Product Description: 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.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR UPC: 827058201391 Manufacturer No: BU2013
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
Bleeding fears to blind your reasoning shadows/panic/fear/maggots/evil/mental/fantasy/windows/shock/delusion/supernatural/fright/doors/brilliance
Not sure why this took me two times to appreciate. Maybe my mind can only handle so much. But I've now become possessed, subdued, entranced. This is an extraordinary piece of horror cinema.
Dario Argento expertly pulls you into this confrontation of utter evil. He uses highly stylized penetrating violence that will be emblazoned in your memory. There are plenty of other lush, abhorrent visuals that will leave a nasty impression. And the ultra-gory special effects promote a stark fear that will scramble your brain. Overall, it's a story that will leave you bewildered and frightened.
Totally incredible. Step carefully into the madness.
Argento's masterpiece Suspiria is one of the horror classics that seems to divide horror fans; some cite Suspiria as a masterpiece of the genre and one of the greatest horror movies ever made, while others see it as boring and nowhere near the hype it has gotten. And at first I was one of those who would state it as boring and over hyped. Upon my first viewing I was like this is the classic Argento movie people hail as one of the greats? At the time I wasn't really into Argento. While I didn't dislike him I can't say I was a fan.
But than I went back and gave his films another chance and suddenly found myself loving these movies I originally thought were about average. So I figured might as well give Suspiria another chance; and watching it the 2nd time I hoped my opinion would change, but I still expected the absolute worst. But my 2nd viewing I just fell in love with this movie and now I'm one of those people who praise it as a masterpiece of the horror genre.
Dario Argento has a very strong visual style and more often than not the plot takes a backseat to his visual style and I understood that going into this film and all his others. But for some reason I just couldn't get into his work where as now you'll be hard pressed to find a bigger fan of Argento than me. I would recommend to anyone out there who didn't like Suspiria to give it another chance. If you still dislike it than maybe it's just not for you, but I know besides myself a lot of people disliked Suspiria at first and now love the movie. Suspiria really is one of those movies that gets better and better on multiple viewings.
The screenplay was written by Dario Argento and Daria Nicolodi and if you were to find any flaws with Suspiria this would be it. While not badly written at all the script is the only weak point of the film. I always mention in my reviews for Argento movies that he at times can be a good writer. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and Deep Red had very solid scripts and even though I thought The Cat o' Nine Tails was about average the script wasn't bad. The only problem though is in my opinion Argento has never written a really iconic character even in his better scripts. Around the time of Suspiria is when the writing took a backseat to his visual style and use of colors.
The script wasn't bad, but just suffers from weak characters; while I wouldn't say the characters are bad or anything they do lack of depth and aren't fully developed, but oddly enough I'd rate Suzy Bannion played by Jessica Harper as one of Argento's better characters despite any lack of depth. The script does mostly work, but this is the kind of movie that without the right director would be a boring disaster of a flick. Sometimes you have movies that while aren't poorly written or anything like that, but could be very boring.
As director Dario Argento crafts a masterpiece of a film; the opening act is downright chilling and after that Suspiria does slightly slow down, but Argento's visual style keeps Suspiria creepy and interesting even if it's a bit slow. The use of colors in this movie is just simply amazing. Suspiria just might be the best looking movie I have ever seen, but you can actually make a case for several Argento movies, but Suspiria just might be the best. The look of Suspiria is very much like a nightmare and that is something most Argento movies have going for it. It's also like this twisted fairy tale and all these elements are what elevate Suspiria to a classic of the genre. The best way to describe Suspiria is it's like a nightmare that may not make a whole lot of sense, but is quite chilling.
There is so much that goes into directing besides simply storytelling. Granted that is the most important aspect, but there is more to it than that. Dario Argento may not be the best storyteller in the case that his flicks sometimes have a weak plot and maybe characters that lack a little depth, but what he might lack in that area he more than makes up for with suspense, tension and plenty of scares. And again I go back to Dario's visual style, which is what makes him stand out so much and again that is what makes Suspiria so brilliant. As I stated before the opening act is downright chilling and while the movie might slightly slow down it never loses the eerie feeling. The visual aspect and use of colors are the most amazing I have ever seen. Again Suspiria is simply a beautiful movie to look at.
