Suspiria

Directors: Dario Argento
Release Date: 12 August 1977

 

Cast:
Suzy Bannion: Jessica Harper
Sara: Stefania Casini
Daniel: Flavio Bucci
Mark: Miguel Bosé
Olga: Barbara Magnolfi
Sonia: Susanna Javicoli
Pat Hingle: Eva Axén
Prof. Milius: Rudolf Schündler
Dr. Frank Mandel: Udo Kier
Miss Tanner: Alida Valli

 

This 1977 classic Horror is a must-see for aficionados of the genre. The film has received very high praise from reviewers – including Entertainment Weekly which not only rated it in the top 25 Horror Films of All Time but said it had the most vicious murder scene ever filmed. If that doesn’t get you interested I don’t know what would.

The story involves a young dancer from the United States who moves to Germany to perform at an acclaimed dance school. Upon arrival at the school she sees a fellow student running out of the building in a panic. Our heroine fails to heed this bad omen and the ensuing horror unfolds. The setting is bizarre and nightmarish and very much of its time. There are weird noises, drugged wine, bizarre rituals and much else to make young dancer sit up and take notice.

The movie was written by the director, Dario Argento, along with his then girlfriend, Daria Nicolodi. They have created a suspenseful and frightening place filled with odd characters. The setting is further enhanced by the use of primary colours; the emphasis on a saturated red gives a bloody feel to the setting.

This film is the first of the three by Argento. Each is a tribute to one of the “Three Mothers”, a trio that are trying to wreak havoc on the earth. Though the stories are independent the feeling and the style is very clearly in the same vein.

The film’s very gory opening murder scene was so shocking to American censors that most of it was removed (by the time the film launched it was almost gone completely). This version has the entire scene. Watch it and see why this was called one of the top 100 greatest films of the 20th Century.

 

 

If you like this Movie, you'll also like:

1. The Stendhal Syndrome
2. Night of the Living Dead (1968) – 30th Anniversary Edition
3. Event Horizon
4. Dead Snow / Død snø
5. Let The Right One In / Låt den rätte komma in