Dario Argento is often dubbed "the Italian Hitchcock," a title which isn't entirely accurate. Like Hitch, Argento is capable of creating unbearable tension with his unique visual style. The long murder set-pieces in his best films have rarely been equaled (except for maybe Brian DePalma, who owes his entire career to Hitchcock). And 1977's "Susperia" is arguably his masterpiece...his "Psycho."

But after "Psycho," Hitchcock moved on to other things, whereas Argento had found his niche and seems content to remain there...only with increasingly deminishing results. None of his subsequent efforts ever topped "Susperia's" originality and dread visual beauty. Then again, very few other directors have, either.

1984's "Phenomena" (heavily edited and released as "Creepers" in the U.S.) certainly has all the Argento trademarks: prolonged murder sequences, imaginative imagery, creative bloodletting and a pulsating music score, all combined and calculated to beat the viewer into submission. But this time they don't add up to much, mainly because of the weak story, which has a very young Jennifer Connelly as a young girl with a special relationship with bugs, and uses them to discover who's responsible for a series of grisly murders. Granted, strong narrative was never one of Argento's strengths, but because he has nothing new to show us, it's especially glaring here because, not only are the characters dull, the story grows increasingly ridiculous as it goes along, and features one of the dumbest climaxes ever. The ending would be easier to swallow if Argento had the sense of humor of Hitchcock or George Romero. But like all his movies, the tone of "Phenomena" is deadly serious...this time, though, that seriousness is likely to invoke some unintentional laughter.