Synapse films will release Dario Argento’s ‘Phenomena’ in March

• Phenomena will be released in 4K Ultra HD on March 14, 2023.
• Phenomena is being brought back to life with a new box set.

A Dario Argento horror masterpiece is being given fresh life by Synapse Films. The Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Connelly and the late Halloween star Donald Pleasance star in the 1985 macabre masterpiece Phenomena, which will be released in 4K Ultra HD on March 14, 2023, along with a new box set packed with bonus materials.

Phenomena’s main character provided a small variation on the slasher template. When a murderer begins terrorizing the campus, Jennifer Corvino (Connelly) is a student at a private Swiss all-girls academy.

Jennifer has the ability to telepathically converse with insects, which allows her to team up with an ally in the form of entomologist Dr. John McGregor rather than being simply another possible victim (Pleasance).

She is given a deadline by McGregor to utilize the insects to track down the murderer because it is obvious they would next target her.

She’s in a race against time to protect herself and others from the evil plan as she deals with chimpanzees brandishing razors, maggots, and other disgusting crawlies.

Phenomena is not as well recognised as Argento’s other films, such as Suspiria and Deep Red, but it is nonetheless a marvel in its own right because of the director’s spectacular visuals and original plot.

More people will have the opportunity to witness the movie in its most excellent version to date thanks to the remaster, which features greatly enhanced graphics for Dolby Vision and different masters of the brilliant original music.

The soundtrack for the movie was composed by heavy metal greats Motörhead, Iron Maiden, Andi Sex Gang, Bill Wyman, and Simon Boswell, as well as prog-rock stalwarts Goblin.

The box set will include all three of Argento’s films, including the Italian, U.S., and U.S. Creepers cuts from New Line Cinema, for those who want to fully experience the bug-filled classic.

Phenomena was originally shown by American viewers in the latter edit, which had a significantly lower runtime (falling from 116 minutes to 83 minutes).

The box set’s additional features are jam-packed with goodies, including radio spots and trailers for the Italian and worldwide marketing campaigns for the picture as well as the American Creepers version.

Derek Botelho, a film historian and author who is an authority on all things Argento, and journalist David Del Valle provide the audio commentary for the film’s foreign release.

Along with the more common bonus features, the collection also contains the 2017 documentary Of Flies and Maggots, which features interviews with Argento and the cast of the movie, including Fiore Argento, Davide Marotta, Daria Nicolodi, and others.

The documentary was produced by Arrow Films, who also made a video essay for it called The Three Sarcophagi in which director Michael Mackenzie contrasts several versions of the movie. The “Jennifer” music video, which was directed by Dario Argento, completes the set.

On March 14, 2023, the Phenomena 4K Ultra HD box set will be priced at $49.95.

The creepy-crawly special edition box has a reversible cover with both the original Italian art and new art by Nick Charge.

The video is below.

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