Suspiria (1977)

How sad is this?

Great Film overall

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

In anticipation for Luca Guadagnino's remake of Suspiria, I decided to watch the 1977 original for the first time. Suspiria is slasher horror done right, because it's always molded around in mystery that entices you with a well-constructed lore rather than just faulting you in some typical, random, psycho-killer story. Of course, I can't go without mentioning the scenery and overall build of the film's setting/set pieces. It's all just the damn near definition of "perfection." Not only is this probably the most visually magnificent horror movie ever made but it also might just be the best scored horror film of all-time (I'd have to think about it). The score alone is an absolute masterpiece that makes most movie soundtracks look like amateur-work. I have but one major flaw with the movie which is the fact that there's a near 5-minute scene dedicated to a truck-load of exposition that feels heavily forced. Other than that, Supiria certainly lived up to the hype, and as a well-rounded horror fan, I can recommend this movie to just about any respectable horror junkie, any film-lover who is into artsy pictures, and undoubtly to any neo-art finatic. (Verdict: A)

This had always been one of those films I constantly heard being mentioned but had never actually watched. It was such a great time. I'm nor sure yet to what extent I liked it, but stylistically it's pretty fantastic. The score and cinematography are so vibrant and memorable. It's the type of horror film that they don't make anymore, one that isn't played for comedy but is still really in your face. I guess the only recent horror film I can think of that has this same straight-horror bonkers tone is Mother! Very impressive.

The lovely and appealing Jessica Harper stars in this horror classic as Suzy Bannion, an American ballet dancer who travels to Europe to study and train. Arriving at the German school known as Tam Academy, she soon witnesses various strange goings-on, and comes to a horrifying realization regarding the identities and motives of the top dogs at this school."Suspiria" ranks as the personal favorite Dario Argento film for this viewer, and is definitely one of his most famous. The story, concocted by Argento and his former partner / sometime leading lady Daria Nicolodi, isn't necessarily a great one, but then great storytelling has never been Argentos' true strong suit. It's not what you watch his films for; you watch them for the virtuoso filmmaking, and it's on full display here.One thing you notice right away is how powerful the film is visually. It's a marvel of eye-popping images, colorful lighting choices, and fluid camera work. Certainly cinematographer Luciano Tovoli plays a big part in why this film works as well as it does.Overall, it's a stunning if not perfect marriage of stifling atmosphere, the beautiful brutality that hardcore horror fans crave, the dark and twisted nature of many a fairy tale, and the sometimes overpowering but compelling music score by renowned Italian prog-rock group Goblin. It features an amazing murder set piece within the first dozen or so minutes, and rarely lets up until an abrupt but creepy finale. Some scenes in "Suspiria" are iconic and have burned their way into the minds of its audiences over the decades.The performances are generally engaging: Ms. Harper, 40s icon Joan Bennett, Italian character actress Alida Valli, the great German cult actor Udo Kier, the distinctively featured Giuseppe Transocchi, handsome Miguel Bose, Stefania Casini (playing Suzy's new friend Sara), and sultry Barbara Magnolfi as the sardonic Olga.Well worth watching for any horror fan, especially now that the film has been restored and the picture looks more gorgeous than ever.Nine out of 10.

