"I was also very definite about the opening. I wanted the strongest impact
possible. The whole point was to start Suspiria in the way a normal horror
film would usually finish. That kept the audience on edge wondering what
could possible come next. My strongest memory of Suspiria is attending
the premiere in Rome with people running screaming from the cinema. It
was an incredible moment for me, I'll never forget it."
Dario Argento on Suspiria
In
the annals of the "European Art/Horror Film," you will be hard pressed
to find a more beautiful or surreal work than Dario Argento's 1977 masterpiece
Suspiria. Filmed using outmoded Technicolor film stock along with garish
lighting, expressionistic decor,and easily the most intense soundtrack
in film history, Suspiria remains a film that continues to dazzle and
amaze. Watching the first fifteen minutes of Suspiria, is a cinematic
experience one never forgets.
You
abruptly enter a world of jewel tones, where voices scream "WITCH!"
as ritual drums pound in the background. We follow Suzy Banyon, an American
ballet student, arriving in Frieburg Germany in an apocalyptic gust
of rain and thunder. On Suzy's arrival at the famed Tanzakademie of
Dance the focus suddenly shifts, seemingly without reason, to another
student fleeing the school screaming out in terror what seems to be
nonsensical words.
What follows to the uninitiated is a host of confusing and strange
incidences that leaves the viewer in awe. To a pounding relentless soundtrack,
in a splash of Van Gogh red, hearts are repeatedly stabbed till the
still pumping organ is exposed through a blood stained shirt. Followed
by a brutal hanging and severe lacerations to an unsuspecting cohort,
the opening of Suspiria has never been passed for sheer bravado.
Argento indeed started Suspiria off with such a bang that he was hard pressed to recapture
the same tension throughout the rest of the film.
Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of frights and great set pieces through the
remainder of the film, but nothing will ever top the
first ten minutes of the film - Nothing!
The mysterious and beautiful Jessica Harper, a debased fave, does
a terrific wide eyed, lost girl routine. The horrifying Alida Valli
as the smiling dance instructor/brute Miss Tanner is marvelous - you
may find yourself waking up in a cold sweat over this evil bitch. Classic
scenes include the blind piano player terrorized in the plaza, Suzy
and her roomate Sara realizing the instructors don't leave the school
at night, and the brutally tense barbed wire, throat slashing demise
of Sara (played by cult favorite Stefania Casini).
Goblin's soundtrack for Suspiria is legendary - howling African ritual chants,
deep demented drumming, various squeals. The soundtrack alone is enough
to scare the shit out of you.
Dario Argento has recently stated he has funding for the third mother film (the second being Inferno) and one hopes he will
write it with ex lover Daria Nicolodi, who helped write and gave him the inspiration for Suspiria.
Suspiria is simply one of the all time horror greats.
