Suspiria (1977)

DARIO ARGENTO

SUSPIRIA

ITALY, 1977

9.5/10

"Who is it? Who's there? Ah, I've been expecting you! The American girl! I knew you'd come. You want to kill me! You want to kill Helena Markos!"

I first watched this film around five years ago, and initially, I was disappointed. Every horror fan has at least heard of SUSPIRIA (1977), and it's often cited as one of the best horror films ever created, or, at least as Italian horror master Dario Argento's masterpiece. And so I watched it with very, very high expectations, and the movie ended with me feeling remarkably underwhelmed (it's worth mentioning that I was watching this in the middle of the day, and PEEPING TOM (1960) is the only horror film that's been able to creep me out while the sun is still in the sky, so that no doubt hindered my enjoyment of the film at first). I thought "This is SUSPIRIA? This is this film I've heard so much about?" And for three years I held a huge prejudice against SUSPIRIA, claiming it was an overrated, over-cited, and over-colored piece of shit. And then, two years ago, I decided to watch it again. And while I still had criticisms, I enjoyed it much, much more. And over the past two years, I have re-watched it many more times, and each time I enjoy it more and more. 

Now, like I said in my review of OPERA (1987), SUSPIRIA has many, many flaws. Even if you think the film is the greatest achievement in horror cinema, you have to admit that. The plot is almost non-existent, some of the dialogue is incredibly childish (though I heard the characters were going to be 12, but the age was changed without changing the dialogue, making it seem childish; whether or not this is true, I don't know), the dubbing is so bad in the scene where Suzy talks to the psychiatrist about witches that it actually distracts from the scene, the blood looks like ketchup, and while the soundtrack is haunting at first, it becomes repetitive, annoying, and intrusive as the film continues. Still, SUSPIRIA is much greater than the sum of its parts. 

As you would expect with an Argento film, the direction of the film is fantastic, and it involves some of the most inventive use of color I have ever seen in my life. The opening scene (see the picture above) is absolutely fantastic, as it manages to effectively scare the audience while having a very nice death sequence, and on top of that, it sets the tone for the entire movie. It's honestly one of the most effective opening scenes in the entire genre. I loved Jessica Harper in PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (1974), and (pretty unpopular opinion here) I adored her role in the generally disliked movie SHOCK TREATMENT (1981), so naturally I loved her as Suzy Bannion here. The film works very well as a twisted and disturbing adult fairy tale, something that the DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (2010) remake tried and failed to do. The death scenes (while there aren't as many as in, say, an '80s splatter film) are, mostly, incredibly interesting, inventive, and terrifying. The snoring of Helena was very, very creepy, especially the last of the two times we hear it. The tension in this film builds wonderfully, making the murder sequences, complete with pounding music and non-stop scares, even more amazing. Every single shot of this film is a work of art, the colors and angles all used exceptionally.

In conclusion, SUSPIRIA is one of the best horror movies from the 20th century, and is a must-see for fans of the genre. I do recommend multiple viewings if you disliked it, because I only really started to appreciate how this wasn't really a film, more like a nightmarish, violent fairy tale after re-watching. While I love it, I cannot bring myself to give it anything higher than a 9.5 because it does have flaws and I still don't love it as much as some other people do (maybe in a couple of months I'll rewatch it and change the score to a 10), but it is still highly, highly recommended.