Neon Dreams morphs into Neon Nightmares for our annual October screening, and this year we are going full glam with Stage Fright—a neon and saxophone-infused giallo-slasher from Italian horror maestro Michele Soavi (Cemetery Man).
Picture this—a psychotic actor escapes from a mental institution and hides out in a local theatre. The very theatre where a group of stage actors and crew members happen to be locking themselves inside for rehearsal of a musical production. Having no idea they voluntarily trapped themselves with a maniac, their night becomes a cat-and-mouse chase for survival as they are picked off one by one by a crazed killer donning a surreal owl mask.
Executed with an unhinged Hitchcockian flair, Stage Fright is an expertly-crafted marriage of schlocky excess and genuine terror. As a disciple of Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci, director Michele Soavi pulls out every trick he has up his sleeve for his debut feature—effectively utilizing a kitchen sink approach to deliver pure cinematic bliss from beginning to end. This delicious mix of Friday the 13th meets Phantom Of The Paradise is one of, if not the, best slashers of the '80s and certain to check every box on your Halloween checklist. (BRENDAN ROSS)
This screening and others are made possible thanks to our wonderful sponsor Hollywood Suite.