Alicia I love this movie so much

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

bensonmum2 About half way through Phantom of Death last night, I almost gave up and turned it off. Much of the first act seemed so schizophrenic to me. What I thought was going to be a straight forward giallo ended up being anything but. I'm glad I stuck around. It's not great, but Phantom of Death provides a rather unique twist on the giallo that fans ought to check out. Robert Dominici (Michael York) is a 35 year-old concert pianist with the world at his fingertips. However, he is stricken with a rare disease that makes him age at an alarmingly rapid pace. He goes through bouts of uncontrollable, murderous rage. His target (as with most all gialli) – beautiful young women. Inspector Datti (Donald Pleasence) is tasked with putting a stop to the killings. For the aging Dominici, it becomes a cat and mouse game as he taunts Datti at every opportunity. The rapidly aging plot device is used very effectively in Phantom of Death. The police aren't sure who they're after. Physical evidence suggests the killer might be in his 30s or in his 50s or even in his 70s. It's a nice twist. And York does a phenomenal job with the aging Dominici. His performance here is much better than I ever expected to find in a film like this. Even though he's a ruthless killer, York is actually able to make the audience feel sympathy for Dominici and his situation. This is especially true in the film's finale. It's really remarkable. The make-up here is also fantastic. With hair falling out, teeth rotting, and other age related transformations, York really appears much older than he is. Nice job.As is the usual case and as my rating indicates, there are some issues I had with Phantom of Death. I love Edwige Fenech, but she's horribly underutilized as Dominici's love interest. Her role is such that I'm in the fourth paragraph of this and I am just now mentioning her. I don't think Pleasance gives one of his better performances. He often looks tired and lost. He's not helped by a script that makes him and the rest of the police look incompetent. How they didn't catch Dominici earlier is a mystery that can only be answered by one of the film's writers. One of my biggest complaints is with the editing. There are several occasions where a scene will jarringly end and switch to something completely different. A monkey on speed could make smoother transitions. Finally, the pacing is off kilter at the start of the film. As I wrote previously, it felt schizophrenic.

BA_Harrison It seems as though life couldn't get any better for classical pianist Robert Dominici (Michael York): not only is he an extraordinarily successful musician, and a skillful martial artist, but he also has attractive women falling at his feet, with a beautiful girlfriend, Susanna (Mapi Galán), and a doting admirer, Hélène Martell (Edwige Fenech), fighting for his attention.In reality, things aren't so great: Robert has been diagnosed with a rare degenerative disease that rapidly ravages his body, ageing him way beyond his years, and affects his psyche, turning him into a vicious killer. Investigating the trail of bodies that Robert leaves in his wake is Inspector Datti (Donald Pleasance), who is confused by the mounting evidence that suggests a killer of ever-increasing age.From director Ruggero Deodato, the man who gave us gory exploitation classics Jungle Holocaust, Cannibal Holocaust and The House On The Edge Of The Park, quasi-giallo Phantom of Death starts off promisingly with two murders that result in a lot of the red stuff splashing all over the screen. Unfortunately, the film soon settles into routine potboiler mode, with only one more murder (a spiked table lamp forced under the chin) and, with the identity of the killer revealed so early on, precious little in the way of mystery, thrills or suspense.York, hidden under some pretty good old age make-up for the latter half of the film, does as well as he can with his role, but Pleasance doesn't seem to be trying as hard, giving another one of his stock detective turns that we've seen many times before in the Halloween sequels and other Italian murder/mysteries. Seasoned giallo babe Fenech is there to add some eye candy, but it is up to a couple of other Euro-lovelies to provide the obligatory nudity.As a side note, Dominici's predicament reminded me a lot of Seth Brundle in Cronenberg's version of The Fly (1986), who suffers a similar physical and mental degeneration. Of course, Phantom of Death is nowhere near as good as Cronenberg's film.

MovieGuy01 I thought that was a very good film (Micheal York) stars as a piano genius called Robert Dominci, who suddenly contracts a devastating disease which ages him rapidly. A decaying Robert not knowing that he does not have very long to live starts to commit a vicious slaughter on anyone who finds about his disease. This film was very gory in places. I thought that (Micheal York) who played Robert in the film was a very good actor. Donald Pleasence(Halloween) stars as Police Inspector Datti who is trying hard to put an end to all the violence that Robert Dominci has committed.This was a good horror film directed by Ruggero Deodato, who directed other horror film such as, (Cannibal Holocaust)and (New York Ripper)I though that this was a good horror film in the end.

jockledoodledoo This very "made for TV" movie drags at a snail's pace, and it really shouldn't at one hour and twenty-seven minutes. Anything of merit can actually be seen in the trailer which heavily uses the 'best', or at least most memorable scene in the film featuring an aged child on a swing. This scene, in the actual film itself, is no longer than the footage seen in the trailer - which, when I viewed it, certainly intrigued me. Don't be fooled.The acting is hammy, and even compared to something like 'House on the edge of the park' this is mediocre. The quality of image and sound (on the Shameless DVD release) leaves a lot to be desired - but judging from some of the night scenes the quality of film used in the first place was not the best. A cheap shoddy production all round it would seem.Donald Pleasance does nothing of merit, and York's over-acting grates from a very early stage. Tedious plot padding comes in the shape of pointless ventures to Venice - only to kill a prostitute and moan some more at a priest.The Italian horror genre can offer so much more than this, so unless you are an extreme completist, don't bother.