Michele Soavi's directorial debut is about what you'd expect: a psycho killer targets a group of people in a theater. As often happens with Euro-horror, "Deliria" has multiple titles in English ("Stage Fright" and "StageFright: Aquarius"). There's no shortage of gory scenes. Basically, it's what everyone hopes to see in a giallo movie.

However, one scene really stuck out. The surviving woman is looking for a weapon. While rummaging through a drawer she brushes aside an issue of Time magazine. The cover story is about how excessive lending will cause debt. Well, we all saw what resulted from lending money to people who weren't creditworthy in the early 2000s. The US and Europe remain stuck with high unemployment and practically no politicians seem to have any ambition to do anything to mitigate the problem.

OK, so that's not really related to the movie. I just like to see if I can say anything extra about the movie. It's a pretty fun flick. Interestingly, Mickey Knox (the cop) also appeared in "The Godfather Part III". Oliver Stone named Woody Harrelson's character in "Natural Born Killers" after him.

Michele Soavi proves his worth as an excellent director in this riveting slasher film, which surely has to be one of the few highlights of the genre. The setting, an old, cobwebby theatre, is a truly inspired location and serves as a backdrop for some really horrible and terrifying moments. I'm sure Argento was proud. While a guy in an owl mask might not sound scary, it turns out to be surprisingly disturbing. There are many stylish and artistic moments in Soavi's film, which, while having a fairly simple plot (group of people are picked off one by one in isolated location),injects some real menace and suspense through use of weird camera angles and plenty of suggestion, such as far-off doors slamming shut. It works a treat.

After taking a while to build up some characters for us to know and care about (always a good thing),the action really starts - and doesn't let up. The cast are all rather good in their somewhat undemanding roles as cannon fodder, but the young heroine is actually believable and likable for a change, while David Brandon, the director, is absolutely great at being a git. It's good to see the Italian whipping boy John Morghen in a role too, and once again he has a gruesome demise (this time by axe, of all things). Thankfully, Soavi doesn't hold back when it comes to the gore either, and we have here some of the most memorable death scenes for a long time. Every death is an inspired and horrible one. One woman gets a pickaxe in the mouth, someone is ripped in half with a chainsaw (a similar scene occurs in the abominable THE RELIC),a man has his chest chainsawed, a man is decapitated with an axe, a girl is stabbed to death and, in the most memorable scene, a man is held against a door while a power drill emerges from his stomach. Such an image is startling, bloody, and something those American slasher directors can only dream about. STAGE FRIGHT is a rare example of a slasher film which actually works, and is miles better than American contemporaries. Watch it and see why it's so good.

While rehearsing a musical play in a theater, the dancer Alicia (Barbara Cupisti) twists her ankle and the costume designer Betty (Ulrike Schwerk) drives her to a nearby hospital. However, the place is a mental institution but a doctor treats Alicia's ankle. They return to the theater but the dangerous psychopath Irving Wallace (Clain Parker) escapes hidden in Betty's car. He kills Betty outside the theater and Alicia finds her body. They summon the police and the director Peter (David Brandon) decides to promote the play using the press and supported by the producer Ferrari (Piero Vida). He rewrites the screenplay and casts six actors and actresses to immediately rehearse to the opening night, promising additional payment. He asks the actress Corinne (Lori Parrel) to lock the theater and hide the keys. But Irving Wallace has sneaked in the theater and starts a crime spree. Will anyone survive the serial-killer?

"Deliria", a.k.a. "StageFright: Aquarius", is a claustrophobic Italian giallo by Michele Soavi. The direction keeps the tension until the last moment. The screenplay is very well written without the usual flaws that we find in this genre. The performances are good and supported by great cinematography and use of lighting. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Pássaro Sangrento" ("The Bloody Bird")