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. 

Halloween (1978)

JOHN CARPENTER

HALLOWEEN

USA, 1978

10/10

"I met him, fifteen years ago. I was told there was nothing left. No reason, no conscience, no understanding; even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, good or evil, right or wrong. I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil."

While it is in no way the best made film ever made (although you can expect that with a budget of only $325,000), HALLOWEEN (1978) manages to frighten me on a level that no other film has been able to do. Sure, Jason Voorhees is cool with his hockey mask and machetes, and Ghostface was the first slasher villain I really, truly loved, but everyone pales in comparison to the blank stare, the heavy breathing, and the emotionless and terrifying mask of Michael Myers.

John Carpenter, my all-time favorite horror director, directed this film and, as he does with many of his films, had the ability to make the film look much more expensive than it actually is. As I mentioned before, the cinematography is no Oscar-winner, but considering the almost non-existent budget this was filmed with, it's extremely, extremely impressive. 

HALLOWEEN is quite different from other slasher films in the fact that it has both a very long build-up and very little gore. Despite these uncommon factors that, to someone unfamiliar with the film, you might expect would make the film boring, HALLOWEEN is still incredibly, incredibly frightening. Just seeing Michael Myers driving his car behind Laurie sends shivers down my spine.

This film also uses many killer POV shots. The entire opening scene, except for a final shot of child-Michael, is shot from Michael's perspective. The only film that I think did this better is BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974), even though HALLOWEEN is still a far superior film and was much more influential then BLACK CHRISTMAS ever was (even though B.C. is still a personal favorite of mine). This film also features many shots of Michael, his back to the camera, observing the characters he is going to murder later in the movie. This technique was used in many, many FRIDAY THE 13TH movies and many of the HALLOWEEN sequels, though it is never nearly as effective as it is here. 

HALLOWEEN is not the best horror film of all time (I believe THE SHINING (1980) to be the best), but it is definitely, in my opinion, the scariest film ever made. This film is highly recommended to any fans of horror and slashers, and is the beginning to a great franchise (none of the films all that good, though; HALLOWEEN is the best of the bunch), and (along with the FRIDAY THE 13TH movies), kick-started the 1980s slasher craze. This is one of the most influential horror films of all time, and is incredibly, incredibly frightening, entertaining, and interesting. It is a must-see for anyone even remotely interested in horror.