Once more I have to make note of the fact that when watching a movie you have to transport yourself back to the time when the movie was released. I often use the example of my uncle telling me of the time he was a child and saw the original KING KONG and then had to walk home among the hills of West Virginia, certain that the ape would be around the next corner. And yet today we view the movie as quaint and it frightens no child. With that in mind think of the year 1977 when Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA was released.This was a year before DAWN OF THE DEAD was released unleashing a ton of gore onto screens. It would be a year before Carpenter's HALLOWEEN filled us with dread and 2 years before the slasher genre kicked into full gear with FRIDAY THE 13TH. So the amount of blood spilled in films was fairly small. Argento's SUSPIRIA received a major push when released to the US and soon found its audience among the many horror fans looking for something new. They found it, and a gratuitous amount of blood, in this film.The story revolves around Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper), a young American who comes to Germany to study dance at the famed Tanz Dance Academy. She arrives late in the middle of a thunderstorm, pulling up to the front door in a torrential downpour and watching as a young woman runs from the building and into the rain. When she is refused entrance, Suzy heads for town to find a hotel. Along the way she sees the woman running through the woods.The woman is Pat (Eva Axen) and she flees to the apartment of a friend in fear for her life. She tells her she discovered something terrible at the Academy and then goes to dry herself off. While looking out the window she is attacked by something unseen and shortly after hung from a cord and thrown through a decorative skylight. Pieces from the skylight also kill her friend.The following day Suzy returns to the Academy and is set up to room in an apartment nearby with one of the other students. After falling ill during rehearsals she is moved into the room once occupied by Pat. She makes friends with fellow student Sara (Stefania Casini) who later tells her of the suspicions Pat had concerning the Academy. On bed rest due to her collapse, Suzy is slow to recover. And at night after dinner she continues to fall asleep quickly and easily.Suzy and Sara begin attempt to put together the clues they find as to what Pat had discovered. They comb her notes and follow each lead they can. An infestation of maggots forces the students to bunk in the practice room where Sara swears she can hear the elderly owner of the Academy wheezing nearby. The deeper the girls dig the more danger they are in. The truth behind it all is revealed in the end.Argento had begun his career directing with three films often referred to as his animal trilogy. With SUSPIRA he began working on was later termed his three mothers trilogy, a set of three films that would take 30 years for him to complete (INFERNO came out in 1980 and MOTHER OF TEARS in 2007). The end result of the trilogy is mixed but this, the initial installment, was lauded by critics and fans both.The movie is incredibly stylized with a use of color rarely found in American films but that seem to be associated with Italian movies, horror films in particular. The use of bright colors by director Mario Bava in BLOOD AND BLACK LACE comes to mind (also available from ARROW VIDEO). Where most horror films deal in shades of black and gray Argento's world takes place in a land of garish reds, greens and blues, all lit to the extreme and very visible. Horror in the shadows is something we expect as viewers, in the middle of a modern day setting with these colors and pop styling on screen it becomes unsettling in a different way.The story seems confusing at times but can be followed if one pays attention. Like nearly every horror film made there are things that take place to question (such as why doesn't anyone consider that Suzy is being drugged when she falls asleep every night after eating?) but those are minor. We've come to expect things like that and turn a blind eye to them so that we might enjoy the movie as a whole.The soundtrack to the film, performed and composed by the progressive rock band Goblin, goes hand in hand with the movie. Argento went on to use them in other films as well and they went on to do the score for George Romero's classic DAWN OF THE DEAD as well. Each note pulses and creates a tension in a style unlike any used before. A rhythm is established when fright sequences occur rather than the sudden explosive outburst of sound we'd come to expect in most horror films. It works incredibly well.The performances are all exceptional and carry over well on the parts of actresses speaking Italian and known for films made there. This was just Harper's fourth film but you couldn't tell from the performance she gives. She's quite believable in the role of Suzy. Casini does a commendable job as well offering the perfect balance between gossipy school girl and frightened woman once she discovers the answers to what is going on. Only Joan Bennet who began her career in the 30s and 40s before being rediscovered when she went to work on the TV gothic soap DARK SHADOWS seems lacking when it comes to acting skills here.The end result is an amazing movie given new life by Synapse Films. For the first time the film is being made available in blu-ray format with an exclusive 4k restoration from the original uncut and uncensored negative 35mm Italian film negative. In addition to that the extras are formidable. They include 2 audio commentary tracks with authors and Argento scholars Derek Botelho, David Del Valle and Troy Howarth, DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WITCHES? a 30 minute SUSPIRIA visual essay written/edited/narrated by Michael Mackenzie, SUZY IN GERMANY a featurette on the German locations used in the film, A SIGH FROM THE DEPTHS: 40 YEARS OF SUSPIRIA an all new anniversary retrospective on the making of the film and its influence on cinema, OLGA'S STORY an interview with Barbara Magnolfi, the original theatrical trailers, TV spots and radio spots, an opening credit sequence from the U.S. release, alternate all-English opening and closing credit sequences and reversible cover art from artists Joel Robinson.Fans of Argento will make this a definite must have to complete their collection. Horror fans as well since the film has been hailed as one of the best horror movies ever made. The VILLAGE VOICE ranked it #100 among their top 100 greatest films of the 20th century. EMPIRE magazine ranked it #312 on their top 500 movies ever made list. And ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY ranked it #18 among their list of top 25 horror scariest films ever. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it's not a film that just Argento fans need to add to their collection. Maybe it's a film that ALL movie fans need to add to their collection.