Deliria (film)
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| Deliria | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Michele Soavi |
| Produced by | Joe D'Amato Donatella Donati |
| Written by | George Eastman Sheila Goldberg |
| Starring | David Brandon Barbara Cupisti |
| Music by | Simon Boswell Guido Anelli Stefano Mainetti |
| Cinematography | Renato Tafuri |
| Editing by | Kathleen Stratton |
| Distributed by | Anchor Bay Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | February 8 1987 |
| Running time | 94 min |
| Country |  |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,000,000 (estimated) |
| IMDb profile | |
Deliria is a 1987 Italian horror film. Directed by Michele Soavi. Screenplay by George Eastman (writing as Lew Cooper). Starring Barbara Cupisti, David Brandon, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Loredana Parrella, Martin Phillips, Robert Gligorov, Jo Ann Smith, Ulrike Schwerk, Piero Vida, Mary Sellers, Clain Parker. 90 minutes.
[edit] Plot summary
The film takes place in a theater late at night as a troupe of actors are rehearsing a musical about a mass murderer known as the Night Owl. The show's leading lady, Alicia (Cupisti), sprains her ankle and she and the wardrobe mistress, Betty (Schwerk), sneak out of the rehearsal to go to a doctor. But the closest medical facility is a mental hospital. The psychiatrist on duty is only happy to help, but the wardrobe mistress notices a restrained patient on a bed lying in a room behind bars. The doctor tells them that it is Irving Wallace, a former actor who went berserk and killed over a dozen people. Unbeknownst to any of them, Wallace has killed one of the attendants and snuck out of the asylum, hiding in the back of Betty's car.
Once they arrive back at the theater the over-bearing director (Brandon) fires Alicia for leaving during rehearsal. She packs her things and gets ready to leave, but makes a terrifying discovery in the parking lot...Betty's murdered corpse.
After the police have taken the body away and stationed two patrol officers in the parking lot to keep an eye on the premises, the director has one of his actresses hide the theater's key so no one can leave, as he has decided to alter the play's script. Instead of being an anonymous killer, he renames the show's antagonist Irving Wallace, and he wants everyone to stay the night and begin immediate rehearsals with the new material. But things become even more nightmarish when the real Wallace butchers the actress who hid the key, and the remaining members of the cast and crew realize that there is no way to escape the psychopath's clutches.
[edit] Alternate titles
- Bloody Bird
- Stagefright
- Stagefright: Aquarius
[edit] Additional info
- This was Soavi's first feature film as director. He had previously worked as an assistant director for Joe D'Amato, Dario Argento, and Lamberto Bava. He directed the music video The Valley for Argento's Phenomena, as well as the documentary Dario Argento's World of Horror.
- The film was produced by Joe D'Amato.
- George Eastman (real name Luigi Montefiore), wrote the screenplay under the name Lew Cooper, one of his many pseudonyms.
- Soavi has an uncredited role as the young police officer in the car.
- During a showing of the film at a late 1990s annual Fantasia Film Festival, audience members tossed feathers from the upper balcony during the film's finale, which features feathers dropping onto a stage ornamented with the killer's victims.
