Suspiria is a 1977 Italian horror film directed by Dario Argento, and co-written by Argento and actress Daria Nicolodi. Nicolodi claims the plot was inspired by an experience of her grandmother's. The setting was originally to be a children's school but was later changed to a dance school for older teenagers. It stars Jessica Harper, Alida Valli, Udo Kier, and Joan Bennett in her final film role.
Entertainment Weekly rated the film #18 of its top 25 most frightening movies of all time, saying it had "the most vicious murder scene ever filmed". A poll among critics at Total Film named it as the 3rd greatest horror film of all-time. It was rated #24 on the cable channel Bravo's list of the "100 Scariest Movie Moments".
Suspiria is the first of a film trilogy Argento refers to as "The Three Mothers", about evil forces attempting to break through to the earth and wreak merciless havoc. Argento's next film, Inferno (1980), was the second in the trilogy, and the third is The Mother of Tears.
By a poll of film critics conducted by the Village Voice, Suspiria was named the 100th greatest film made during the 20th century.
The film was the final feature film to be processed in the Italian processing plant of Technicolor before it was closed.
Mon Oct 25, 2004 2:18 pm
dolcevita
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:24 pm Posts: 16061 Location: The Damage Control Table
B - 80%, for reasons discussed in the suspiria foreign thread here:
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 11:56 pm Posts: 26066 Location: In good ol' Mexico
I just got bored and annoyed...
C-
Mon Jul 16, 2007 12:36 am
Omni
The Antichrist
Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 8:04 am Posts: 1742 Location: Calisota
I can't understand how people can't like this movie. Probably the Usa edition has some problems, or maybe the problems are somewhere else. First, it's one of the few really creepy and scary horrors "recently" made, a great thing if you consider there are tons of horror movies which are only good for a laugh or a yawn (The Hills Have Eyes, Evil Dead, The Grudge, Boogeyman, etc...movies with just a bunch of clearly fake "monsters", useless violence scenes and stupid characters and situations). Second, it has a great soundtrack, while we can easily say many other horror flicks don't even have something that can be remotely called a soundtrack. I'm starting to think its only real problem is that it's not a cult movie or a classic, and that prevents it from getting lots of A's and B's.
Truly one of the best horror films ever made. It's an incredibly visual, visceral experience, and, if you can overlook the poor dubbing and sometimes over-the-top acting, it can be truly frightening. The story is more than adequate for the type of film this is, but it's really not needed due to the barrage of images that assault the viewer. The excellent use of colour and Argento's brilliant camera work are the main reasons why the visuals work so well, but it's the lesser known stuff - like the distinctly witch-shaped shadows during the dog attack sequence - that really makes the film work. And the music, wow. One of the best soundtracks ever composed, horror or not. Not only is it sufficiently creepy on its own, but it fits perfectly with the images on screen. All in all, a wondrously twisted masterpiece.
_________________
Magic Mike wrote:
zwackerm wrote:
If John Wick 2 even makes 30 million I will eat 1,000 shoes.
I dunno what I was expecting with this movie, but it wasn't this. Maybe [person who always recommended I see the film] was purposely trying to keep my expectations low (though he was hardly the only person to build this film up while simultaneously tearing it down), but I went into it expecting some seventies cheese fest with terrible dubbing and even worse acting. Instead I found it incredibly...normal. There was minimum cheesiness aside from a few bad effects and the acting was actually quite convincing. I felt with and for this girl far more often than any "bad" acting could ever make possible. And as for the dubbing, once in a while an awful delivery was noticeable during a close up, but for the most part I took the whole thing as being English language.
In fact, the only part of this film that didn't exceed my expectations is the visuals. The colors and lighting and sets and costumes are just as good as everyone says. It truly is remarkable what people can do when they really want to.
Aside from the look, the score deserves the most praise. Much of any scares or creepiness comes directly from it. It's at times dissonant and strange, but it never feels anything but a natural extension of the story and the visuals. It's unique and memorable and could very well be listened to outside the film and enjoyed thoroughly. Really really great.
