Description: The Terrifying First Chapter of DARIO ARGENTO'S "Three Mothers" Trilogy... Uncut, Uncensored and Remastered from the Original Negative!
Jessica Harper (PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE) stars as Suzy Banyon, a young American ballet dancer who arrives at a prestigious European dance academy run by the mysterious Madame Blanc (Joan Bennett of DARK SHADOWS) and Miss Tanner (Alida Valli of KILLER NUN). But when a series of bizarre incidents and horrific crimes (including what Entertainment Weekly calls "the most vicious murder scene ever filmed") turn the school into a waking nightmare of the damned, Suzy must escape the academy's unspeakable secret of supernatural evil.
Experience the most shocking and hallucinatory horror movie in history as you've never seen or heard it before, now featuring the fully remastered landmark score by Goblin and a heart-stopping new film transfer supervised by cinematographer Luciano Tovoli. This is the definitive version of Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA, an aria of terror beyond imagination and one of the most extraordinary horror films ever made.
Amazon.com: Outside of devoted cult audiences, many Americans have yet to discover the extremely stylish, relentlessly terrifying Italian horror genre, or the films of its talented virtuoso, Dario Argento. Suspiria, part one of a still-uncompleted trilogy (the luminously empty Inferno was the second), is considered his masterpiece by Argento devotees but also doubles as a perfect starting point for those unfamiliar with the director or his genre. The convoluted plot follows an American dancer (Jessica Harper) from her arrival at a European ballet school to her discovery that it's actually a witches coven; but, really, don't worry about that too much. Argento makes narrative subservient to technique, preferring instead to assault the senses and nervous system with mood, atmosphere, illusory gore, garish set production, a menacing camera, and perhaps the creepiest score ever created for a movie. It's essentially a series of effectively unsettling set pieces--a raging storm that Harper should have taken for an omen, and a blind man attacked by his own dog are just two examples--strung together on a skeleton structure. But once you've seen it, you'll never forget it. --Dave McCoy
Don't buy this garbage I will make this short and to the point. This movie is boring, badly acted, badly directed and badly written; the colorization and styling is more like a stage play by high school kids, without a young kid's energy, talent or sincerity. The story line is so laughable that not once would the viewer feel emotions towards any of the characters. I understand that it was 1976, but the special effects are closer to the 1950's (Plan 9 From Outer Space comes to mind). I felt compelled to write this negative review to warn other unsuspecting would be buyers of this trash and to counter those 5-star rating reviews that baffle the mind. One more thing. This is not an artsie film with the director's vision of blah blah, blah; it is simply a terribly cheap film made to fleece viewers.
Did I miss something? Suspiria is one of those films whose reputation precedes it. I rented it in expectation of the highly stylized, grotesque thriller that fans declare it to be. Instead, I was treated to an hour and a half of pure, unadulterated cheese. I've seen several fantastic horror movies from the 70's, but this isn't one of them. The root of the problem is the absolutely horrific acting. Everyone talks and moves like they're doing a elementary school play. That is, forced and emotionless. The dialogue in some spots is downright laughable as well.
Now, I love campy horror films (Evil Dead being a great example), but I had higher expectations of Suspiria. I was expecting something that is not common in films of this genre: substance. However, what I received was a mix between campy cheese ala Evil Dead (not a bad thing), and a horrible 80's slasher film. What makes Suspiria different from those movies is that Suspiria isn't trying to be goofy and fun. It is trying in earnest to be a serious film, and it fails miserably.
Not Argento's Masterpiece, But An Impressive Effort of Any Genre Dario Argento's Suspiria has been called the horror auteur's best film, alongside Deep Red. The first film in his "Three Mothers" trilogy and the last film to be processed in Technicolor, Suspiria showed Argento moving in a slightly different direction from the giallo subgenre. Suspiria is not a murder mystery nor is it technically a giallo, although many of the defining elements are present. Suspiria is more supernatural than any of his previous films and includes one of his most legendary death scenes.
Filmed in English, the film stars Jessica Harper as Suzy Banyon, an American who leaves New York to attend a prestigious ballet school in Germany. When Suzy arrives, she sees a young girl fleeing the school and Suzy herself is denied entry into the school. After Suzy leaves, the girl returns only to be brutally murdered in one of the most lauded death scenes ever filmed. It deserves the praise, as it's well-staged, well-shot, and quite memorable. Once Suzy returns the academy she meets Miss Tanner (Alida Valli), one of the instructors and Madame Blanc (Joan Bennett), the headmistress. There's talk of a mysterious directress who's apparently "traveling abroad." As bizarre events occur (a seeing eye dog attacking people, maggot infestation, etc.) and bodies pile up, Suzy finds that something more sinister may be happening at the school.
