket and help the Horror lover in your life find their own Killer style. Dumbgood has been coming with seriously inspired throwback looks this year and their entire line of Goosebumps and Blockbuster themed clothing are perfect horror gift ideas with an extra splash of style.

Bootleg VHS Enamel Pins

On Sale At – Bootleg VHS Goods

Enjoy a little wayback playback with these dope enamel pins that harken to the days of badly dubbed cassettes being traded between friends. From our personal favourites like Hellraiser and Videodrome (pictured) to Sci-Fi and 80s Teen Comedy Classics, Bootleg VHS has something for every movie fan to find a home for on their own super sweet jacket.

Beastwreck CTHUL-AID Hoodie

On Sale At – Beastwreck

One of our favourite illustrators working out there, Beastwreck has another perfect Horror gift idea for the H.P. Lovecraft fan in your life with their ultra-comfortable and low-key hilarious CTHUL-AID hoodie. Enjoy a refreshing beverage as you flee in terror from the hideous elder gods and stay warm all winter to boot in a classic zippered hoodie!

H. H. HOLMES MURDER CASTLE PRINT

On Sale At – Holly Carden

A classy way to let people know you’re a sick and twisted individual, this incredible cut-away print of notorious World’s Fair serial murder H.H. Holmes from artist Holly Harden offers a “the way things work” style guide to his murder castle that’s a perfect horror gift idea equally suited for any true crime fanatic or history buff. See each of his ghastly traps in an adorable illustration printed on archival paper in a super cutes 12x12in size you can handily frame.

Profondo Rosso – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

On Sale At – Mondo Tees

A great horror gift idea equally suited to vinyl junkies or cinephile alike, this absolutely gorgeous double LP from Death Waltz is a stunning remaster of Goblin’s seminal score to Giallo master Dario Argento’s untouchable classic Profundo Rosso (Deep Red). Printed on heavyweight 180 gram vinyl and packaged in a beautiful gatefold sleeve, this is some serious collector business sure to please even the harshest critics and provide a much better holiday soundtrack than whatever Michael Buble might be singing.

Subscription To SHUDDER

On Sale At – Shudder

If you’re a last minute shopper and need a guaranteed great horror gift idea for someone in your life, don’t forget that you can pre-pay for a year of AMC’s amazing SHUDDER steaming service and turn over the login to your friend or loved one. With hundreds of movies and shows to choose from, Shudder is a no-brainer for any horror fan to have, and who doesn’t love being able to have a year of guaranteed blood and guts to come home to?

Literally ANYTHING from Vinegar Syndrome

On Sale At – Vinegar Syndrome

Restoration experts and exploitation archivists Vinegar Syndrome are amongst the very best when it comes to unearthing forgotten films and returning then to all their horrible glory. With a deep library of Horror gift ideas to choose from, like the classic Mutant-Cat-On-A-Cruise-Ship mayhem of “Uninvited” and the late, great Rowdy Roddy Piper’s “Hell Comes To Frogtown” to actually good classics like Mausoleum and the original Amityville Horror, Vinegar Syndrome offers up rarities that any movie fan will fiend for.  With in-house 4k restorations, endless extra features and always incredible box art, these are great additions to any collection. Beyond horror, their drive-in era and exploitation movie selections run deep, with truly bizarre, amazing and otherwise obscure oddities galore, so there is literally nothing you couldn’t choose that won’t make somebody happy.

“The Bird with the Crystal Plumage” is Adapted from Fredrick Brown’s novel The Screaming Mimi, which had been previously made into a Hollywood film, “Screaming Mimi (1958)”, directed by Gerd Oswald. After working for several years as a scripter (including a co-writing gig on Sergio Leone’s 1968 Once Upon a Time in the West), Argento marked himself as one of the godfathers of the Giallo genre with this directorial debut.

A stylish murder-mystery that proved to be very popular amongst other filmmakers (Brian DePalma owes his entire career to Hitchcock and Argento in my opinion), “The Bird with the Crystal Plumage” stars Tony Musante as Sam Dalmas, an American writer living in Rome with his girlfriend (Suzy Kendall). One night, Sam witnesses a violent attack in an art gallery. The victim (Eva Renzi) survives the attempted murder and Sam becomes obsessed with catching the assailant, who is more than likely responsible for a slew of murders in the area.

Although, Argento’s scripts are often more than questionable, he manages to time and time again create engrossing mysteries that keep you waiting for the next twist or iconic neon red covered kill. “The Bird with the Crystal Plumage” features a pimp who delivers the same one liner in almost every scene, an eccentric artist who EATS CATS, but also one of the most offbeat scores by the legend himself Ennio Morricone, and gorgeous cinematography from Oscar winner Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now).

