A rather important example of 1980s Italosploitation cinema. The directorial debut of Michele Soavi, this 1987 film followed nearly a decade’s worth of work as an assistant and/or second unit director (and sometime actor) for filmmakers like Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci and Aristide Massaccesi, a.k.a. Joe D’Amato, who put up the money for STAGE FRIGHT (DELIRIA).
…from a purely visual standpoint STAGE FRIGHT is a near-masterpiece.
The film wasn’t a huge success, undergoing heavy postproduction editing in several countries and given a US release that was extremely limited. It did, however, impress director Terry Gilliam enough to employ Soavi as a second unit director on THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN (1989) and THE BROTHERS GRIMM (2005), and led to an impressive directorial career that included THE CHURCH (1989), THE SECT (1991) and CEMETERY MAN (1994).
STAGE FRIGHT is a routine slasher flick plot-wise, with Irving Wallace (Clain Parker), a deranged actor, escaping from an insane asylum and making his way back to the theater for which he was previously employed. Soavi and his screenwriters George Eastman (a.k.a. Luigi Montefiori, a frequent D’Amato collaborator) and Sheila Goldberg (known at the time as a dialogue coach for filmmakers like Dario Argento and Salvatore Samperi) don’t do much with this concept, with the emphasis on visual design. Soavi trained as a painter prior to entering the film world, and from a purely visual standpoint STAGE FRIGHT is a near-masterpiece.
It did, however, impress director Terry Gilliam enough to employ Soavi as a second unit director on THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN (1989) and THE BROTHERS GRIMM (2005)…
The fun begins when Alicia (Barbara Cupsiti), a performer in a very eighties rock musical, injures herself during rehearsal. The costume designer Betty (Ulrike Schwerk) drives Alicia to a nearby hospital—actually the asylum from which Wallace has just escaped. He hides out in Betty’s car and kills her.
The theater’s resident director Peter (David Brandon) figures the murder will generate publicity for his musical, and rewrites the script accordingly. But then Wallace enters the theater and, donning a creepy owl’s head mask, locks its outer doors, utilizing a wealth of weaponry—drill, pickaxe, chainsaw—to off nearly everyone inside, and then, in the film’s most striking image, theatrically arranges the corpses on the stage amid a sea of feathers.
Soavi makes excellent use of his interior sets, incorporating lengthy tracking shots, glitzy lighting (neon is quite prominent in this theater), mirror imagery, a crawl beneath the main stage and a dash through the rafters. It’s a testament to the talents of Soavi and cinematographer Renato Tafuri (who went on to photograph THE CHURCH) that despite the fact that around 70 percent of the film takes place in a rather cramped space (not dissimilar to Lamberto Bava’s DEMONS, upon which Soavi worked as a second unit director) no two scenes look alike.
Soavi makes excellent use of his interior sets, incorporating lengthy tracking shots, glitzy lighting (neon is quite prominent in this theater), mirror imagery, a crawl beneath the main stage and a dash through the rafters.
The cast includes an impressive selection of Eurotrash legends, such as David Brandon (CALIGULA: THE UNTOLD STORY), Joe Morghen (a.k.a. Giovanni Lombardo Radice, of CANNIBAL APOCALYPSE, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD, HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK, etc.), Barbara Cupisti (THE NEW YORK RIPPER, OPERA) and Soavi himself (as one of two ineffectual cops stationed outside the theater). None of the performances, alas, are what I’d call award-worthy; Soavi’s filmmaking talents hadn’t yet encompassed the handling of actors, and the expected lousy English dubbing (with which Soavi himself reportedly wasn’t too pleased) only furthers the poor emoting.
Vital Statistics
STAGE FRIGHT (DELIRIA)
Filmirage
Director: Michele Soavi
Producers: Aristide Massaccesi, Donatella Donati
Screenplay: “Lew Cooper” (Luigi Montefiori), Sheila Goldberg
Cinematography: Renato Tafuri
Editing: Kathleen Stratton
Cast: David Brandon, Barbara Cupsti, Dominico Fiore, Robert Gligorov, “Joe Morghen” (Giovanni Lombardo Radice), Mickey Knox, Clain Parker, “Lori Parrel” (Loredana Parrella), Martin Phillips, James Sampson, Ulrike Schwerk, Mary Sellers, Jo Anne Smith, Sheila Godberg, Michele Soavi