Stage Fright is surprising in how reminiscent it is of Dario Argento's style. Most notably when it gets suspenseful and The Goblins-type music starts playing instead of something more typically suspenseful (classical music). Since the plot takes place in a theater, filled with actors who happen to be in costume, of course it is also bright and colorful and almost artsy just as Argento films tend to be. But moving on.
The story's pretty simple. There is a serial killer locked inside a theater with a group of actors. They die off one by one (what else did you expect). Simple enough. But what makes this movie so GOOD? The characters are all, as they say, a character. Animosity exists among the actors but then the killer is out there and so they are a collective group of victims at the same time. They all meet their makers in different way, for the killer, (who creepily enough wears a mask from the play the actors are starring in), doesn't have an attachment to any one tool. He will use what he can when he can and you never know what it may be. The lead victim, Alicia, is easy to empathize with. She's on the quiet side but you don't want her to die and you know if someone gets the killer, it will have to be her. The gore is nice, as usual some realistic and some not, but all of it is somewhat classy.
Here's something to think about. The play within the movie goes as so: a man goes around raping and killing at night. He wears a mask. Later in the movie, for reasons I won't spoil, the director wants the killer in the play to be portrayed as the real life killer. Later in the movie (and this is all still early on), the real life killer puts on the original mask from the play and goes around killing like so. Now how's that for cool? You don't find weird stuff like this in every movie.
The general 80's and Broadway-ish scenery for Stage Fright is pretty cool too. I was reluctant to watch this because what do I want to see a bunch of actors in some play get slaughtered for? I think Scream ruined that for all of us, right? Well I was wrong. This movie is excellent. It all comes together very nicely. It's good to watch in and of itself and it's got a good soundtrack. Plus the story itself, which while not the most intricate, helps make for an overall excellent movie.
The story's pretty simple. There is a serial killer locked inside a theater with a group of actors. They die off one by one (what else did you expect). Simple enough. But what makes this movie so GOOD? The characters are all, as they say, a character. Animosity exists among the actors but then the killer is out there and so they are a collective group of victims at the same time. They all meet their makers in different way, for the killer, (who creepily enough wears a mask from the play the actors are starring in), doesn't have an attachment to any one tool. He will use what he can when he can and you never know what it may be. The lead victim, Alicia, is easy to empathize with. She's on the quiet side but you don't want her to die and you know if someone gets the killer, it will have to be her. The gore is nice, as usual some realistic and some not, but all of it is somewhat classy.
Here's something to think about. The play within the movie goes as so: a man goes around raping and killing at night. He wears a mask. Later in the movie, for reasons I won't spoil, the director wants the killer in the play to be portrayed as the real life killer. Later in the movie (and this is all still early on), the real life killer puts on the original mask from the play and goes around killing like so. Now how's that for cool? You don't find weird stuff like this in every movie.
The general 80's and Broadway-ish scenery for Stage Fright is pretty cool too. I was reluctant to watch this because what do I want to see a bunch of actors in some play get slaughtered for? I think Scream ruined that for all of us, right? Well I was wrong. This movie is excellent. It all comes together very nicely. It's good to watch in and of itself and it's got a good soundtrack. Plus the story itself, which while not the most intricate, helps make for an overall excellent movie.