Phenomena (1985) on Netflix
Jennifer Corvino, daughter of a famous actor, arrives at a Swiss boarding school. She sleepwalks and communicates telepathically with insects, while a killer murders young girls nearby.
- Netflix3.1/5
- IMDb6.7/1033,599 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes74%
Trailer
Plot summary
Vera Brandt, a Danish tourist, misses a bus in the Zurich countryside and is killed by an unseen assailant. Eight months later, Inspector Rudolf Geiger of the Zurich cantonal police and the forensic entomologist John McGregor treat her as the first in a series of murdered girls. Jennifer Corvino, whose father is a famous American actor, is brought to the Richard Wagner Academy for Girls by Frau Brückner and placed with a roommate, Sophie. Jennifer sleepwalks, and one night McGregor's chimpanzee, Inga, leads her through the woods to him. McGregor sees that his captive insects are drawn to Jennifer and comes to believe that she shares a telepathic link with them, which might help him find the killer.
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Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Phenomena (1985)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Tanga the chimpanzee wielded the straight razor that scarred Daria Nicolodi during the climax, then attacked and bit off part of one of Jennifer Connelly's fingers; from then on Connelly needed a body double for some scenes.
- Dario Argento originally wanted Connelly's character in Phenomena to be the daughter of Al Pacino, with photos and video clips of Pacino included in the film, but Pacino refused, saying he didn't appreciate telling the story of a daughter he doesn't have.
SPOILER
Actor Davide Marotta, who played Brückner's deformed son, recalled that his death scene required him to be smeared in glucose before 40 million insects were released on him.- For the scene where Jennifer follows the fly, Dario Argento recalled a trick learned in his childhood and had a real fly leashed with a nylon string.
- For Phenomena's swarming scenes, special effects artist Sergio Stivaletti superimposed slowed-down footage of coffee granules floating down a fish tank over the film shot.
- The chimpanzee Tanga escaped during an outdoor scene and stayed missing for three days until forest rangers lured it back with food.
- Dario Argento was inspired to write and direct Phenomena after hearing a French radio broadcast about a murder case that had been solved thanks to the study of insects present on the corpse.
- Japanese video game developer Hifumi Kono created his 1995 video game Clock Tower using many ideas from Phenomena.