All in all – This movie may lack structure, substance and general common sense in some places, however “The Bird with the Crystal Plumage” is an important piece of not only genre and giallo cinema, but filmmaking in general, featuring the skills of many future iconic filmmakers, musicians and artists. Gorgeous visuals, a dizzying soundtrack and classic Italian slasher kills place this on our 31 Days Of Horror Countown! ONLY THREE DAYS LEFT. Stay tuned to Screamish as we round off the end of the spookiest month of the year with more hidden gems & rare bops!

“The Bird with the Crystal Plumage” has been released by Arrow Video on Blu Ray / DVD, in a brand new 4k restoration from the original camera negative, or You can also watch online on Amazon Prime, Check the trailer below for a taste!

We open with a scene of Teutonic Knights slaughtering an entire village of apparent Satanists in a pulpy, very “Monty Python” style intro sequence. Here, Soavi’s inventive framing (he is Terry Gilliam’s go-to 2nd Unit Director for good reason) and gleeful love of gore kick things off with a great energy, establishing our location, the titular Church itself, built on a pile of writhing, undead Satanic zombies, and a few unfortunate horses for good measure, with the hopes of locking their evil away forever. Heads roll, peasants are run through with pikes, and we’re quickly dropped into the present day with a classic, unending one-take shot through the now massive church. We meet our American visitor, Evan (a standard plot device in pretty much every Italian horror film) who, of course, notices things aren’t quite right with the bishop, the violent frescoes, and “The Church” itself, which has no graveyard and a mysterious cavern beneath it’s forbidding basement.

The inexplicably gorgeous restoration expert Lisa (Barbara Cupisti) who’s been working in the church restoring the violent, demonic artwork adorning its walls, discovers a mysterious manuscript foretelling the end of the world, and after some genre-standard and unexplained sexing, our librarian Even decides its time to see what’s going on in the basement, and sneaks off to pry open the tomb by removing the seven eyed satanic goat head locking the demons below. In a scene right out of Exorcist III, he’s attacked by dozens of hands emerging from the crypt in a terrifying vision, one of many he begins to suffer as the demons take control of his mind. There’s some fun stuff here, especially when he rips out and eats his own heart, but the energy wanes in the set up to the films extended final act, especially with the dead-eyed “performance” from Argento’s daughter, Asia, and Star Wars own Hugh Quarshie as Father Gus, the eventual “final priest” left to battle Evan’s monstrous transformation…. who spends a lot of time doing nothing much at all in a clumsy detective sub-plot the film never really needs.

However by the 3rd act, the origins of Demons‘ script begin to show through, as various side-characters get trapped in “The Church“‘s clockwork security system (explained in a great, gore soaked flashback to the inquisitions) and, of course, picked off one by one from the spreading Demon infection as our initial protagonist gets fully on the side of the demons, resurrecting previously killed priests and transforming into a giant, horny, goat monster. This is prime Giallo time, where you can turn off your critical thinking and enjoy the ride, as Sovai’s takes us through some fun jump scares, creative kills and impressive camera work towards the films conclusion.

If this is enough to get your interest piqued, then you’ll likely love “The Church” as a flawed, but fun, take on the Satanic apocalypse trope through the eyes of a genre legend. There’s more than enough monsters and mayhem here to keep most horror fans attention, and like all of Soavi’s films, his love of movie making is always on display even through the film’s clumsy construction. While definitely not perfect, “The Church” is indeed a rare find, difficult to classify but never boring, and a worthy addition to the library of any Argento fans. Watch the trailer below, and find it on Amazon Prime’s pretty amazing collection of B-movie horror.

Unfortunately American distributors chopped about 30 minutes and added some music by Iron Maiden for no reason to the CREEPERS version, making for a confusing but, still near perfect Giallo (make sure to watch the “Integral Cut”, which restores the film to Argento’s original vision): There’s sleepwalking, unsafe buildings anyone can just wander into, a VERY late plot twist involving an insane asylum, an over the top madwoman and more maggots than you ever dreamed possible…. Oh yeah, there’s also a monkey! You haven’t lost your mind reading this article it’s just Dario Argento’s incredible 1985 Phenonema. There are some excellent set pieces, including one scene where Jennifer summons the help of flies to defend her from bullies, as well the usual Giallo stapes of sudden, violent deaths with bright red blood and rolling heads. But Phenomena is soaked less with atmosphere than some of Argento’s more popular films – there is the play of light and dark, but none of the flights of colour and fantasy that come into movies like Tenebrae or Inferno.

While Suspiria and Deep Red are considered works of art, Phenonema feels like a more personal project from Argento, almost as if he’s dropped any pretence of what’s expected from him and is simply doing whatever the hell he wants. Phenonema is like a dreamy walk through haunted house that keeps you guessing, and then all of a sudden shocks the living hell out of you. You know it’s coming but it’s still a stomach-churning and mind bending experience. Phonomena is streaming now on Shudder, and available on an amazing 4K Blu Ray restoration from Arrow Films.