“Phenomena” is another good Giallo movie from Dario Argento, with a very interesting plot that includes some supernatural elements. Jennifer Connelly plays Jennifer Corvino, a young adult gifted with the ability to communicate with insects, who is trying to stop a serial killer targeting teenage girls.

Like other movies from Argento, “Phenomena” has excellent cinematography and some extremely gory scenes. Unlike most Giallo movies, however, the film is devoid of sex or nudity.

The opening scene features a roadway in the beautiful Swiss countryside, with the Alps in the backdrop. A bus momentarily stops, picks up a few passengers, and then departs. A young girl (Fiore Argento) arrives on the scene and is upset for missing the bus. She walks to a nearby house and knocks on the door. Finding the door unlocked, the girl enters the house, looking for its inhabitants. Something or someone bound in chains inside the house is violently struggling to break free of them.

Soon the mysterious creature breaks free, and when the girl sees it, she flees from the house in horror. The ensuing scene blends beauty and gore as the creature pursues the girl across a passageway overlooking a waterfall, catches up with her, and repeatedly stabs her. The creature then decapitates the unfortunate girl and throws her head into the gushing falls.

The plot moves eighteen months ahead, where an entomologist, John McGregor (Donald Pleasence), is in conversation with police inspector Geiger about the value of insect behavior in forensic crime investigation at John’s residence and laboratory. In his house, John keeps a lot of insects in glass containers to research their behavior. The two men also talk about a decapitated head that was recently discovered and infer that it belonged to a girl who was murdered about eight months earlier, based on insect activity on it.

Next, Jennifer Corvino (Jennifer Connelly), a young student, arrives at a school not far from John’s home. She is brought there by Frau Brückner (Daria Nicolodi), a teacher who works at the school, who then shows Jennifer her room. Jennifer is told that she will share the room with Sophie, another student of the school.

That night, Jennifer experiences a surreal semi-conscious state and sees a girl murdered by the unseen killer. She then sleepwalks, falls off a window of the school building but somehow escapes unhurt. Then after an encounter with some teenage boys, she ends up in the company of Inga. Inga takes Jennifer to John. John is fascinated when his insects seem to have an affinity for Jennifer and seem to bond with her. He suggests that Jennifer may be able to communicate with insects using telepathy.

Upon Jennifer’s return to the school, the school’s strict and intimidating principal (Dalila Di Lazzaro) has Jennifer undergo an EEG test, ignoring her protests. This experience makes Jennifer more agitated.

The following night, Jennifer once again finds herself in a semi-conscious state and helplessly watches Sophie’s death at the hands of the murderer. A firefly leads her to a tree where she finds one of Sophie’s gloves. After discovering that maggots have infested the glove, she takes it to John, who informs her that the maggots were a certain species of flies that feed on carrion. John postulates that the maggots were brought to the scene by the killer, who is keeping the corpses of his victims close to himself. John suspects that the killer is a necromaniac, obsessed with the dead bodies of his victims.

In a letter to her father, Jennifer narrates her entire experience at the school and of John’s theory that she can communicate with insects. This letter is intercepted by one of the school’s students, and its contents soon are outed to all the students and staff of the school.

The students of the school bully Jennifer and tease her about her so-called telepathic abilities when suddenly a swarm of flies assembles behind a window in the school. The headmistress, who observes these happenings, brands Jennifer as diabolical and makes plans to send her to a mental facility.

Jennifer escapes from the school and once again meets with John. John challenges Jennifer to track down the killer using her ability to communicate with the flies. Aided by a fly, Jennifer begins her quest to find the dangerous killer. After a series of unfolding revelations and more killings, Jennifer uncovers a diabolical secret near the school. Can she save herself? The rest of the plot answers this question.

This movie is another great offering from Argento, the master of horror. A young Jennifer Connelly, Daria Nicolodi, Dalia Di Lazzaro, Donald Pleasence, and the rest of the cast deliver fine performances in the movie. “Phenomena’s” unique plotline makes it an interesting watch.