This Upcoming Stranger Things Replacement Is a TV Remake of 1 of the Creepiest Movies of the 1980s

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Posted 5 hours ago by inuno.ai

Category: Animations & Comics

Italian horror maestro Dario Argento is known for ultraviolent, hyper-stylized spectacles that are among the greatest genre films ever made. His most excitingly bizarre effort is easily 1985’s Phenomena, starring Jennifer Connelly as a schoolgirl with a secret straight out of a Stephen King story. The legendary Italian production company Titanus has just announced their intention to turn the story into a TV series — which, if done well, could be very exciting for fans of Stranger Things and Yellowjackets.

In Phenomena, a savage serial killer stalks the students of a Swiss boarding school, and teen outcast Jennifer Connelly has one major line of defense: her psychic connection to insects. Her power helps her close in on the murderer and navigate the perils of private school, all in the course of a feature film — but a series-length expansion of this unique story could be the perfect replacement for Stranger Things after its 2025 finale.

Phenomena Is One of the Most Imaginative Horror Films Ever Made

Jennifer (Jennifer Connelly) is tested in Phenomena. — Image via Arrow.

Italy has its own special brand of horror, combining high art and low culture with its sophisticated visions of sadism and sexual deviance. For international fans, Italian horror is synonymous with Dario Argento, the auteur famous for perfecting the “Giallo”: a type of thriller characterized by perverse violence and rebellious rejection of rational storytelling. He dominated this arena with classics like Deep Red and Tenebre, straying from the Giallo only with Suspiria and its sequel Inferno — until 1985’s genre-bending Phenomena.

The film genre name “Giallo”, meaning “yellow,” comes from “gialli libri,” cheaply-printed crime novels with yellow covers.

Phenomena is a sister film to 1977’s Suspiria; where the latter concerns a witch-infested dance academy, the former involves serial murders at a Swiss boarding school. Jennifer Corvino (Jennifer Connelly) arrives with three strikes against her: she’s new, her dad is a Hollywood heartthrob, and she has a bizarre affinity with bugs. Jennifer’s jealous and judgmental classmates have no idea that she is the only one who can save them from the killer’s blade.

Jennifer realizes she has a psychic connection with insects, and that her cadaver-eating friends can lead her to the murderer. Her mission brings her in contact with disabled entomologist Dr. McGregor (Donald Pleasance) — and his helper monkey Inga. The mischievous chimp plays a bloody role in Phenomena’s conclusion, as Joss Whedon recalls in an Entertainment Weekly list of his favorite horror characters.

That movie is just so ridiculously chock-full of horror… By the time you get to monkey with a razor blade, you’re just like, ‘Oh my god!‘ If you look at Cabin in the Woods, you can see the influence of (Argento’s creativity), ‘Oh, you mean you we can just never stop coming up with stuff?’

Phenomena was a divisive film that many viewers found too outrageous, even for Dario Argento. But to open-minded fans, it offers dreamlike visions, fits from Giorgio Armani, music from metal gods like Iron Maiden and Motörhead, and some of the most creatively gruesome imagery of the maestro’s career.

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What Could Phenomena Look Like as a TV Series?

As with many of Argento’s movies, Phenomena packs scores of startling ideas into the narrow confines of a feature film. Fans left wondering about its unsolved mysteries will be pleased by a recent Variety article announcing a forthcoming series from the venerable Italian studio Titanus Productions.

We have reimagined the visionary world of Dario Argento’s iconic film, bringing it to life with a fresh twist that blends the sinister undertone with the pop aesthetic. …(O)ur goal is to make a compelling series, with a bold, state-of-the-art aesthetic, honoring the original but speaking to a new generation.

Originally conceived as a sequel to Phenomena, the series relocates the same basic story to a fencing academy in the Dolomites. Even without making major changes, there is much to explore: Jennifer’s unusual powers beg many questions, and the elite academic environment is loaded with soap operatic potential. Jennifer’s troubled family life with her famous father is another field of interest — and then there is the exceedingly twisted backstory of the mysterious killer.

Titanus Productions will present this project in the competitive Co-Pro Pitching Sessions at the international television festival Series Mania. Hopefully, the Phenomena series will be as exciting to potential backers as it is to Argento fans. Stranger Things fans should also keep an eye on this project, as they’ll be missing their favorite psychic savant when that series ends this year.