PHANTOM OF DEATH (1988)

 HERE'S A DEODATO FLICK I'VE BEEN WANTING TO WATCH FOR A LONG TIME. 

   OK, if for some reason you don't know who I'm talking about, it's Italian director Ruggero Deodato and this is sorta kinda later in his moviemaking career as far as horror movies go; until, at least, his return to the genre in the 21st century.  The only way it was available for years was on the Shameless label but this year the wonderful Cauldron Films released a blu ray under it's alternate title "OFF BALANCE".  I bought the Shameless DVD but never got around to watching it so, when I purchased the Cauldron blu ray, I jumped at the chance to view it.  This new release is also the "uncut" version which means, I'm assuming, that the gory kills are intact.  And they are. 

Concert pianist Robert Dominici (Michael York) and his girlfriend Susanna (Mapi Galán) are having a bit of a quarrel.  Very soon afterwards, Susanna meets a bloody end.  Inspector Datti (Donald Pleasence) is on hand to catch the killer.  Now, I'm probably gonna put a spoiler in here right now but really, how much of a spoiler is it when all the poster art makes it pretty clear who the murderer is.  So yeah . . . it's Robert.  Eyewitnesses says a 30-something year old man appears to be the killer.  After Susanna's death . . . and I mean pretty soon after . . . mutual friend Helene (Edwige Fenech) makes a play for Robert.  He resists . . . at least at first . . . but the next time they see each other, they hop into bed together and Helene gets knocked up.  Yep, one and done.  Another murdered woman turns up and Robert takes off for Paris or somewhere.  Forensic results have come back indicating that the skin under the victim's fingernails belongs to a 50-something year old man.  Wait, Robert's in his 30's.  What's going on?  Well, what's going on is he has the 'aging disease' which mostly attacks children; causing them to prematurely age and Robert has it.  In fact, Robert's first victim (it's revealed in flashback) was actually a physician who was going to a conference in Paris to discuss Robert's disease and he rather ungratefully shoved a knife into her for her troubles.  Now, Robert is rapidly aging and has left pregnant Helene to her own devices.  Confused Inspector Datti (which hilariously sounds like people are calling him 'Daddy' with their dubbed accents) is looking for a 30 year old killer then a 50 year old killer and then an old man killer!  Robert has been calling Datti assuring that he will drive the cop nuts and he seems to be succeeding.  By the end of the film, Robert is quite elderly looking and, well, stuff happens.

PHANTOM OF DEATH is a very polished, stylish looking film with top notch camerawork.  The old age makeup on York is also quite superb looking.  The feel of the film is like a Jekyll and Hyde flick with the potion exchanged for the aging disease progeria.  It must be said that, the old age makeup on York makes him look not just old but more and more grotesque and "Mr. Hyde-like".  At one point, while attending a festival in Paris where the populace is all in costume, Robert wears an opera cape and a 'Phantom of the Opera" white mask. 

So we're deliberately getting echoes of both these horror classics in a new form.  Being an Italian horror flick AND a Ruggero Deodato film, the reasons for Robert's homicidal activities isn't really explained at all.  He just kills women.  However, unfortunately, he doesn't kill enough of them for a horror movie because the film soon bogs down into long periods of draggy scenes turning more into a police procedural than a horror film.  The movie starts out with a few murder scenes but then goes for long stretching without any.  By the final couple reels, it almost turns into a straight drama and the film is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long at 100 minutes for such little actual horror action.  Deodato, whose next horror film would be THE WASHING MACHINE in 1993 ( a great horror romp and a fave of mine) here is extremely subdued.  Of course, the script dictates the abandonment of all horror scenes in favour of more psychological drama.  So yeah, PHANTOM OF DEATH is worth a watch but I found my patience severely tested in the second half of the film.