Stage Fright

1987
Dir. Michele Soavi

AKA Bloody Bird
Sound Stage Massacre
Deliria
StageFright: Aquarius

A group of actors are trapped inside a theatre while rehearsing a production based on the life of a nasty serial killer – who is also lurking inside the theatre and begins to pick off the actors one by one in a series of increasingly grisly ways…

Argento protégé Michele Soavi directed this, his debut film, as something of a homage to Dario Argento. The film is laced with outlandish implausibility and forehead-smacking irrationality, but it is shot through with such unflinching intensity and flair, it manages to retain one’s attention and even immerse the viewer in a dark and claustrophobic world in which a violent psychopath lurks behind every corner. Argento’s influence on Soavi is apparent in the film’s visual department: creepy sets and lurid lighting abound in Stage Fright, and while it might arguably be all style over substance – what style it is!

The film begins with what appears to be a murder attempt in a dark and eerily lit alley. Suddenly the camera pulls back to reveal what we are actually witnessing is a dress rehearsal by a theatre troupe producing a play entitled The Night Owl. It is with this scene, and a few others like it that pepper the film, that Soavi sets the tone for Stage Fright. We are constantly reminded that what we are watching is an illusion. This isn’t done in an overly jokey ‘we’re so postmodern’ way; rather a more sly, playful approach is utilised to reflect upon the artifice of cinema and the horror genre in particular. During a particularly canny scene, just before a character is killed, a bottle of fake blood falls to the floor, its contents spilling everywhere. Moments later when the character is killed by the owl-head wearing killer, his own blood mixes with that of the fake blood already on the floor.




While the scenes depicting violence and stalking are carried off with aplomb, the same cannot be said of the rudimentary characterisation. Vague attempts are made to flesh out characters who are drawn with the broadest of strokes. Soavi's interests lie elsewhere though, especially in the mechanics of dread and ratcheting up tension. There is absolutely no question surrounding the killer’s identity (it isn't a murder mystery or a giallo) or his motives. By sidestepping this sort of information, and therefore casting aside the need for exposition, Soavi quickly gets to work on fashioning a taut, back to basics slasher. So what we get is a limited set up and then the creepy tension mounts and the blood flows. That said, Soavi still finds time to craftily toy with our expectations, and every now and again he provides something that is pleasantly refreshing in an otherwise by-the-numbers slasher film.

This is carefully exemplified in a rather tense scene in which we are led to believe (or simply assume, because it usually happens this way) that the killer is hiding in the back seat of a character's parked car. She sits futilely waiting for the intense rain to subside. And she continues to wait. And wait. All the while the tension mounts. While Soavi musters a dark and unnerving foreboding throughout, relaying heavily on atmospheric lighting and effective editing, he also has a little fun with the film’s mise en scene. There are a number of moments when something strange, such as a mask or a mannequin in the forefront of a shot, proves quite striking and startling. A particularly memorable moment occurs towards the climax, when resourceful Alicia (Barbara Cupisti) discovers she is the only one still left alive. She seeks refuge under the stage as the killer, wearing a large owl head, grandly emerges. Accompanied by the strains of operatic music, he begins to adjust the exquisitely strewn corpses of his victims. Feathers float ethereally around the space and the scene possesses a strange, morbid beauty. Some frantic tension involving a misplaced key ensues. 

Despite these neat little touches, Soavi is still too quick to employ conventional shock tactics – the obligatory cat jumping out of a cupboard raises more of a chuckle than a jolt. Interestingly though, the group of characters attempt to stick together and there's a real sense of camaraderie. With this film Soavi emerges from Argento's shadow to find his own voice and vision. With his subsequent films such as The Sect, The Church and Dellamorte, Dellamore, he would really prove himself as a director of unique talent and vision, and come into his own as a purveyor of stylish, atmospheric and edgy horror.
Stage Fright is an unpretentious slasher film that possesses artistic flair, a striking visual style and more than a few moments of genuine tension.