Our movie starts with a prostitute smoking a cigarette and looking bored. Suddenly two hands come out of a darkened doorway to grab her by the throat. She screams and is gone. Then in the first time in history a bunch of people run to aid a dying hooker. But wait, then, THEN my friends a man wearing a giant owl mask dives from the doorway and begins to dance, DANCE! This ain’t no murder! It’s a super hip play! Oh my god, the music! The dancing! This movie is AWESOME!

Alright, once the opening number is over we settle down to business. One of the dancers hurts her ankle so the wardrobe girl takes her up to the local mental institution (naturally) to find a doctor. While there a serial killer escapes and hitches a ride to the theatre in their station wagon. Once the first body is found the cops show up and the movie is over. Oh wait, never mind. The director realizes he can made a mint if he opens his show early to capitalize on the death that just occurred so he makes the main dancers all stay through the night to practice. Dun dun dun! Ok, so obviously the killer is there too.

Stage Fright (AKA Deliria) is directed by Michele Soavi. If you don’t know that name, you should. He worked and learned from D’Amato, Argento and Bava and directed Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man) plus numerous other directing and acting jobs.

The soundtrack was sort of pseudo Goblin. It did a pretty good job sounding suspenseful and creepy in parts, hell of a lot better than anything they come up with nowadays anyway. The killer actually turns on the stage music at times for his own soundtrack and this works well.

I didn’t buy them being unable to escape the theatre. There were like ten of them and one killer. I know this is standard formula but come on, they all could’ve stayed on the stage and waited things out. Everyone knows who the killer is during the whole movie, hell the cops are right outside. Also the theatre was full of tools; even though the doors were all locked they could’ve disassembled them easily. About one hundred years later they remember this except now the killer has taken all the best tools for himself. Silly thespians.

Speaking of kills, these were mostly good, nothing really overly inventive but still satisfying. It helped that they weren’t overly gory. The one time they tried to have a super gory kill it looked pretty dang unrealistic. The acting ranged from awful to not quite as awful.

The movie was predictable but enjoyable nonetheless. If you’re a fan of the (80’s) slasher and/or Italian horror I’d say rent it.

5 out of 10 stupid cats I would’ve gone back later to kill.