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Deliria (film)
Encyclopedia
Stage Fright is a 1987
Italian
horror film
directed by Michele Soavi
. The film stars Barbara Cupisti
, David Brandon, Giovanni Lombardo Radice
, Loredana Parrella, Martin Phillips, Robert Gligorov, Jo Ann Smith, Ulrike Schwerk, Piero Vida
, Mary Sellers, and Clain Parker. Written by George Eastman
(writing as Lew Cooper), the story combines elements of the giallo
and slasher
genres. Joe D'Amato
served as the film's producer.
and sneaked out of the asylum, hiding in the back of Betty's car.
Once they arrive back at the theater the over-bearing director (Brandon) fires Alicia for leaving during rehearsal. She packs her things and gets ready to leave, but makes a terrifying discovery in the parking lot...Betty's murdered corpse.
After the police have taken the body away and stationed two patrol officers in the parking lot to keep an eye on the premises, the director has one of his actresses hide the theater's key so no one can leave, as he has decided to alter the play's script. Instead of being an anonymous killer, he renames the show's antagonist Irving Wallace, and he wants everyone to stay the night and begin immediate rehearsals with the new material. But things become even more nightmarish when the real Wallace disembowels the actress who hid the key, and the remaining members of the cast and crew realize that there is no way to escape the psychopath's clutches.
1987 in film
-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records....
Italian
Cinema of Italy
The history of Italian cinema began just a few months after the Lumière brothers had patented their Cinematographe, when Pope Leo XIII was filmed for a few seconds in the act of blessing the camera.-Early years:...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
directed by Michele Soavi
Michele Soavi
Michele Soavi, sometimes known as Michael Soavi is an Italian filmmaker.-Career:Michele Soavi was born in Milan. As a teenager, Soavi enrolled in creative arts classes and developed into a talented actor. He took acting lessons at Milan's Fersen Studios, but his greatest talent was working behind...
. The film stars Barbara Cupisti
Barbara Cupisti
Barbara Cupisti used to be an Italian television and film actress who is well known outside of her native country by Horror fans. They will most likely recognize her from her films with director Michele Soavi.Since 2002 she started to direct....
, David Brandon, Giovanni Lombardo Radice
Giovanni Lombardo Radice
Giovanni Lombardo Radice is an Italian film actor, better known to audiences as John Morghen.Radice is mostly famous for the gruesome death scenes his characters fall victim to in films such as Cannibal Ferox...
, Loredana Parrella, Martin Phillips, Robert Gligorov, Jo Ann Smith, Ulrike Schwerk, Piero Vida
Piero Vida
Piero Vida was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 52 films between 1959 and 1987. He was born in Venice, Italy and died in Rome, Italy.-Selected filmography:* Slalom * Capricci by Carmelo Bene...
, Mary Sellers, and Clain Parker. Written by George Eastman
George Eastman (actor)
George Eastman is an Italian B-movie actor and screenwriter.Eastman was born in Genoa, Italy. He took his Americanized alias "George Eastman" when he was cast as a "heavy" in many spaghetti westerns made in the late 1960s and early 1970s...
(writing as Lew Cooper), the story combines elements of the giallo
Giallo
Giallo is an Italian 20th century genre of literature and film, which in Italian indicates crime fiction and mystery. In the English language it refers to a genre similar to the French fantastique genre and includes elements of horror fiction and eroticism...
and slasher
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
genres. Joe D'Amato
Joe D'Amato
Joe D'Amato, was a prolific Italian filmmaker who directed roughly 200 films, usually at the same time acting as producer and cinematographer, and sometimes providing the script as well...
served as the film's producer.
Plot
The film takes place in a theater late at night as a troupe of actors are rehearsing a musical about a mass murderer known as the Night Owl. The show's leading lady, Alicia (Cupisti), sprains her ankle and she and the wardrobe mistress, Betty (Schwerk), sneak out of the rehearsal to go to a doctor. But the closest medical facility is a mental hospital. The psychiatrist on duty is only happy to help, but the wardrobe mistress notices a restrained patient on a bed lying in a room behind bars. The doctor tells them that it is Irving Wallace, a former actor who went berserk and killed over a dozen people. Unbeknownst to any of them, Wallace has killed one of the attendants with a syringeSyringe
A syringe is a simple pump consisting of a plunger that fits tightly in a tube. The plunger can be pulled and pushed along inside a cylindrical tube , allowing the syringe to take in and expel a liquid or gas through an orifice at the open end of the tube...
and sneaked out of the asylum, hiding in the back of Betty's car.
