Deliria (1987)

Director:

Michele Soavi

Writers:

George Eastman (writer)
Sheila Goldberg (dialogue)

Release Date:

8 February 1987 (Australia)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

The theatre of death

Plot:

A troupe of struggling stage actors is rehearsing for a small-town production of a play. Everything...

Plot Keywords:

Play | Murder | Theater | Panic | Cruelty

Awards:

1 win

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

David Brandon	...	Peter
Barbara Cupisti	...	Alicia
Domenico Fiore	...	Police Chief (as Dom Fiore)
Robert Gligorov	...	Danny
Mickey Knox	...	Old Cop
Giovanni Lombardo Radice	...	Brett (as John Morghen)
Clain Parker	...	Irving Wallace
Loredana Parrella	...	Corinne (as Lori Parrel)
Martin Philips	...	Mark
James Sampson	...	Willy (as James E.R. Sampson)
Ulrike Schwerk	...	Betty
Mary Sellers	...	Laurel
Jo Ann Smith	...	Sybil
Piero Vida	...	Ferrari
Richard Barkeley	...	Dr. Porter

Also Known As:

Bloody Bird
Sound Stage Massacre
Stage Fright
StageFright: Aquarius (International: English title)
Aquarius (Spain) [es]
Aquarius - Theater des Todes (West Germany) [de]
Bloody Bird (France) [fr]
Mielisairaalan massamurhaaja (Finland) [fi]
Nyhterinos dolofonos (Greece) [el]
O Pássaro Sangrento (Brazil) [pt]

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Norway:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | France:-12 | UK:18 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:18 | Italy:VM14 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Company:

DMV Distribuzione

Trivia:

The screenplay was written by 'Lew Cooper', one of numerous pseudonyms that writer George Eastman uses. In actuality Eastman's real name is Luigi Montefiore.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the security office, there are two copies of the exact same issue of Time magazine - one in the drawer and one on top of the desk.

Quotes:

Peter: Don't just stand there, KILL HER!
[Irving Wallace retrieves a knife from his waist]
Peter: What's the knife got to do with anything?
[Irving Wallace starts stabbing Corinne]
Peter: yeah, that's it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Death Is Beautiful: Michele Soavi Directs Dellamorte Dellamore (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

Mystery Rouge

Strong slasher debut from Soavi.

'Stage Fright' is an impressive directorial debut from Dario Argento collaborator Michele Soavi. Like most Italian horror the plot, characters and dialogue are nothing to write home about, the movie is really an excuse for some inventive and visually striking murders. Soavi shows he has learnt a lot stylistically from Argento, and I actually enjoyed this more than many of the latters post 'Tenebre' efforts. Soavi manages to give a refreshing twist on the often tired slasher genre, which is no mean feat, and something that hasn't been able to be achieved in the post-'Scream' slasher revival. While I liked 'Stage Fright', and recommend it, Soavi found his true voice later on with the superb zombie movie 'Dellamorte Dellamore', and the profoundly weird Satanic thriller 'The Sect' (co-written with his mentor Argento). 'Stage Fright' is above average but doesn't compare to the originality of those two.