Suspiria

Plot synopsis:
A young American ballet student, Suzy Banyon (Jessica Harper), flies to Germany to attend a prestigious dance academy. On the night of her arrival there is a torrential downpour. She arrives at the school by taxi, and before she can enter, she witnesses a young blonde girl (Eva Axén) fleeing the building in a panic. Suzy hears the girl shouting to someone just inside the door of the school, but the intense thunder obscures most of her words. When the other girl is gone, Suzy talks to an unidentified person on the school's intercom, but they refuse to let her inside. Unable to gain access to the school, Suzy gets back into her cab and has the driver take her away. As the cab drives through a nearby forest, Suzy sees Pat running alone through the trees that separate the school from town.The frightened girl is Pat Hingle, and she flees to a friend's apartment in the nearby town. While alone in the bathroom, she becomes transfixed by a pair of shining eyes outside the window, and a decidedly inhuman arm smashes through the glass, grabbing her. She is pulled out of the window onto the roof, stabbed numerous times, and then hanged by a cord when she falls through the sky light. The huge pieces of glass and metal that break out of the skylight fall on Pat's friend, killing her by impaling her body and her head in numerous places.Suzy goes to the school the next day and is greeted by Ms. Tanner (Alida Valli), an instructor, and Madame Blanc (Joan Bennett), the vice directress. Madame Blanc is very friendly to Suzy, especially when she realizes she knows Suzy's aunt Carol. Detectives are there investigating Pat's murder, and although Ms. Tanner tries to hurry Suzy away, Suzy volunteers a few bits of information. It seems as if there is something that she cannot remember, some realization that she can't put her finger on. Suzy meets a few other odd characters, including a strange looking handyman named Pavlo (Giuseppe Transocchi) and a blind pianist named Daniel (Flavio Bucci).In the changing room, Suzy meets two other students, Olga (Barbara Magnolfi) and Sara (Stefania Casini). Sara and Olga are not friends, and Olga taunts Sara a little. Although Suzy has requested to board at the school, the rooms are all full and it's been arranged for Suzy to live with Olga in her off-campus apartment. Although Olga initially seems very bitchy, she and Suzy get along well and have a conversation about Pat. Olga tells Suzy that Pat was a "busybody", and that she was always trying to find out things about other people. Suzy thinks back to seeing Pat the night before, and she suddenly remembers Pat shouting the words "secret" and "iris".The next day, Suzy sees Madame Blanc before classes, and she tells Suzy that her dorm room is now free. Suzy, however, tells Madame Blanc that she'd rather live with Olga. Madame Blanc seems offended by this and walks away in a huff. Ms. Tanner sarcastically tells Suzy that she is happy she's so "strong willed". On her way to class immediately afterwards, Suzy passes by the cook, who is sitting in the hallway with Madame Blanc's small nephew Albert (Jacopo Mariani). The cook is polishing some silver, and she reflects a beam of sunlight at Suzy, who immediately begins to feel ill. In class, Ms. Tanner keeps pushing Suzy to dance, and Suzy passes out, bleeding from her nose and mouth.The school doctor (Renato Scarpa) puts Suzy on a restricted diet that includes cheese, fruit, and a glass of red wine. Suzy also finds that she's been moved into the dorms without her consent. Her dorm room is next to Sara's, and the two of them become friends. As the girls dress for dinner, hundreds of maggots start to fall from the ceiling. Ms. Tanner investigates the upper floor and finds that crates of spoiled food have caused the maggot infestation. Madame Blanc apologizes to the girls, and arranges for all of them to sleep in the practice hall. A wall of sheets separates the girls from the teachers, who are staying with the girls for the night. Suzy asks Sara if the teachers live in the school, but Sara tells her that they leave at 9:30 every night. When the girls sleep, a shadowy figure lays down on the other side of the sheet behind Suzy and Sara. The person has a very distinct, raspy, whistling snore and it frightens Sara, who wakes Suzy up. Sara tells her about a time last year when she had to sleep in a guest bedroom: late that night, she had heard the same snoring in the next room. Madame Blanc later told Sara that the school's directress stayed in that room, so the weird snoring means the directress is now here. This seems suspicious to Suzy and Sara, since all the girls have been told that the directress would