Phenomena - How You Discovered It
 

I don't think I've ever had a thread like this before in a section dedicated to one release but this is all about how you discovered Phenomena, where you first saw the film and how long you've been a fan.

I didn't see Phenomena in its complete form for a couple of years after I first saw the film which was in the R1 Drive-In Movie Classics: 50 Movie Pack in its butchered form and under the title Creeper. There was something about the film that made it stand out over most of the other 49 that made me return to it, research the title and then buy the proper R1 Anchor Bay release a couple of years ago.

I rented this in the late 90s for the first time and loved every minute of it, from Donald Pleasance's rather demented performance where he talks to his monkey a little too often to the excellent performance by Jennifer Connelly to the magnificent locations of the boarding school and the Swiss scenery... This always remained one of my favourite Argento films, if not my favourite, and is crying out for a great transfer. So thanks for releasing this, Arrow! :D

Ah well I discovered this as the heavily cut Creepers that Palace put out. Without the web and only Darkside easily kicking about it took quite a bit of detective work to become a fan so when I got Tenebrae as an old Betamax tape I thought I have to get more Argento - this guy is mental!

So I was well pleased to discover an old Palace sell-thru tape in the Brunstfield branch of Azad Video in the early 90s. It was another manic assault on the senses and the bonus of Jennifer Connolly being in it was quite something. I was never that keen on the way Palace packaged it but thinking about it it was an attempt to create a collectible range which included other treats from Basketcase to Dream Demon.

Back then the thought of Creepers uncut was just something you could never think would happen or indeed widescreen with picture quality to match so the debate focused very much on the films we watched and that was a huge part of the fun of collecting and getting into horror - pulling the films apart.

I remember renting it (As Creepers) the first week that it came out. This was due to it having a cover designed by the guy who also did the Spookies cover and the Death Warmed Up one (can someone remember his name? It may even be the guy who did the cover for The Video Nasties DVD, they certinally look like they have a similar style). It wasn't until 2000 when the cheap UK dvd (Platinum dvd I think the label was) came out that I got to see the full uncut Phenomena and by that time I was a major Argento fan and was desperate to see it after watching Dario Argento's World of Horror.

I only saw it a few months ago on the Horror channel as part of the Argento season. I really liked it though, and can't wait for the release:)

This was the first Argento film I saw – and I was probably about 13 at the time. Saw it at a friend of a friend’s house – his mother didn’t vet what he watched and I was completely drawn into it, probably because it was something I shouldn’t have been watching and probably because of how bonkers it is. Funny thing is, the tape I saw, was the Palace rental version (BBFC edits to the already truncated US print – missing around 20 minutes of footage all told). I watched it again in the early nineties via the same release, and even though I was beginning to take a serious interest in film, Phenomena, or Creepers as it was then known, still managed to enthral me.

I have been racking my brain and I just cannot remember! It was back in the late 80s though and probably was certainly one of the first Argento flicks I saw. I am pretty sure it was the Palace VHS with the ace purple cover and gold box - I certainly owned one of those for awhile!

I first saw it on the Palace rental tape,and although as said earlier,butchered,it was still enjoyable.

I believe it is Graeme Humphrey, or something similar.

It does appear to be him as there are YouTube videos of his posters and cover artwork that appears when you put his name in Google.

First time I saw it was when I was about 14 and hired out the old Palace release. The guy who ran the video shop used to let me hire out anything I wanted apart from the saucy stuff which let's face it wasn't work a wank anyway. (no pun intended)

i think it was about 12 years ago, i was around 16 years old, i'd been fascinated with argento since reading an article about the uncut suspiria in an early issue of deep red when i was a child, although i'd never actually seen any! anyway i discovered uncut anchor bay vhs' could be purchased from amazon, so i got my mate to order a whole bunch of stuff on his mums credit card for me, including the new york ripper, cannibal ferox, tenebrae, deep red, combat shock, city of the living dead, the beyond and phenomena. i spent the next couple of days watching them all non-stop, what can i say, i loved phenomena immidiately, particularly as jennifer connely was the first girl i ever had 'feelings' for (as a kid watching her in labyrinth, then as a young teenager seeing her in the hot spot) so it was doubly awesome! i loved the madness of it all, probably my favourite argento to this day, either that or tenebrae i think.
VERY exited to get this on bluray, god bless you arrow! :)

Haha!

I used to have a video shop that was run by a guy who had a similar philosophy.
He was a real Cockney barrow-boy character. If you ever asked him what a film was like he'd reply with: "It's Facking wicked!" He was a nice bloke, actually. Nice as he was, he would have been nicked for renting 18s-rated films to my twelve year-old self, even back then in '87. Those were the days.

I first watched this a few months ago on the Horror Channel. I recorded it on the V+ box, got thoroughly engrossed, then right near the end (about 10 mins away I think) the recording stopped so I've yet to see the ending :(
Thank the lord for Arrow releasing it on Blu-ray as I'll get to see it all again in glorious HD and will finally get to see how it ends.

along with most people here it seems, twas the Palace vhs aka Creepers (ive still got it, wheee harumph) that turned me onto this, though cant remember if i saw this at the same time as Tenebrae or before...funnily enough was the first dvd i ever bought....

Drunk on a bottle of very very cheap French red wine....which may or may not of enhanced the experience........pretty sure it was the hacked Creepers VHS version too

Phenomena was my first experience of Dario Argento and italian cinema. I watched it with my dad one night cause he's always shown me the films he loves.
I remember being scared when the deformed kid turns around and jumping when Daria cuts of that guys head with a large piece of sheet metal, crazy!
Great film and will always be pretty special to me seems though it was my first film of Dario's, maybe not my favourite though.

