Suspiria



American ballet student, Suzy Bannion, moves to Germany to study at the prestigious Tanz Academy, a world renowned dance school with a solid 70 year history. As she arrives at the academy one rainy night, she bumps into another student, Pat Hingle, who seems to be fleeing the school. Suzy doesn’t think too much of it, until the next day when she’s informed that Pat had been found brutally murdered. Suzy initially chalks Pat demise up to a fluke, but as strange things start happening at the academy and more and more people wind up either missing or dead, she quickly uncovers that the school is merely an elaborate front for a coven of witches and that no one connected to it is safe.



No, despite being a giallo fan and having seen many of Dario Argento’s works already, I hadn’t watched Suspiria yet. Yes, I know in some horror circles that would qualify me for an immediate whipping, likely against a colorful golden-red backdrop surrounded by floral patterns and tasteful teak furniture. And yes, I know I should have watched it before now. But I didn’t, and do I care now? No. Because I’ve watched it now and found the movie to be very fun, and I also don’t like pain so those people can now roll up their whips and sod off. Now having seen it, I can see why it’s become so popular and influential, even despite some of the cracks in its (very) colorful facade.


“After her time at Tanz, Suzy never wanted to see the color red again for as long as she lived.”

Suspiria’s greatest asset and draw is its fabulous sense of style. Because to put it succinctly: this movie is just damn pretty. There’s no earthly way to overlook that. It’s so lovely that I feel that even people who generally dislike horror movies would be forced to begrudgingly admit how beautiful the film is. It’s clear from the start that every scene has been meticulously planned out to the smallest detail. Which would make sense, as most, if not all, of the interiors were sets designed from the ground up, with even the school’s exterior being a recreation of The Whale House in Freiburg, Germany. Unlike some of Argento’s later films that oftentimes almost feel rushed, everything here, from the intensely bright colors, to the striking patterns, to even the angles of the shots, have obviously been carefully thought out and crafted to be as visually pleasing as possible. As this is a horror movie, naturally 80% of the main visual theme seems to be centered around “blood red” for ‘danger’. But the other primary colors also make a striking appearance, so you can expect a lot of greens, blues (often seen here associated with death) and yellows to assault your senses as well. So for fans of “arty” cinema the film is likely worth a viewing just for the visuals alone.






I could probably stare at screenshots of this movie all day.

In fact, with such a strong focus on the imagery the movie really does often feel like more of an art film rather than a narrative one. Because while the story is decently written and easy enough to follow, the combination of the visuals and the way the film is shot often makes the movie feel like a bit of a fever dream. Which is fine. We need more artfully done, weird horror. But that also means that it includes a couple of questionable gaps in story logic. Most notably: how are the witches managing to kill off so many people in such a short amount of time with only, like, one or two chicks really taking notice? I suppose one missing girl a year might be understandable with a school like this. But two deaths and a missing girl? Where are the parents? Wouldn’t they be asking questions? And even if there was only one death and/or disappearance every year, surely even the most incompetent of police forces would still be suspicious of all these people disappearing from the same school? And surely the witches, who have faced persecution for years, would know all that and be cautious, so why tempt fate?

I guess you could simply chalk the answer to all of that up to “magic”, but we’re never really given a proper idea of how far reaching the scope of the witches’ magic really is. Can it only affect people close by, or can they be far away? Do they have to know them or at least know what they look like, or no? Because if their magic is so far reaching that it can influence people’s thoughts that they haven’t even seen or met in other countries (like the girl’s parents, for instance), one has to wonder: why the hell are they running a silly little dance school when they could, I don’t know, be using their immense powers of evil to influence world leaders and take over the world? Just a thought.


Reach for the stars and expand your scope, ladies!

The only thing I’m not particularly fond of in the movie is the sound. The movie is in English, but is also dubbed. And unlike a lot of dubbed films, this one is actually fairly decently done. But it’s not so well done that it’s impossible to tell it’s dubbed, and while most of the dubbing choices are good, there are a couple that aren’t nearly as good as they could be, so the movie is kind of a mixed bag in that department (though the dialogue itself is just fine). As is the soundtrack by progressive rock band, Goblin. I know a lot of people like the score, and it usually works just fine. But I’ve never been particularly fond of them, and there are a couple of sound cues in this movie that I feel very “meh” about. So, depending on your musical preferences, the soundtrack could be a bit hit-or-miss for you.


For being known as such a “violent” horror movie, it’s really very tame by today’s standards.

So, other than a couple of nitpicks I have with the sound and a couple of plot elements, Suspiria proves to be a very fun horror film. The acting is good, the story is good, but most of all, the visuals are often breathtaking. It’s one of those rare movies you can watch without the sound and still be utterly fascinated by….not that I would suggest doing that on your first viewing though, because then you’d just end up being hopelessly confused. But for subsequent viewings, sure. Go wild. Just make sure you see it if you’re a horror fan. There’s a reason this one is still considered a classic, and even if you’re the type who isn’t fond of surrealist horror, it’s still worth at least one viewing, if only to appreciate the stunning color and imagery.

Suspiria is available on a variety of streaming services.

Suspiria is also available on DVD and Bluray.

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