Creepers (1985)
aka Phenomena
Article 5778 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-27-2020
Directed by Dario Argento
Featuring Jennifer Connelly, Donald Pleasence, Daria Nicolodi
Country: Italy, Switzerland
What it is: Argento, of course

The daughter of an American actor is sent to a boarding school in Switzerland. She sleepwalks, has telepathic communication with insects, and helps an entomologist track down a serial killer.

I take my hat off to Argento; I find it fascinating the way he can jumble together a bewildering array of plot elements (enough for three movies) all in one movie and not have it collapse into incoherence. Which is my way of saying that this movie more or less works, especially during a climax which has a few surprises up its sleeve. The version I saw was only 88 minutes, though there is an hour and 56 minute version of it out there. If IMDB is correct, it’s Argento’s favorite of those he directed, though I still prefer SUSPIRIA (which shares a few plot elements with this one). All in all, I found this one pretty good, though it is occasionally bewildering.