I consider myself a pretty big Argento fan, so when I bought this film on DVD, I thought it was a great addition to my collection. The movie Creepers, originally titled Phenomena, is about twenty minutes shorter than Phenomena. It's missing gore, as well as dialogue. You get what you pay for though. Creepers is considerably cheaper, but it doesn't have the replay value of Phenomena. Take warning before purchasing Creepers

Creepers deserves more credit then it actually gets. It's an italian movie, and parts of it seem like it's dubbed, but I really thought it was done very well. Donald Pleasant actually was great, it was nice to see him in another movie besides all the HALLOWEEN movies. Jennifer Connenly (sp?) gives a great performance to, as a girl who is sent to a boarding school. She has a very weird, but special talent. She can call and communicate with insects. There are murders happening all around the school, a killer who is after young girls...mainly tourists. The movie keeps a good pace, and the end has a great twist. This movie is worth checking out!

"Creepers" is a modestly scary and overtly creepy horror film starring the lovely Jennifer Connelly and Donald Pleasence as (surprise!) an eccentric scientist. Connelly is shipped off to a Swiss boarding school in an area that happens to have an insane killer on the loose. She immediately dislikes the leadership at the school, and begins sleepwalking. It turns out that she has telepathic abilities with insects, and becomes fast friends with Pleasence, a wheelchair-bound Scottish professor of entomology. Pleasence also has a helpful chimp as an assist animal, in what seems like a quirk of the plot.

Connelly is disliked by the girls at the school, but is able to turn the tables by summoning her insect friends in a wonderful scene, which is my favorite in the film. After several murders Pleasence and Connelly agree on a strategy in which Connelly will use her insect ESP to detect the murderer. It's a given that this leads to no end of problems for her and Pleasence both. The plot has an interesting twist as the real murderer is unveiled. You may not be surprised, but the revelation is still traumatic and very creepy. The film then has multiple false endings that involve a motorboat, a mutant, an insect swarm, a highly improbable fire, a tearful reunion, and a vengeful chimp (not necessarily in the order in which you would expect).

The film is gross, particularly at the very beginning and very end, and suffers from some bad heavy metal music in inappropriate places, but while it is largely predictable (and Donald Pleasence is his usual hammy self), it is a decent combination of psychological and physical horror that will be pleasing to fans of the genre.

The movie itself is promising, in a B-film, camp sort of way, and, if it hadn't been for one major problem, I would have really enjoyed this film. The problem is the editing. It is clear that some of the original dialog involved profanities which had been dubbed over. It seems as if this were copied from American TV, and I'm wondering if there's a real version of this film out there. I think some scenes or bits must have been cut out, perhaps to shorten it to the requisite 1hr. 30min. for late-night TV, as well as the dubbing, and, while it is not the type of Oscar-winning film, or true cult classic, normally released in a director's cut, I imagine there must be a cinematic release, preferably the European one, where the camp can truly shine. If you're looking for a film that has a little bit of the same feel, but with a huge budget and great acting and a cop-buddy theme without the Miranda niceties, (O.K., not a whole lot a like except they're both set in the Alps) try this on for size:The Crimson Rivers

This title is also available on Drive-in Movie Classics and although not as long as the movie is under its' original title Phenomena, it has enough of the movie for it to be a suitable option. Drive-in Movie Classics also has 49 other movies included, which is a pretty good value and much better than the MAJOR BUCKS the rip-off artists who sell used DVD are trying to get you to pay for a full length version of Phenomena.