not return to the school for weeks.The next morning, Sara asks Ms. Tanner if the directress showed up last night, but Ms. Tanner denies it. As classes start, Madame Blanc's young nephew, Albert, is attacked by Daniel's guide dog. Enraged, Ms. Tanner interrupts class and tells Daniel never to bring the dog back or she'll have it put to sleep. Daniel yells at her and insists his dog would never harm anyone. Ms. Tanner throws Daniel's cane to the floor and tells him to get out, humiliating him as he fumbles around trying to find it. Daniel is enraged, and makes a veiled threat to Ms. Tanner: he is blind, but not deaf. Ms. Tanner is furious.That night, after Suzy eats her meal Sara comes into her room and they listen while the teachers supposedly leave. However, Suzy notices that the footsteps are going away from the front door; therefore the teachers are not really leaving the school at all, but going someplace inside. Sara begins to wonder where they go, but Suzy becomes extremely drowsy and can hardly stay awake. Sara takes out a notebook and writes down the number of footsteps as the instructors walk by.Daniel, who has been out at a bar, leaves with his dog. While in the middle of an empty piazza, his dog begins to bark at something. Daniel tries to calm down the dog, but he just gets more restless as they walk. Daniel begins to become frightened and stops, hearing strange sounds that indicate to him someone else is there. We can also see shadowy figures moving in the distance. As Daniel waits silently in the piazza, his dog suddenly attacks and kills him, tearing out his throat.Suzy is troubled by the sudden number of deaths and approaches Madame Blanc. She tells Blanc that she heard Pat say something the night she died. Although Pat had said more, Suzy only heard "secret" and "irises". Madame Blanc says she will inform the police about Suzy's information, but Sara later gets angry that Suzy told this to Madame Blanc. Sara worries that Suzy's revelation has put the teachers on a hunt for whoever Pat was talking to that night, and that the teacher will obviously identify that person as herself. As the two go for a swim in the pool, Sara tells Suzy all about her friendship with Pat, and how Pat had been taking notes for months about strange occurrences at the school. However, when Sara is going to show them to Suzy that night, the notes are gone; now she knows that the evil forces in the school are onto her and her time is short. The only thing she has left is the list of footsteps she made. Sara tries to get Suzy to help her, but once again Suzy cannot stay awake. Sara begins to hear footsteps and flees Suzy's room just before an unseen person enters. Sara escapes to the attic, where she is attacked but hides in a room and latches the door shut. Her stalker tries to use a strait razor to unlatch the door. With nowhere else to go, Sara cowers away from the door when she notices a small window near the ceiling. Stacking several boxes on top of each other, she leaps through the window and into the next room; unfortunately, the small room is filled the brim with large, unruly bushels of razor wire. She tries to escape to an open door a few feet away but keeps getting tangled and cut. Just as she is near the door, the killer slices her throat.The next morning, Suzy finds Sara's room empty. Ms. Tanner tells Suzy that Sara left early that morning without telling anyone. Suzy meets with a friend of Sara's, who turns out to be Sara's psychologist. He tells Suzy that Sara became troubled when a friend put the notion of witches in her head. Sara also found out that the school was founded by Helena Markos, a Greek émigré, who people thought was a witch. Markos was persecuted wherever she went, and she founded the school for the study of occult sciences and arts. However, Markos died in a fire, and the school was passed down to her favorite pupil who turned it from a school for the occult to a dance academy. Suzy talks to a colleague of Dr. Mandel who specializes in witches, Professor Milius. Milius explains to Suzy that witches are negative forces that change events only to do harm, and their goal is to gain personal wealth that can only be achieved by injury to others. He also tells her that a coven of witches can only do magic with the power of their queen. Otherwise, they are harmless.Back at school, Suzy finds out that all the students are gone. She asks a servant, who tells her that all the students went to the theater, and that Ms. Tanner got the tickets. Suzy tries to call Frank Mandel, but a storm knocks out the phones. In her room, Suzy dumps her food out, and throws the wine down the sink, which looks suspiciously like blood. Afterwards, she