Phenomena (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£17.99) and Blu-ray (£24.99) by Arrow Video on 7th March 2011.

Goblin and Claudio Simonetti have provided some of Italian genre cinemas most arresting scores and Phenomena is no different. Time and musical fashions move on, and the sinister funky prog and tinkerling creepiness of the Suspiria and Deep Red scores is replaced by Fairlight samplers and 80s synth soundscapes, but the music is no less arresting for that and blends with the new decade’s cinematic look.

Although Phenomena didn’t pursue 80s Metal as a source of inspiration like DEMONS, Argento’s mid-80s zombie schlock production job (which pounded the audience with high-camp studs ‘n’ leather fury from the likes of German Spandex worriers Accept), the film does find time to include a slightly obscure Iron Maiden album track, Flash of the Blade and some of Motorhead’s furious Biker-Rock.

More 80s Synth prodding takes place on the Bill Wyman track Valley, which is a weird electronic soundscape more inkeeping with Peter Gabriel’s output at the time than the good time Yuppie rock of the 80s Rolling Stones.

I’ve gathered together nine selections from the Phenomena soundtrack for a Myspace playlist. Enjoy the music HERE

Naturally, I was restricted by what is legally available on Myspace, so the full range of music wasn’t possible. I’ve included links to every artist featured here, so you can learn more…

ARTIST INFO: GOBLIN ☠ CLAUDIO SIMONETTI ☠ IRON MAIDEN ☠ ANDI SEX GANG ☠ BILL WYMAN ☠ MOTORHEAD ☠ FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD ☠ SIMON BOSWELL

REVIEWS

This frankly bizarre combination of giallo and fantasy makes for interesting viewing – BRUTAL AS HELL

The ultimate in animal hysteria, this may be late period Argento but, as with Terror At The Opera, it’s vintage rather than mouldy. – TWITCH FILM

One of the odder films in Dario Argento’s repertoire, a mash-up of his earlier giallo style like Deep Red with the dark fantasy elements of the supernatural thrillers Suspiria and Inferno – McB*STARDS MAUSOLEUM

When it comes to creative, stomach churning, exhilarating horror, Argento delivers. After some intriguingly bizarre dream sequences and giallo-style murders, the movie eventually accelerates towards a conclusion that is gripping, tense, repulsive, horrific, and utterly satisfying. The disparate threads are woven together, events combine to overwhelm us, and the mistakes of the earlier scenes are, by and large, forgotten. – DIGITAL FIX