Suspiria (1977)

“The Only Thing More Terrifying Than the Last 12 Minutes Of This Film Are The First 92.”

If you think Black Swan made dancing a grotesque art, then you’ve obviously never seen this.

Suspiria is Dario Argento’s great giallo masterpiece. The film follows young Suzy Bannion, an American dancer, who enrolls in a prestigious German dancing school. From the start, things aren’t what they seem. After much speculation and investigation, Suzy eventually discovers the truth behind the school and its administration.

Argento is very well-known in the Italian giallo scene and this film really did garner him critical attention. One perfect thing about this film is the score, which was done by the Italian progressive-rock group the Goblins. The music was very chilling to the max; guaranteed to make you shiver. What went well with the music were the chills that Argento gave throughout the film. They could have been strange noises, weird occurrences, or the discovery of something sinister. Whatever the case, the scares were perfect when backed up by the score.

The film was one of the last to use three-strip Technicolor, resulting in beautiful in-your-face colors, most notably red. The red was very lavish, very bright and attention seeking. With the cinematography capturing very bright colors and angles, the film was basically a Walt Disney horror film. It was actually reported that Argento wanted the film to be almost like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and if you watch the film closely you can actually see that. The murder scenes featured bright red blood and just beautiful grotesque deaths.

Another obvious factor as to why this film is so good is the direction that Argento took. It’s was very stylized and seemed a little too ahead of itself, while also having elements alluding to older cinema. Argento really can’t purposely mess up a film.

One thing that this film lacked was a good script and acting. The original script featured younger girls. However, due to the content of the film, the ages were increased, but the dialogue and actions of the girls were kept the same, resulting in the acting being almost immaturely. Also, the dubbing was slightly awkward.

With beautiful cinematography, direction, and music, Suspiria will surely get you hooked. I give the film a 3.5 out of 5 and you can go buy it now on DVD.