Phenomena

The lesbian boarding school classic Mädchen in Uniform generally seems to be in the mix in Dario Argento films, and so it is with 1985’s Phenomena, another instance of a naive teenager at a girls school being monstered by staff, pupils and other forces. In this case it’s Jennifer (Jennifer Connelly), a new arrival at a school in Switzerland, getting a frosty reception from the stiff-faced headmistress (Dalila Di Lazzaro), a woman with a gravedigger’s haircut and by the other girls in the school. Everyone seems to be against her, in fact, apart from her nice roomie, Sofia (Federica Mastroianni, niece of Marcello). Out in the big wide world there’s a killer on … Read more