Movie – Phantasmagoria (2014)

Premiere: 
May 20, 2014 (Cannes Film Festival)

Country of origin: Italy / France

Directed by:
Mickael Abbate, Domiziano Cristopharo, Tiziano Martella

Written by: 
Mickael Abbate, Domiziano Cristopharo, Tiziano Martella

Distributed by: EuroObscura
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Drama, Thriller
Runtime: 1h15min
Starring: Venantino Venantini, Maya Dolan, Sophie Pâris

The reason this caught my attention is because of the Italian actor Venantino Venantini, known to me from Paura nella città dei morti viventi (1980) (City of the Living Dead). In that film, he plays a very brutal father, not a huge role, but very, very memorable. 

(Paura nella città dei morti viventi (1980)

I was curious to see what more he had done and found out about this movie, wonder if I’ll even recognize him. 

This film Phantasmagoria was provided to me for this review by EuroObscura.

Jumping into this anthology movie, we start with a solid, long, old-school intro credit, then we are taken right into a Tales from the Crypt-style segment. A carnival-like, fortune teller skeleton is our host and presents the first story. I love this setup, Tales from the Crypt is one of my favorite shows. 

 

Diabolique – Director: Mickael Abbate – 15 min
The story follows an Italian film team in the south of France: three women and one man, seemingly set to record a sci-fi movie. A fun little touch, they start humming the X-Files intro, which I absolutely loved. But almost immediately, you notice something isn’t right.
 

It reminded me a lot of Blink Twice (2023). The setting adds to the unease: an abandoned mansion called La Diabolique where the townspeople acting strangely, that gave off a faint Twin Peaks vibe. The short starts strong, but unfortunately, it loses momentum toward the end, wrapping up too quickly. I kind of lost track of what was really happening before it concluded. The only super sad part was that the film crew in the short never really got to shoot anything for their sci-fi movie, they just talked about it a bit and then relaxed and all the strange story happens around them. 

WAKE UP!

I give this 4/10 – Because good effort, but it’s too personal for others to really grasp fully.

 

Our skeleton host guides us into the next story.

 

 

My Gift to You – Director: Tiziano Martella – 20 min
In this segment, I knew we would see Venantino Venantini, listed on IMDb as playing the grandpa, so let’s see if we find him.

The story starts on October 31, 1993—Halloween.
What a brutal start. A very memorable scene. A young girl, Sarah, walks in on her loving grandfather, well played by Venantini, as he shoots himself. Before doing it, he says, “this is my gift to you.”
That’s an incredibly heavy moment. For a child to witness that and then to frame it as a “gift”… it immediately sets a deep psychological weight. It’s not just shocking, it lingers.

Nineteen years later, in 2012, Sarah is still trying to understand why he did it. What she finds doesn’t come as a clear answer at first. It feels more like a dark psychological dream than an explanation. But eventually, something does emerge, just not something she was ready for.

The story stays quite open-ended. You understand most of what happened, but the details are left for you to piece together. It leans heavily into dreamlike and symbolic visuals, which fits the very, very dark themes it explores.
I’d give it a 5/10. The psychological terror comes through well, especially because of what Sarah experienced.

 

 

After another short visit from our skeleton host, we move into the third and final short.

 

A Snake with a Steel Tongue – Director: Domiziano Cristopharo – 30 min
This one starts off very bloody, with what appears to be a prostitute killing her client. It sets up a mystery right away. Who is the killer and why? The face is hidden, possibly behind a mask and it’s not even clear if it’s a woman or a man. That gave me strong giallo vibes, I was hoping it would turn into more of a detective-style story.
We follow a man who checks into a sketchy motel. It seems like the place has been closed for some time, but he’s allowed to stay there for just one night. The place and its innkeeper gives it an uneasy feeling. As things progress, the motel clearly isn’t what it seems and the connection to the opening murder becomes more and more intriguing. The innkeeper repeatedly insisting that vodka is the best choice right now adds to the strange atmosphere.

By the end, the story shifts and becomes a bit confusing, though that seems intentional. It leans into a slow, looming thriller style where you’re constantly wondering what will happen next. The end was interesting, even if the path there feels a bit uneven. Unfortunately, the audio mix was also somewhat inconsistent, which took me out of it at times.
I’d give it a 4/10. It has a nice and interesting twist, but overall it didn’t fully land for me.

After a short wrap-up by our skeleton host, the movie ends with the credits and its great 80s vibe soundtrack!

 

So overall I say it was not a bad watch, not at all. It is always interesting to see how these anthology works, what is special most of the time is how one tries to fit a short story that is intriguing to watch and how complex one can make it.
I give this full movie 7/10 – Charming skeleton host and one did feel transformed into the worlds of these stories. It was nice to see the part Venantino Venantini was playing also. 

Links:
IMDB: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt3026102/
Homepage: https://www.facebook.com/Phantasmagoria.the.movie

http://www.euroobscura.com/