Once they arrive back at the theater the over-bearing director (Brandon) fires Alicia for leaving during rehearsal. She packs her things and gets ready to leave, but makes a terrifying discovery in the parking lot...Betty's murdered corpse.
After the police have taken the body away and stationed two patrol officers in the parking lot to keep an eye on the premises, the director has one of his actresses hide the theater's key so no one can leave, as he has decided to alter the play's script. Instead of being an anonymous killer, he renames the show's antagonist Irving Wallace, and he wants everyone to stay the night and begin immediate rehearsals with the new material. But things become even more nightmarish when the real Wallace disembowels the actress who hid the key, and the remaining members of the cast and crew realize that there is no way to escape the psychopath's clutches.
Cast
- David Brandon as Peter
- Barbara CupistiBarbara CupistiBarbara Cupisti used to be an Italian television and film actress who is well known outside of her native country by Horror fans. They will most likely recognize her from her films with director Michele Soavi.Since 2002 she started to direct....
as Alicia - Domenico Fiore as Police Chief
- Robert Gligorov as Danny
- Mickey KnoxMickey Knox (actor)Abraham "Mickey" Knox is an American actor, screenwriter, film producer and novelist. He is associated with the Hollywood blacklist when he was forced to move to Italy to work. As an actor, he currently has 78 listed credits. Quentin Tarantino named his lead character after him in the film...
as Old Cop - Giovanni Lombardo RadiceGiovanni Lombardo RadiceGiovanni Lombardo Radice is an Italian film actor, better known to audiences as John Morghen.Radice is mostly famous for the gruesome death scenes his characters fall victim to in films such as Cannibal Ferox...
as Brett - Clain Parker as Irving Wallace
- Loredana Parrella as Corinne
- Martin Philips as Mark
- James Sampson as Willy (as James E.R. Sampson)
- Ulrike Schwerk as Betty
- Mary Sellers as Laurel
- Jo Ann Smith as Sybil
- Piero VidaPiero VidaPiero Vida was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 52 films between 1959 and 1987. He was born in Venice, Italy and died in Rome, Italy.-Selected filmography:* Slalom * Capricci by Carmelo Bene...
as Ferrari - Richard Barkeley as Dr. Porter
Alternate versions
- The DVD release from Anchor BayAnchor BayAnchor Bay may refer to:* Anchor Bay, California, a small coastal community in northern California* Anchor Bay, is a bay in Malta, also known as Prajjiet or Popeye Village Bay* Anchor Bay Entertainment, a home video company...
Entertainment is the complete and uncut film. - The original 1986 UK Avatar video release was pre-cut before submission. Later issues on the Redemption and Vipco labels were fully uncut.
- The Australian VHS release of Stage Fright is edited for content, among the cut footage is:
- Under shot of Mark with the driller through his chest is cut
- Close up of the drill wound gushing blood is cut
- Wide shot of Danny pulling up Cybil with the intestines showing is cut
- Close up of chainsaw cutting through Danny's chest
- Wallace sawing off Peter's arm remains for a few seconds but bleeding from the severed arm is cut
- A second shot of Peters head rolling across the floor is cut
Production notes
- This was Soavi's first feature film as director. He had previously worked as an assistant director for Joe D'AmatoJoe D'AmatoJoe D'Amato, was a prolific Italian filmmaker who directed roughly 200 films, usually at the same time acting as producer and cinematographer, and sometimes providing the script as well...
, Dario ArgentoDario ArgentoDario Argento is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, particularly in the subgenre known as giallo, and for his influence on modern horror and slasher movies....
, and Lamberto BavaLamberto BavaLamberto Bava is an Italian film director, specializing in horror and fantasy films.Bava was born in Rome, Italy, the son of cinematographer/director Mario Bava, and grandson of cameraman Eugenio Bava...
. He directed the music video The Valley for Argento's Phenomena, as well as the documentary Dario Argento's World of HorrorDario Argento's World of HorrorIl Mondo dell'orrore di Dario Argento is an Italian documentary film, released in 1985, which chronicles the career of Italian horror and suspense movie director, Dario Argento...
. - George Eastman (real name Luigi Montefiore), wrote the screenplay under the name Lew Cooper, one of his many pseudonyms.
- During a showing of the film at a late 1990s annual Fantasia Film Festival, audience members tossed feathers from the upper balcony during the film's finale, which features feathers dropping onto a stage ornamented with the killer's victims.
- Director Michele Soavi cameos as the young cop staked out in the patrol car outside the theater.
- Co-writer Sheila Goldberg plays the nurse that tries to turn Betty and Alicia away at the psych ward.