137. Phenomena

About this episode

Clay and Amanda explore Dario Argento's cult film 'Phenomena', discussing its unique style and place in his filmography.

This week on The Rotten Horror Picture Show Podcast , Clay and Amanda are taking a trip into the strange, dreamlike world of Dario Argento’s 1985 cult oddity Phenomena . It’s one of Argento’s most notorious films from his wildly experimental ’80s era — full of surreal imagery, pulsing Goblin music, murder mysteries, and a young Jennifer Connelly wandering through the Swiss countryside. Clay and Amanda break down the film’s off-the-wall tone, its place in Argento’s career, and why Phenomena stands out even among the director’s already very weird filmography. It’s stylish, confusing, beautiful, and deeply unsettling in ways that only Argento could manage. Now, I should probably admit something up front: I haven’t actually seen Phenomena . But I’m still excited! Why? Because I’ve been assured — by absolutely no one — that there are probably no bugs in it. And that’s important to me. Bugs and I do not get along. Spiders? No. Beetles? Absolutely not. Anything with too many legs or a weird crunch? I’m out. Horror movies already ask a lot of me emotionally — I don’t need ants crawling into my soul on top of it. So I’m going into this episode feeling optimistic. An Argento movie without…

People in this episode

Hosts: Clay, Amanda

Topics covered

• Dario Argento
• horror films
• cult cinema
• film analysis
• surreal imagery

Keywords

• Dario Argento
• Phenomena
• horror
• film review
• Jennifer Connelly
• cult film
• surrealism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Goblin

Books & works: Phenomena

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