Review: Suspiria

American student Jessica Harper enrols in a prestigious dance academy in Germany. Students and faculty start getting bumped off in bizzaro fashion by an unknown assailant. There may also be strange occult goings on within in the academy walls as well. Harper decides to start looking into the history of the school itself. Alida Valli and Joan Bennett play faculty members at the academy. A young-ish Udo Kier (who is dubbed, due to technical difficulties during filming his scene apparently) turns up for one brief scene as a shrink.

 

Personally I prefer the later “Inferno”, but this 1977 flick from co-writer/director Dario Argento (“Tenebrae”, “Phenomena”, “Opera”) is quite clearly an iconic Italian horror film, and a true triumph of style and atmosphere. It’s clearly a style over substance film, and that might not be everyone’s cup of tea. I too tend to favour story and character most of all in films, so I get the concerns there. However, when the style is this damn good I certainly don’t mind that those other things are in shorter supply. Here’s the one style over substance film where I think even those not predisposed to such films have to admit it’s pretty damn impressive. It’s definitely a must for people who love good-looking, atmospheric, and gory horror films. The music score by Argento and rock group Goblin is excellent, too.

 

A Dali-esque nightmare come to cinematic life, the film looks phenomenal, as shot by cinematographer Luciano Tovoli (“Tenebrae”, “Reversal of Fortune”, “Single White Female”). The stunning interior design definitely gives off Mario Bava and Roger Corman (circa the Poe series) vibes as well. The first murder is an absolute gory showstopper of style as the film gets off and running good and quick. It might just be the best scene in any Argento film to date. Later there’s a completely pretentious but wonderful bit where Jessica Harper has the most beautiful and artistic nose bleed in cinematic history. Hitchcock himself would be proud of that one. The fantastic set-piece leading up to the barbed wire death is really something, too. Is it too much of something? Perhaps, but you have to admire the audaciousness nonetheless. The raining maggots bit is also campy outrageousness. Argento is clearly having fun showing off here, and although I don’t always like that in a director, he pulls it off. Argento also brings an undeniable energy to the film, which helps cover for the fact that plot-wise it’s a bit simplistic. There’s a little bit of the original “Black Christmas”, quite a bit of Mario Bava’s “Blood and Black Lace” (though mostly in terms of style), nothing you haven’t seen before on a story level.

 

The acting isn’t brilliant, but Jessica Harper is perfect and a matronly Alida Valli is quite good too. Joan Bennett oozes disingenuousness in her every moment on screen. If there’s any flaw it’s the scene involving Harper, Udo Kier and the occult expert. It slows the film down at a point where it really ought to be the opposite. It’s also just not a particularly necessary or interesting scene.

 

There are horror films with great stories and memorable characters. Here’s one with images and sounds that will haunt you afterwards. A visual (and aural) piece of art, and one of the best-looking colour films ever made. Hell, it’s probably one of the best-looking films full stop. Any horror fan owes it to themselves to see this one at least once. Also, seek out the trailer too, as it’s one of the all-time great trailers. It’s not my favourite Argento film, but if it’s not a true great it sure is very, very good.

 

Rating: B+