As for the story and "horror" stuff, it's more Hitchcock than anything else. There's always some sense of evil or wrong lurking, but after from the opening murder, the next 40 minutes (or whatever) is just general build-up, sans gore or horror. It eventually finds its way back towards the supernatural, classic 'horror' stuff, but I was pleasantly surprised with how much care is given to keeping the story believable and interesting. Like I said, the acting and characters are such that when horrific stuff does happen you definitely feel for them, which leads to plenty of tense moments, but for the most part, it was much more tolerable than I'd expected. One of the only things that truly scares me in film is when a character is being chased and it's a close race between their death and escaping out some window or something...even if I don't like the film or the character, these scenes get my heart racing. There's a great example here, and I loved how as soon as she is (and therefor I am) safe she ends up probably worse off.
Anyway, like I said, I don't know what I thought about this film before seeing it, or where I gathered those ideas, but Suspiria was pretty much the opposite. It's truly a great film and by far one of the best 7 bucks I've spent on any dvd (I think they recently put out a 30th anniversary disc, but if you can find the really cheap barebones one still, don't hesitate to buy it.)
Sun Aug 10, 2008 9:01 am
snack
Extraordinary
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 9:18 pm Posts: 12159
Re: Suspiria
basically.
but I really, really liked it. like at least 3 times more than I expected to. it can be my second favorite movie about all of them witches that's not really about witches at all.
Thu Mar 19, 2009 5:59 am
Argos
Z
Joined: Sat May 13, 2006 2:20 pm Posts: 7952 Location: Wherever he went, including here, it was against his better judgment.
A lot of people complain about the "off" acting and dubbing, but everyone's supposed to sound unsettled and bizarre in the movie. Argento would play the music at loud volume on set because it was shot silent and it'd rattle people.
ACHTUNG: I wrote an extensive recension (im DDR-Volkmund auch 'Rese' genannt) on this movie, which was published in 2006, but it was recently deleted by a horde of mongolians. (!)
_________________ "Acting is the only thing I'm good at." - Freddie Prinze jr.
Ator: I love you. Sunya: And I love you. Ator: Why can't we marry? Sunya: Ator, we are brother and sister. Ator: I'll talk with our father.
Fri Mar 20, 2009 9:36 pm
Magic Mike
Wallflower
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 4:53 am Posts: 34876 Location: Minnesota
Re: Suspiria
The dubbing was a bit annoying at first but I got used to it. It was a pretty good flick with a couple of good death scenes and creepy moments. The music and lighting were terrific! I don't really mind that it's being remade though as there's certainly room for improvement. I just hope they can recreate the elements that worked so well in the original.
Grade: 7/10 (B-)
Sun Nov 01, 2009 1:56 am
_axiom
The Wall
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:50 am Posts: 16163 Location: Croatia
Re: Suspiria
**** / ***** (B)
A movie that understands it has a simple, rather unmemorable and generic story, but makes a stand for itself with its gorgeous visuals that are sure to stay with you long after you've seen it.
Magic Mike wrote:
The dubbing was a bit annoying at first but I got used to it.
That's why I don't like most of Italian cinema in general. And the baffling thing is that they've used dubbing up until the 80's.
Thu Mar 16, 2017 1:12 pm
Flava'd vs The World
The Kramer
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:36 am Posts: 23748 Location: Classified
Re: Suspiria
Wow! What a ride! Can't remember the last time I was on the edge of my chair yelling "don't go in there, bitch!!" Those kill scenes were so damn effective. And yet, despite being one of the scariest movies I've seen, it plays just as much like a fantasy-adventure. And on a technical level it is just one of the very best I've seen with the colors and cinematography making every frame unlookawayable (a word I just now made up.) I swear I never even checked my phone once during runtume. And to top it off .. what an amazing theme song. Not only does it hit, but it only comes on once somebody is about to die, filling you with even more tension (as if the movie even needed it!)
Dunno if my ramblings are doing it justice, but this is an easy 10/10 and I suspect that, after another few viewings, it will join my all time favorites. Not just in the horror genre, but all film.
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