I’ve seen a lot of bizarre movies in my life, but Dario Argento’s “Suspiria” just about tops the charts. You’d be hard-pressed to find anything quite like it. The film is weird, yet it’s weird in a way that makes just enough sense (which can’t be said for other terminally weird films, like “Naked Lunch”). The first installment of the “Three Mothers” trilogy; “Suspiria” is one of the most surreal and dreamlike horror films this side of “Phantasm”.
Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper) has just journeyed from New York to Germany to attend a private and prestigious dancing academy. Things quickly turn from bizarre to frightening as students and faculty members begin dying mysteriously. Suzy digs deep into the history of the academy and starts to suspect that it might in fact be run by a coven of witches. She would be right, and the coven, lead by the decrepit and not-quite-dead Black Queen, will resort to any means to keep their existence a secret.
“Suspiria” has something modern horror films have been lacking for years: atmosphere. “Suspiria” is all about the atmosphere. It seems that Dario Argento’s main goal was to give the film a “waking dream” kind of quality and he achieves this goal in spades. Argento’s use of lighting is so surreal and unearthly it can only remind you of some nightmare you vaguely recall, tucked away deep in your psyche. The reds and greens are simply insane, to put it mildly. Some of Argento’s other tactics include the occasional use of slow-motion and some truly inspired set designs and locations. The movie won’t put you to sleep, but you’ll still feel like you’re dreaming.
As magnificent as Argento’s contributions to the atmosphere are, the primary source of “Suspiria’s” atmosphere, I’d say, can be summed up in one word: music. Goblin (who provided the music for the European cut of “Dawn of the Dead") provides a score like no other; completely making the movie. The music takes on a life of its own, practically becoming its own character. Loud booming tunes usher in some of the most surprising and violent moments, building the suspense with each thundering crash. Their main theme is so haunting and eerily melodic, you’ll think you’ve fallen into another dimension. Music in horror films seems to be an after thought, these days, but “Suspiria” is one of the finest examples of how essential good music is to a film.
While the primary source of “Suspiria’s” fright stems from the atmosphere, Argento hurls in some memorable moments of gore and violence for the death-hounds in us all. The beginning action sequence featuring the plate glass ceiling ranks as my favorite death in the film, though the scenes featuring the blind pianist and his dog and the fate of Suzy’s best friend never fails to satisfy.
“Suspiria” is the closest thing to a “one of a kind” horror film I’ve encountered. True, “Phantasm” hits on a few similar chords, but not enough for me to really compare them. There aren’t a lot of good horror films centered around witchcraft, but regardless of that, “Suspiria” ranks as the best.
Grade: A (as in “Anything with music provided by goblins can’t be all bad”.)
Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper) has just journeyed from New York to Germany to attend a private and prestigious dancing academy. Things quickly turn from bizarre to frightening as students and faculty members begin dying mysteriously. Suzy digs deep into the history of the academy and starts to suspect that it might in fact be run by a coven of witches. She would be right, and the coven, lead by the decrepit and not-quite-dead Black Queen, will resort to any means to keep their existence a secret.
“Suspiria” has something modern horror films have been lacking for years: atmosphere. “Suspiria” is all about the atmosphere. It seems that Dario Argento’s main goal was to give the film a “waking dream” kind of quality and he achieves this goal in spades. Argento’s use of lighting is so surreal and unearthly it can only remind you of some nightmare you vaguely recall, tucked away deep in your psyche. The reds and greens are simply insane, to put it mildly. Some of Argento’s other tactics include the occasional use of slow-motion and some truly inspired set designs and locations. The movie won’t put you to sleep, but you’ll still feel like you’re dreaming.
As magnificent as Argento’s contributions to the atmosphere are, the primary source of “Suspiria’s” atmosphere, I’d say, can be summed up in one word: music. Goblin (who provided the music for the European cut of “Dawn of the Dead") provides a score like no other; completely making the movie. The music takes on a life of its own, practically becoming its own character. Loud booming tunes usher in some of the most surprising and violent moments, building the suspense with each thundering crash. Their main theme is so haunting and eerily melodic, you’ll think you’ve fallen into another dimension. Music in horror films seems to be an after thought, these days, but “Suspiria” is one of the finest examples of how essential good music is to a film.
While the primary source of “Suspiria’s” fright stems from the atmosphere, Argento hurls in some memorable moments of gore and violence for the death-hounds in us all. The beginning action sequence featuring the plate glass ceiling ranks as my favorite death in the film, though the scenes featuring the blind pianist and his dog and the fate of Suzy’s best friend never fails to satisfy.
“Suspiria” is the closest thing to a “one of a kind” horror film I’ve encountered. True, “Phantasm” hits on a few similar chords, but not enough for me to really compare them. There aren’t a lot of good horror films centered around witchcraft, but regardless of that, “Suspiria” ranks as the best.
Grade: A (as in “Anything with music provided by goblins can’t be all bad”.)
1 comments:
Watched this film over the weekend on your recommendation, and I think this is the first time I've out-and-out completely disagreed with your assessment. The sets were beautiful, and the music was great, but as a film, I just couldn't get into Suspiria.
I think the major problem is that there was no suspense; no one ever escaped once they caught the attention of the coven, so the death scenes weren't riveting so much as overlong.
(Admittedly, some of them were actually kind of funny: falling into a pile of barbed wire? Being strangled, stabbed, mutilated and hung? There's no kill like overkill!)
And what's up with Italians showing blind folks getting mauled by their guide dogs? Said scene was a bit of a special-effects failure, as it were, because the dog just looks so darned friendly as he eats hamburger off his master's chest.
The only bit of suspense was the hyped last twelve minutes, because the fate of our heroine was in doubt. But our heroine was so passive through most of the film that I didn't really care whether she lived or died.
(Another unintentional bit of humor is imaging the reaction of the other students when they return to the dancing school after the end of the film. Surprise! It's on fire!)
So, while I can support the amount of effort and high quality of the film, I can't get behind it as a good horror experience. But I totally want a copy of the soundtrack.
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