Italian horror films, even at their worst or weirdest, can
be lots of fun. I’ve always been partial to the blood-soaked, 80s metal-fuelled
fun of 1985’s Demoni, or the music genre inspiring Karloff-starring Black
Sabbath. Then there’s all the exploitation from Cannibal Holocaust to the
pseudo-porn of the likes of Bruno Mattei…but that’s a whole other thing. No, what
I’m talking about here is the somewhat classier and highly acclaimed Suspiria,
from maestro Dario Argento.
Lots has been written on this one, so I’m just giving my own
impressions—and the first impression is that it’s visually incredibly
distinctive. I watched a 4k restoration on a big screen and man is it
gorgeous—very specific lighting and set colors were used to create a surreal,
eye-watering atmosphere. Between the blood-red corridors and the strange
passageways of the finale, you’re not forgetting the set design of this one…but
maybe we should start first on the plot.
Truth be told, Suspiria’s storytelling isn’t the strongest
part of it. About a young American girl sent to a German dance academy, it
deals with her gradually uncovering the strange and sinister goings-on at the
institute, as people start vanishing and eerie occurrences mount. There’s
definitely intrigue to keep you going—mostly relying on that classic
uncertainty of not knowing just what’s behind a locked door, no doubt
containing evil on the other side. The pacing of the film is a bit stop-start,
and some things aren’t really explained in detail.
Still, when it does get intense, it’s a lot of fun—especially
when you’ve got the score playing on from 70s New Wave band Goblin, who also
did the music for Dawn of the Dead. There’s two main leitmotifs that signify
evil or bad things going on, during the more harrowing scenes, and though they
might get slightly repetitive, it’s all so catchy. The rest of the sound design
is a mixed back—another weakness of the film is the sometimes shaky ADR. It was
pretty much standard for Italian films back then to record dialogue in
post-production—you can see much the same even for the likes of the Good, Bad,
And The Ugly—and it was sometimes fairly mixed to stay the least. Some of the
dialogue is also slightly downgraded from more poetically written lines of the original
Italian script.
Nevertheless, it’s hard for this to really bear on your mind
when the film’s at its best—for me, this being the beginning, and the end. The
opening is set in a rainstorm, with discomfort for the main character setting
on with rude cabbies and unsettling colors, as she then sees someone running
from her destined dance academy. Eyes in windows, howling storms…it’s all very well
done. The middle act of the film can drag and then briefly spike, but the
ending is also a nicely enjoyable barrage of evil magic, undead, and
explosions.
Dario Argento followed on with this film in a loose trilogy
of the even weirder Inferno, and then in the 2000s Mother of Tears, which I
haven’t seen but understand it wasn’t received very well. Still, Suspiria
remains understandably a classic for horror fans, and while I don’t think it’s
as perfect as some make it out to be, I sure understand the appeal. Definitely
something for mood and visuals over tight screenwriting, but its legacy has
lasted enough for an actually interesting remake coming up soon, which I intend
to check out. Give this one a watch for some vivid and trippy imagery—because let’s
just say the school and the magical forces that accompany it in this one ain’t
like Hogwarts…
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