Directed by Michele Soavi
Written by George Eastman and Sheila Goldberg
Starring David Brandon, Barbara Cupisti, Domenico Fiore
Rated R
Runtime: 90 minutes 
Blu-ray and digital on demand December 27

by Victoria Potenza, Staff Writer

Slashers are a horror subgenre that is very near and dear to my heart. I love their predictability, their bloodshed, the crazy killer designs that they come up with. It all feels very comforting to me. A few years back I wrote a piece on underrated slasher films and struggled over picking just 13 of them. However I managed to make the list, and StageFright squeaked in at number 13 for me. StageFright is an endlessly fun slasher film that checks all of the boxes for me. It warms my heart to see 4k releases come out of films that I typically had to watch terrible transfers of on youtube. So I am thrilled that StageFright has gotten the 4k treatment and will be available for slasher fans to own. 

StageFright takes place one night when a theater group is spending the night rehearsing for an upcoming show. One of the leads, Alicia, hurts her ankle while practicing and she sneaks away to get it looked at by a doctor. It just so happens that the closest hospital is a psychiatric ward. And it just so happens that the ward is currently caring for Irving Wallace, an actor who went on a killing spree and butchered several people. He escapes from the hospital and follows Alicia back to the theater. As the cast continues to rehearse Irving spends the night picking them off one by one. 

At the helm of this project you have director Michele Soavi (who also performs in some favorites like City of the Living Dead and The New York Ripper), who directed several horror cult favorites like Cemetary Man and The Church. If you are a fan of any of these films, StageFright fits perfectly into this pantheon of Italian horror. The release itself looks great. This was the first time I had seen the film looking this clear. It made me appreciate how much the quality of the transfer plays into the viewing experience. I definitely liked this film even more seeing it this way. 

The film is populated with a cast of stereotypical characters; the sadistic director, the money grubbing producer, and the cut-throat actress trying to steal the spotlight. They are the perfect group to watch get killed off by the killer. The killer in this film is also so iconic. He steals an owl head from the costume room early in the film and wears it throughout his killing spree. His costuming is one of the most entertaining parts of the film. Of course one of the other very important aspects of any good slasher, are the kills. StageFright has some fantastic all out bloody kill scenes. There is a particular scene with a drill through a door that is forever burned into my brain. 

There are also the campy and inexplicable aspects of the film that are so loveable. For instance we get glimpses of the play that they are working on that seems to be one of the most nonsensical plays I have ever seen. Where the owl head is supposed to fit into this I have no idea but I love thinking about it. There is also plenty of charming dialogue and arguments between the characters, something I always find charming in these kinds of films. 

I am so thrilled that I was able to see this fantastic 4k version of the film. I look forward to more of my favorite horror gems getting this treatment in the future. If you haven’t seen StageFright you probably should check it out. And if you have seen it, I suggest giving it a rewatch because it did feel like a very different viewing experience in 4k.