Suspiria

Suspiria (1977) – Dario Argento

The Witching Hour

Suspiria, if nothing else, is a beautifully vivid descent into hell.  Exciting, dark and thought provoking, it deserves its status in the annals of horror history.  

Suspiria centres around a young American girl, Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper), who gets a place at a famous ballet school in Freiburg, Germany.  On her arrival she is greeted by some weird and wonderful characters and a school full of scared students. It doesn't take long for Argento to play all his cards, dragging you into an abyss of colour and fear, with his use of lighting to create an already atmosphere sodden air.  The set designs are straight out of a 1970s Harper's Bazaar and the combination is at times breathtaking.  Suzy takes time to realise that she and her cohorts are in danger whilst Argento plays out his macabre and styalized scenes.  The soundtrack was created by Goblins (the band) and is their most wonderous and bizarre work. The music loops, building some great atmosphere and suspense. You are almost mesmerized by the soundtrack, hypnotically drawing you ever closer to the climax of the film. 

Suspiria is the first of Argento’s ‘Three Mothers’ trilogy about powerful witches residing in Freiburg, Rome and New York, in wonderfully constructed buildings by an occultist architect.  The next two features Inferno (1980) and Mother of Tears (2007) complete the trilogy, and even with Inferno still clinging on to Suspiria's amazingly styalized sets and lighting use (it also has one of the best intro's in any horror film ever), it still falls short of the power of Suspiria.  

Watch in the dark, in a thunderstorm, in a tutu, in the bathroom (just in case!!!).