Crime/Horror/Thriller
1 hour and 30 minutes
Rated: R
Written by: Gianfranco Clerici, Vincenzo Mannino, and Gigliola Battaglini
Directed by: Ruggero Deodato
Produced by: Pietro Innocenzi
Cast:
Michael York
Edwige Fenech
Donald Pleasence
Mapi Galán
Fabio Sartor
Antonella Ponziani
How do you catch the uncatchable ...
Like most Italian filmmakers, Ruggero Deodato's body of work seems to be more and more derided as his career progresses. Perhaps derided is too heavy a word, but for whatever reason, the vast majority of Deodato's more recent films are either ignored completely or not taken as seriously as his earlier films, which have since gone on to be everyone's talking points concerning his career. Like his contemporaries Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento, perhaps it was due to the dying film industry in Italy that caused his more recent films to be cheaper in quality and seen only by a select few of diehard fans and horror hounds. But also like Fulci and Argento, Deodato has had some really stellar pieces of work in his later years that unfortunately have gone on to be unfavorably ignored by most, even more so than his masterpiece films like Cannibal Holocaust and House on the Edge of the Park have. Phantom of Death remains one of Ruggero Deodato's finest works.
Despite a career that spanned many genres, by 1988 Deodato was known as a heavy hitter in the horror circuit mainly due to the notoriety of his film Cannibal Holocaust. Knowing this, he did not shy away from horror and made such films as the enormously powerful rape/revenge flick House on the Edge of the Park and the fun, backwoods slasher film Body Count. Because of his Italian heritage and because of his being such a large name within the horror world, it seemed perfectly logical that Deodato would eventually try his hand at making a giallo.
Phantom of Death serves as the director's first attempt at the giallo subgenre, and it remains an extraordinary entry - mainly due to the fact that it takes every rule and convention of that subgenre and bends and breaks them, effectively turning the giallo on its own head. Deodato had succeeded in the past doing this with the rape/revenge subgenre, and here his brilliance shines through again. In every giallo, we as an audience are left scratching our heads wondering which of the characters introduced to us on the screen will end up being the killer by the film's conclusion. In Phantom of Death, Deodato plays with this expectation - effectively jarring his target audience - by showing them within the film's first twenty minutes exactly who the killer is. Not only that, he tells viewers all of the killer's motives - keeping no secrets whatsoever. One might think this genre bending might ruin the fun most gialli have concerning the cat-and-mouse game played by the killer and the film's investigative figure, but Phantom of Death keeps this fun genre trope, even making it more interesting by showing the audience all the cards early. By giving the killer a disease which rapidly ages his appearance, the audience knows who the killer is and why the police can't catch him - and yet this is precisely why we share in the frustration that they can't catch him. It's not because like them, we can't figure it out - but rather that we're already two steps ahead of them with the killer waiting for them to put all the pieces together. This showcases why Ruggero Deodato may be one of the most underappreciated talents in cinema of all time - his ability to create a fresh and brilliant story within an already established, and perhaps even tiring, subgenre.
Also showcasing Deodato's brilliant direction is the film's ability to create some really tense, or perhaps intense, moments. The killer shows himself early on to be an unpredictable maniac driven to madness by his disease. Keeping this in mind, the audience becomes uncertain as to when the killer will strike. Deodato does a fantastic job allowing tensions to build in every scene, and scenes like a stakeout gone wrong in a forested park, a parking garage attack sequence, and the moments leading up to the film's final confrontation are powerful and undoubtedly will remain in every viewer's mind as standout moments.
The performances are terrific, more so than the film's B-budget would suggest. Michael York does an excellent job showcasing a man falling deeper and deeper into madness, and his capability of portraying this role is so effective that even without the brilliant makeup effects, one gets the sense that they'd believe his character to be rapidly aging anyway simply due to his mannerisms and alterations in speech. Donald Pleasence is at his absolute best - on par with his performance in John Carpenter's Halloween. Like the killer, Pleasence's character Inspector Datti is driven slowly to madness, mainly due to the frustration that he cannot find the maniac he has been chasing for so long. It is rare that Pleasence ever emotes excessively in films, and even in this film his demeanor is mostly cool and collected, but in the few moments where his character breaks and bursts into fits of rage and anger we as viewers are shown why, like Deodato, Pleasence was an enormously underappreciated talent. Edwige Fenech is excellent too, but unfortunately she is not given much screen time. The scenes she shares with Michael York, however, are wonderfully executed and the chemistry between the two feels genuinely authentic. Italian horror legend Giovanni Lombardo Radice - who had previously starred in Deodato's House on the Edge of the Park - has a cameo in the film as a Catholic priest.
Pino Donaggio, who had previously contributed the score to other Deodato films, composes the soundtrack and the music is on par with Donaggio's greatest of works. Having worked with Brian De Palma on the suspenseful giallo-tribute Dressed to Kill, Donaggio is well aware of how to incorporate music to increase tension. The film utilizes both melodic tones typical for lighter moments and heavy synth-oriented pieces typical of thrillers and horror films of the 1980s. Despite the film's lower budget, Giorgio Di Battista does a good job with the cinematography, and even the film's production design seems ritzy and expensive.
Despite all of its great qualities, Phantom of Death has one fatal flaw: a poorly conceived conclusion. With most of the film's tension being generated between York's killer and Pleasence's inspector, the viewer feels that this terrific game of cat-and-mouse is going to come to a brutal and bloody climax - or at the very least an intense moment of confrontation, akin to perhaps something like The Boys from Brazil. Instead, the ending that we are given is a weak one that feels almost as if it had been a last minute write in - a last ditch solution to a problem that the filmmakers were having during the entirety of the shoot.
For whatever reason, Ruggero Deodato has expressed distaste for this film. This may be due to the film's rushed conclusion, it may be due to a particular performance (he allegedly did not want to work with Fenech), or perhaps something else. Who knows? It isn't something one should concern themselves with, though, considering Deodato also praises his own film Dial: Help which remains unquestionably one of his worst motion pictures.
Phantom of Death is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant entries into the giallo subgenre mainly due to its visionary direction allowing it to bend and break every genre convention. A terrific score, brilliant performances, and some really killer (if you'll pardon the pun) makeup and special effects work, the film manages to overcome its flat conclusion and remain one of the greatest films ever made by Ruggero Deodato, a man who deserves so much more respect than he has received.
9/10
