(Reviewed by Snake-666) - Artistic slasher superior to most similar films from the era!  A psychotic former actor named Irving Wallace (Clain Parker) escapes from a mental hospital and hides away in an actress's car. After being driven to a theatre where a group of actors are rehearsing a play he quickly dispatches the actress, and then proceeds to lock himself in the theatre for a gruesome night of blood shed.

Italian director Michele Soavi directed this artistic and gory slasher movie. Bypassing the usual clichés of 80's slashers, ‘StageFright' is a welcome change from the likes of ‘Friday the 13th'. Though the plot does on occasion stretch the lines of credibility there is a persistent feeling of realism created by the way that Soavi is able to manipulate the characters and his exceptionally intelligent use of the soundtrack. Soavi makes the soundtrack an integral part of the movie by having parts of it actually in the world in which his characters reside. This means that the killer is able to manipulate (to a point) when music is played in order to instil terror in the viewer, as well as his victims. Many movies have used a similar effect but few have been able to use it as proficiently and inventively as ‘StageFright'. The soundtrack itself is very fitting to the way the film is paced. Soavi astutely blends a fast-paced and exciting first hour with a more methodical, suspense-driven finale. The integration of the pace changes is virtually seamless and really adds to the effect Soavi attempts to create.

David Brandon and Barbara Cupisti head up the cast and portray their characters very well. Brandon's portrayal of the merciless, but soon remorseful, Peter is of a very convincing standard and certainly compliments the constant ominous atmosphere of the movie itself. Although the cast may not be the most talented of performers, none of them really failed in putting in a respectable portrayal of their different characters. One highlight was the casting of perennial victim Giovanni Lombardo Radice (credited as John Morghen) in the role of the rather camp Brett. Radice adds a small, but welcome, element of humour to the movie with his multiple quips and snide remarks towards other cast members of the play. The humour, however, rarely takes priority over the main story and once the killing begins, the humour is all but gone. The murders themselves are brutal and effective. A wide range of weapons are used to kill off the cast in extremely bloody ways, from a knife all the way to the beloved chainsaw. In my opinion it was a shame that the killer wore such a ridiculous looking costume but this did not really have any negative impact on a somewhat harrowing movie.

There were some sporadic moments of badly written dialogue and the occasional inconceivable situation but none of that really harms ‘StageFright'. The movie is a very artistic and imaginative slasher that is executed better than the majority of slashers from the same era. The death scenes are generally inventive and particularly bloody. The special effects are also, generally, of a very high quality and succeed in adding more realism to an already fairly realistic movie. Unfortunately, there are few scenes that could be deemed as scary but ‘StageFright' excels at being an atmospheric horror movie. Stylish and artistically directed, good performances and for the most part well written. I recommend this movie! My rating for ‘StageFright' – 7.5/10.