Another thing Suspiria has going for it is the score by Goblin; these guys are just amazing and have worked with Argento several times and Claudio Simonetti of Goblin has worked with Argento on almost all his movies and he's probably my favorite composer of all time. The score by Goblin is just mind-blowing and their score adds so much to the movie and makes it downright chilling! It's really hard to say, which score by Goblin is their best these guys have done such great work with Argento and with other filmmakers as well, but in the case of Suspiria, well this could easily be rated as their best score.
As I stated earlier in my review if you've seen Suspiria and didn't like it give it another chance and if your opinion doesn't change than the movie just isn't for you. But Suspiria is a movie that might take a couple of viewings; many fans of this movie disliked it at first and like I said I was one of those people as well. Forget the plot and all that and watch Suspiria for its visuals and you might just start to like it.
Suspiria in my opinion is a classic horror flick and deserves all the hype it gets. Many hail this as Dario Argento's best flick and while I understand why I'm not sure I would rate this as my favorite by him, but no doubt it's in my top 5 and in my top 20 favorite horror flicks of all time. For those new to Dario Argento I would recommend you check out his work in order; this way you can see how he evolved as a filmmaker. Suspiria is a movie you'll love or hate, but I urge people who disliked this to give it another chance and if you still dislike it that's fine, but Suspiria is very much a movie that takes more than one viewing.
A suspense, not horror movie I would not classify this as a horror movie. It was not scary or gory to me at all. I think suspense might be a better description. It had one of the most creepy movie scores for it's time, and even now for that matter. The atmosphere, the creepy music, the killing scene at the beginning, and the amazingly vivid and colorful scenes make this a really good movie. I'm amazed this movie was made in 1977, and I'm glad I caught this on IFC a few years back, or I never would have heard of this movie.
The Three Mothers Trilogy Began With "Suspiria" - A Horror Classic Directed By Dario Argento Like myself, many Dario Argento fans have long awaited the American release of "The Mother of Tears." It is the third installment of the Three Mothers Trilogy. (At the Toronto International Film Festival, Argento hinted at a fourth film, a prequel.) The classic horror film, "Suspiria" is the first installment. Before seeing "The Mother of Tears" for the first time, I wanted to revisit "Suspiria."
First, let me give you some history about the Three Mothers. In the eleventh century, there were three sisters who were evil witches. They traveled the world, accumulating great wealth and spreading death. The oldest one (Mater Suspiriorum or the Mother of Sighs) was Helena Markos; she settled in Germany. She established a school of witchcraft which the locals condemned. Helena was killed. Soon afterwards, the school began teaching ballet instead of witchcraft.
An American student, Suzy Banyon (Jessica Harper of "Minority Report"), arrives at the ballet school. The teachers, she soon discovers, are witches who are viciously murdering anyone, students and faculty, who offend them.
Critics and fans have hailed "Suspiria" as a masterpiece. Allow me to quickly explain why it remains a favorite of mine. "Suspiria" is the perfect movie to watch on Halloween. It is spooky, creepy, and nightmarish. Filmed in primary colors of blue and red, "Suspiria" has a nightmare quality. It is obvious that Dario Argento was highly influenced by the Master of the Macabre, Italian film director Mario Bava. The soundtrack, provided by Goblin, is positively eerie. The death scenes are some of the most vicious I've ever seen. The supporting cast is awesome.
Joan Bennett, who portrayed Madame Banc, was a treat to watch. She is the veteran actress of the daytime soap, "Dark Shadows," which was the essence of gothic. This soap opera had ghosts, witches, warlocks, vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures of the occult world. She was a perfect choice for portraying a witch. The stern, masculine Alida Valli was the perfect choice for the intimidating Miss Tanner, another witch. She was in Mario Bava's "Lisa and the Devil" and would later act in "Inferno," the sequel to "Suspiria."
While watching "Suspiria," the usage of telekinesis and the fiery climax reminded me of "Carrie." Also, the witch conspiracy was reminiscent of "Rosemary's Baby." Both movies are horror classics. "Suspiria" is also a classic that is required viewing by all horror fans. Every fan of Dario Argento has seen "Suspiria." It was the movie that turned me into one of his biggest fans. I recommend watching it again before seeing "Mother of Tears."
Suspiria I was very disappointed after viewing this dvd. It had been given a high rating and touted as one of the scariest horror movies of all times--this is not true. The only scary part of this movie is the opening murder. It pretty much goes down hill after that. I've seen worse horror movies, but I was so disappointed with this one because there were so many great reviews on it. I've seen many, many horror movies and this one is at the bottom of my list. The sets and use of color in the movie are beautiful, but it does not make it any scarier.
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