4. Stage Fright (1987)
A group of struggling thespians are acting in a theatre, trying to pull together a play about an owl masked killer. In a nearby mental hospital - Irving Wallace, a former actor who snapped and killed 12 people is under supposed restraints. He pretends to be docile and kills the orderly, escapes and takes refuge - guess where? In the theatre where he dons the owl mask and stalks the cast. The obnoxious director had one of the actresses to hide the key to the door so that they would all be locked in and forced to rehearse. Unfortunately this actress is the first to be killed so they are trapped with a psycho killer who hunts them down one by one in a series of well staged and very gory killings. Eventually there is only one actress left and she must get the key in some very suspenseful scenes. Highly imaginative slasher goings on by Italian Horror Wunder Kind - Michele Soavi, StageFright: Aquarius is as beautifully staged as anything Italian Horror Maestros Dario Argento and Mario Bava ever did in their careers. Michele Soavi did indeed cut his teeth under Argento's tutelage and he was a very good student. He picked up several methods of working from Argento and used them in StageFright - such as the use of colours, inventive camera work and how to craft stylish murder scenes There is a fantastic cheesy 1980s soundtrack to the film, and the movie will transport you back to the gaudy days of the eighties. The silent owl masked killer is similar to the idea of the masked killer in Hallowe'en but Irving Wallace is even more relentless and scary than Michael Myers! He acquires near supernatural status at the end of the movie, and like all good baddies he cannot be downed very easily. If you like style and suspense in your slasher movies, look no further than StageFright.