Suspiria is a slow build, despite that first death scene occurring only a few minutes into the film. I didn't find the film boring, but I could see why some viewer's do. The pace does lag and it doesn't jump right into the "mystery" of the story like Deep Red did in its opening scene. Argento co-wrote the script with his then-girlfriend and Deep Red star Daria Nicolodi. The script, apparently based on "true" stories told to Nicolodi by her grandmother, is possibly the weakest element of the film, with tacky dialogue marred even further by unconvincing delivery. With lines like "I once read that names which begin with the letter `s' are the names of snakes (hiss)," the actors can hardly be blamed for not sounding thrilled.
On that note; many of the European actors weren't comfortable with the English language and their lines were dubbed. The dubbing is noticeable, but as annoying as it could be due to Argento's stylistic ability.
Suspiria does have masterful set design and cinematography. The sets (the school in particular) are wonderful. The school is beautifully colored and exquisitely crafted, looking more like an elaborate painting than movie architecture. The cinematography by Luciano Tovoli is splendid and rather complicated. Tovoli works with constantly changing light and effortlessly makes the colors onscreen seem either vibrant or frightening.
Goblin, with the assistant of Argento, delivers a brilliantly creepy musical score that compliments each scene and has become almost as famous as the film itself.
Despite all these brilliant qualities the film has, I didn't fall in love with it the way I fell in love with previous Argento efforts. It's commonly called Argento's masterpiece and a masterpiece of horror cinema, but it's got those who've seen it pretty divided...I think this is due to the script. People who like their horror quick and to the point will find things they like here, but the film does plod along. Those who call it a masterpiece and are devout lovers of this film likely factor the film's style and creativity into their opinion. Suspiria is a well made film of any genre and, as a horror film, it is a masterpiece. It's got creative, memorable, and suspenseful death scenes and, unlike most horror films, it's made by people who know what they're doing but the plot lacks a central hook and didn't draw me in completely.
I won't remember the film for its plot, but for its style and imagery. Argento clearly possesses such a visual creativity he could've easily worked outside the horror genre and joined the ranks of Italian filmmakers like Fellini and Antonioni. Since Argento found his calling in this genre, he did provide audiences with some of the best examples of horror filmmaking out there. Suspiria does prove, even more so than Deep Red did, that horror can be both beautiful and scary...It can be art. I don't believe Suspiria is Argento's masterpiece, but it should satisfy many horror fans and certainly fans of Argento. It really is an impressive effort of any genre.
GRADE: B
NOTE-The lack of subtitles on the DVD is maddening, as some of the dialogue (especially when whispered) is difficult to understand at times.
Dario's best For those unfamiliar with Dario Argento may not realize how big an influence he has. It was thanks to this incredible Italian director that Romero's Original Dawn of the Dead came into flesh eating life, helping with funding, music and even European Distribution of the original film. He even flew Romero to Rome, Italy where the first drafts of the Original Dawn of the Dead began.
Specializing in Giallo (Italian for yellow, from which the term was coined from books of a seedy or horrific nature printed on God-awful yellow paper), the director's best known venture for tormenting your mind is Suspiria. The film has an uneasy and foreboding atmosphere from the get go, even the music reeks of something horrible is about to happen. But that's where it gets you, you don't know when it will happen! When it does it makes most slasher film deaths look incredibly tame by any measure.
Watching Suspiria is like watching a painting come to life, except it starts to grow into an nightmare ever so slowly. Filled with beautiful sets and vivid colors, this film at times has the feel of a musical from how lavish the backgrounds the horror takes place in. Also the lighting, much like the color reference as a visual cue in the Sixth Sense, has a lot to do with what will happen next. Violent is a relatively soft term compared to how brutal some of the death sequences are, which surprisingly is the norm in Italian horror which is often way more over the top than a U.S. production would allow. Compared to today's standards, if Suspiria were a U.S. movie, it would be banned for not being P.C.(i.e. the blind man being mauled to death by his own seeing eye dog) or severely edited for a more PG-13 audience.
All else aside, fans of Saw will appreciate the scene in which one gal takes a twenty foot plunge out a window into a pit of barbed wire and crawls through it to escape. OUCH! Makes me hurt just thinking about it. Most definitely this one will find ways under your skin and most likely into the darkest corners of your mind long after the lights go out....
The Secret of Suspiria I'm still trying to figure it out. Not the movie --the dumb plot meanders to its dull-witted conclusion easily enough. No, the mystery is why so many people seem to like this dreary work by one of the dreariest of Italian directors.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
