As a troupe of actors and their overbearing director rehearse an avant garde play after hours, a serial killer stalks and murders them one by one. The murderer uses a variety of implements, from axes to drills to chainsaws, and wears one of the most unique masks in the history of slasher films - a large owl head that was part of a costume for the play.
Stagefright comes from Italian director Michele Soavi, who worked with the highly regarded visionary director Dario Argento on movies like Tenebre, Opera, Phenomena, and A Blade in the Dark. Argento is able to make slasher and giallo movies as beautiful as they are violent, and that ability seems to have rubbed off on Soavi.
Stagefright has some beautifully shot scenes, like postcard-worthy shots of feathers flying in a breeze and slowly descending, and some shocking scenes of bloody, gory mayhem. The acting is lacking, but that may have more to do with the dubbing than the actual capabilities of the cast. The music is mostly good, focusing on heavy, dark synth and repeated motifs. Altogether, it's a solid slasher with some well-shot, gorgeous images and some real "payoff" for a number of the kills, in terms of the gore factor. Check it out.
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