I first caught "Phenomena" as an uncut (as in "intenrational version") Dutch tape in the early 90's, little later rented out the (surprisingly only slightly) cut German rental vhs before owning the mentioned Palace release as "Creepers" for a while.
A laserdisc and 2 DVD releases followed, with neither of them doing the film fully justice- so I'm very keen on upgrading to the "Arrow" release.:)
While I don't think the first use of "Iron Maiden" in the flick is really working too well, I loved about everything else about it, the mood, music, locations and in particular Pleasence's and Connelly's performances.:rockon:

Likewise-a right dodgy character ran our local emporium-anything for a quid-fifty rental!:lol:

Electric blue-you name it! :lol:

Back in the mid-1980's, I had not yet seen any of Dario's film's. My only exposure to his work was through articles in Fangoria and Cinefantastique. The main article was, "The Butchering of Argento," by Tim Lucas which ran through all of his films on video and what was cut from them. Of course, it said that Phenomena was cut 28 minutes. 82 down from 110. I must've read this article a hundred times as I tried to track down copies of these films in any form.

Cut to: Early 1990's. I was working on a film and the editor and I were talking about horror movies. The subject of Argento came up and he said he had ALL of his films on tape UNCUT. Did I want to want to borrow them. I spent the next two weekends pouring over the tapes. Looking back, I wish I had copied them. Later (1996) I found a place called Eddie Brandt where I purchased my own copies.

After that I got the Laserdiscs from The Roan Group in the late '90's then the DVD's from Anchor Bay.

I take it you like Dario Argento's films then!

As it was an Dario Argento film. I discovered it by looking for films by this amazing Director.

I'm almost certain that Phenomena, or Creepers, was reviews on Film 85 (?) on the BBC, but not by the regular host Barry Norman, who would have panned it anyway, but by stand in host Michael Parkinson. Who panned it anyway!

I'd have been 14 at the time and I'm not sure I was an argento fan at the time - I was buying Fango around that period.

Parky reviewing Creepers - what a thought!

I had vague recollections of seeing a movie with a chimp and a maggot infested pool of body parts from my childhood and the name Creepers was ringing bells when I purchased the Ultimate Shockfest box-set late last year and got to see it again but it had been so long it was pretty much all new to me. Thanks guys for continuing to give us what we really want in a DVD release, roll on 7th of March!

I haven't seen the film yet

You are in for such a treat my friend. I wish it was me.:)

im buying it this Sunday

You'll be on here on Monday raving about how good it is.;):woot:

lol, yep I will - just bought THE BEYOND today so im going to check it out 2night but can't wait for Sunday

Have you not seen that either? You will LOVE The Beyond. One of Fulci's very best IMO.

Just got mine through the post yesterday but it's one of the faulty ones sadly (was kinda expecting this to be the case so not too disappointed though). Was still tempted to watch it tonight but I think I'm gonna hold off till the replacement disc arrives.

Still plenty of extras to be enjoying in the meantime though I suppose :)

And yup, Phenomena's great too. Crazier than a box of frogs, but that's how we like em eh? ;) Watched the Blu Ray earlier this week and was generally very impressed with the job Arrow have done. Very jealous you get to watch it for the first time in HD btw Bringer ;)

I had THE BEYOND as the VIPCO version for yrs - since 2002. I sold it today and replaced it with the ARROW edition of the film.... today

Phenomena
 

First saw this on a 20 film dox set called the ultimate shockfest released by firecake. Like all the other films in the collection it was cut to hell but I liked it straight away. The soundtrack particularly is awsome and played no small part in my fondness for the film, but thats for another thread i s'pose.

Well done Arrow:clap:

I first saw this in the late 80's on VHS as the truncated Creepers, but still really enjoyed it nonetheless. I didn't view it again until 1999 when I picked up the Anchor Bay US DVD and saw it as intended. Now I need to get this new Blu-ray. :)

I just bought it yesterday, so when I watch it, that will be the 1st time I have ever seen the film

Well let's see I must've been about 9-10 I think..:shocked:

But I get my sick taste in horror from my old man and once upon a crime when there was this advanced technology called 'video', the old man had a Palace rental video of 'creepers' and from a young age I always used to piss around with his collection to his horror and this particular one was one I played arund with the most...eventually I ended up owning my own video which was a seel through copy on the palace 'horror' label....but who would've known 13 years later I would have a super duper blu ray WITH the original rental case as alternative art? :clap:

I remember renting Sleepaway Camp 2 and 3 from my local video store without seeing the first. Well, I absolutely loved them, and I started the hunt for the original (mind you, this was before internet ordering). After I found it, they rented out 5 tapes for 5 dollars for 5 nights, so I got it, Bloody Birthday, Demonic Toys, The Hatchet Murders, and Creepers. The "pool" scene haunted me until I asked about it on IMDB (The horror board is so awesome!) so I bought the Anchor Bay disc, and then ordered the Arrow blu as soon as it was released.

First saw Creepers in the mid 90s, now I could be wrong but I'm almost certain it was shown as a Frightday night horror on the BBC. Same way I saw Phantasm and The Fog.
Years later I got the '5 films by Dario Argento' R1 steelbook set from Amazon and then watched it on the big screen during last year's Horrorthon in the IFI, Dublin. Got to meet Sergio Stivaletti afterwards, was great.