Tag Archives: phenomena 1985

Great Monkeys In Horror Movie History: Creepers a.k.a. Phenomena (1985)

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I have a slight obsession with monkeys.  Not an unhealthy perverse kind of obsession, but an obsession nonetheless.  Why do you think my favorite commercial from the Super Bowl was ‘Puppy Monkey Baby’?  Now as I sit here and think about the usage of monkeys in horror movies in various aspects, I am reminded of one monkey who never really got much shine (subtle pun there).  Am I talking about the Sumatran rat monkey from Dead Alive? Pffft.  I wish.  No – I’m talking about the great ‘Inga The Monkey’ from Dario Argento’s underrated Italian horror movie Creepers!

I know, it’s mostly know by the original title Phenomena, but in the United States I will always know it as Creepers.  This is honestly one of my top Dario Argento films and the ending is easily one of my favorites ever (not to mention the soundtrack kicks major ass). If you haven’t seen this movie, then obviously the clip below contains major spoilers – but if you have seen it then you know that ‘Inga The Monkey’ makes a triumphant appearance in the end with a shiny razor!

Amazing how cleanly that head came flying off, huh?  Gotta love Italian horror.  Side note that doesn’t have anything to do with this clip btw:  Dario Argento loves maggots.  Ok, now onto the monkey.  Not only do I love that the monkey ends up saving Jennifer Connelly, but I half was waiting for Inga to give a thumbs up or black power fist after defeating Frau Brückner with the hand razor.  Kudos to you Inga for your loyalty and for having the know-how to toss that weapon to the side like it’s hot.  Hopefully she got rid of the fingerprints. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go befriend a monkey so I can have protection in the future in case a bunch of street toughs corner me in an alley.

Horror Movie Posters I Love: Creepers (1985)

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Movies with two names kind of annoy me.  But so is usually the case when we’re talking about the Italian horror genre.  No matter if you want to call Dario Argento’s 1985 psychic/insect movie Creepers or Phenomena, it has one of the best posters EVER!

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Now for whatever reason, there is a version of this poster that isn’t exposing Jennifer Connelly’s half-decaying bug face, but clearly the un-edited version is the keeper here.  The image above is actually an ad for the promotion of the VHS version of Creepers, but the tagline on the original poster is “It Will Make Your Skin Crawl“.  Fitting, considering there are a bunch of bugs flying around that could actually make your skin crawl.

I have to confess that I haven’t seen this movie in years.  And after looking at this poster again, I definitely need to revisit it.  Not only does it have the late great Donald Pleasence in it, but how the fuck can you go wrong with a movie that has Iron Maiden and Motorhead on the soundtrack?  Another thing that this poster is making me realize is that we need more horror movies about bugs.  Whether it’s spiders, cockroaches, or maybe a random remake of 1988’s movie about killer slugs appropriately titled Slugs – everyone can relate to bugs!  Get on that Hollywood.  Until then, it’s off to Amazon to purchase Creepers or Phenomena or whatever the hell you want to call it.