is attacked by a vicious bat that flies in the bathroom window. She begins to hear the teachers footsteps, and remembers counting them with Sara. Following the count, Suzy traces their path and ends up in Madame Blanc's empty office, where the footsteps stopped. With only one door, she knows the teachers exited somehow. Glancing into a mirror, she notices irises painted on the wall in the elaborate grotto illustration that adorns Madame Blanc's office. Suddenly Suzy remembers what she had forgotten. When exiting the school, Pat said "The secret! I saw behind the door! Three irises! Turn the blue one!"Suzy turns the blue iris and a hidden door pops open. She sneaks down a hallway and, hiding behind a curtain, she sees the entire coven meeting with Madame Blanc, who is sitting on a throne. She and the others discuss how they will kill Suzy. Conducting a black mass ritual, Madame Blanc partakes of some kind of communion wafer and says "Queen Helena, give me power!" Afraid they might find her, Suzy backs away and stumbles upon Sara's corpse. She flees into a connecting room, which turns out to be a bedroom. Asleep in the bed, obscured by sheer white curtains, is a shadowy figure, snoring loudly--the same weird snoring of the directress, whom Suzy now realizes is Helena Markos. Frightened, Suzy knocks over an ornamental statue which wakes up Helena Markos. In a horrible, raspy voice, Helena speaks to Suzy: "The American girl! I knew you'd come. You want to kill me!" Suzy picks up one of the sharp glass feathers from the statue and pulls back the curtain of the bed only to find it empty. Confused, Suzy looks around while Markos taunts her. A door slowly opens, and Sara's corpse, back to life and wielding a knife, approaches Suzy. As lightning strikes, Suzy notices a slight outline of Markos still sitting there on the bed; she is simply invisible. Suzy stabs her through the neck. Sara disappears, and the burnt features of Markos become visible as she dies; the weapon has penetrated through her entire neck, and she chokes to death. Things in the bedroom begin to explode, and Suzy rushes out. As she passes by their meeting room, she sees Madame Blanc, Miss Tanner, and the others, all collapsed and bleeding due to the death of Markos. Suzy runs away, and everywhere she goes, power exudes from her, destroying all in her path. Doors explode outwards before she can touch them, and walls crack and break as she passes. Finally she reaches the exit and walks out into the rain as the house burns behind her. Suzy smiles cryptically as she walks away from the school. Perhaps she is simply happy to have escaped, or perhaps it is as the legend goes, that whoever kills a witch inherits her power.

Tags: avant garde, cruelty, gothic, murder, paranormal, cult, violence, horror, atmospheric, flashback, good versus evil, psychedelic, romantic, suspenseful, sadist

Review:
"Suspiria" ranks as one of the best Italian-made horror films of all time..
A German ballet school for girls is the setting for mysterious deaths, in this 1977 horror story, written and directed by Dario Argento.
The vivid, rich colors, strange camera angles, deep shadows, and bright light piercing through darkness, all contribute to the impression that the viewer is trapped in someone else's nightmare.One haunting segment of the film takes place in a huge, and strangely empty, public square, at night.
Dario Argento's crowning achievement in stylish film-making.Suspiria is the most beautiful horror film ever made.
The music score by Goblin is one of the most effective score ever to grace a horror movie.The story concerns an American ballet student who discovers that a coven of witches run the school as bodies begin piling up.
But these are minor flaws in an operatic horror ride one is not likely to forget that easily.So sit yourself down, turn out the light, and watch this movie in surround sound, 'cause the music alone will totally give you the creeps..
"Suspiria" is outstanding, and has exceeded my best expectations: the story is excellent, its atmosphere recalls a nightmare, with the amazing use of strong bright colors and the soundtrack from the Italian band Goblin is very scary.
I certainly include "Suspiria" among my favorite horror movies and I only regret the time I have missed without having the chance of watching this stunning work of one of my favorite directors.
Argento's direction adds a lot of atmosphere to the movie, particularly in the way he uses lights and color.
Unfortunately, the school is run by witches (and not even the nice Nicole Kidman types from Bewitched).The good: the film is spectacular to watch, simply because of the use of rich and vibrant colours in every scene.
Personally, I liked it, but I've read plenty of negative comments saying how it was too loud, distracting and even made people have to turn the volume up and down all the way through the film.There is gore - low budget stuff though and if you like your horror slow burning and colourful, you might get something out of this..
Bennett duplicitously gives the "Madame Blanc" character just the right amount of respectability, or "class"; she keeps her Academy dancers enrolled, and helps hold the slim story together.******* Suspiria (1977) Dario Argento ~ Jessica Harper, Joan Bennett, Alida Valli.
I've seen hundreds of horror films (including all of Argento's work), and *Suspiria* is my unequivocal favorite.
Unfortunately, the voice of the witch at the end turns masterful horror into overriding cheese, making the tagline ring all too true: there is *nothing* more terrifying on film than the first ninety minutes, but the last few fall somewhat short of genius.That fact notwithstanding, *Suspiria* is a fine example of how horror movies should be made, and I sincerely hope that any director or screenwriter contemplating a horror film first sits down to watch this one so they can be reminded that the horror genre properly contains a good deal more than the simple-minded slasher flick that has become all-too-typical in American theaters.
Many horror fans would agree that you can forgo an air-tight plot if other things keep the film moving, but Suspiria has very little going for it.
And has anyone stopped to think that if Argento succeeded in creating a rich, haunting atmosphere, then why shouldn't the movie be scary?Even with an art house lens, it's amateurish.
Horror should be about intensity and passion, and Suspiria is all wrong.If you like creepiness with interesting shots/lighting with slow development and not too much blood, try Repulsion or even Alien.
I like horror movies which are shocking and the opening murders were a bit shocking but i felt that Suspiria had nothing else to offer, there certainly wasn't any excitement like other Argento movies such as Phenomena and Demons.
Suspiria is a movie I had heard about now and again over the course of many years, first from my oldest brother or overhearing a conversation my brother's friends had many years ago in the late 70s.The film came out when I was just five years old and all I could gleam at the time was a near comic book mystery, a profound imagery that wild and surreal fantasy that a child creates.Upon finally watching the movie I knew immediately I would have to write a review for the website.Suspiria is a movie based around an old Dance Academy that is run by a darkly magical coven of witches.
The walls around the staircase appear papered in a Curelean blue of crushed velvet, hallways draped in red embroidered silk.Suspiria unfolds as the imagination comes tumbling off the screen with all the color and music and emotion of a good book.You never see this kind of attention given to a film anymore, this amount of passion for the art of film coupled with so much skill.
Films like these aren't made anymore but should be studied closely, and savored.Though not particularly a scary film Suspiria is a work of art and makes you feel like you are in the shoes of the lead character, taking the journey with her in this macabre and haunting tale in a world that is all Argento..
Distinctly European, Suspiria opens as if it were a giallo (much like his previous films The Bird with the Crystal Plumage or Deep Red) - with a series of spectacular murders stages with an odd beauty.
Unfortunately, American ballet student Suzy Banyon (Jessica Harper) has to discover this when she arrives in Germany to attend a prestigious dance academy.Suspiria carries with it many of Argento's trademarks, in particular, his relentless tracking shots are beautiful and often haunting.
In particular, a scene where a blind pianist enters a large square surrounded by imposing buildings of neo-classical architectural style is scary as well as great to look at.Accompanying all this is a unique use of colours, especially bright red, green and blue.
A true horror film and a huge achievement in cinema, Dario Argento's Suspiria is deserving of all its praise.5/5.
An American newcomer called Suzy (Jessica Harper , hired after her debut in Brian De Palma's Phantom of Paradise 1974) arriving in Europe during a storm , she goes to a fancy ballet academy run by Miss Tanner (Alida Valli) and Madame Blanc (final film of Joan Bennett) ; later on , she becomes involved into grisly murders .
Even director Dario Argento composed the creepy music with the band Goblin and played it at full blast on set to unnerve the actors and elicit a truly scared performance .
The motion picture shot over four months was originally directed by Dario Argento, at his best , he is one of those film-makers who set off simple for frightening us to death .
Acting, dialogue, narrative: it's all quite intolerable.But this time, even Argento's few strengths have mostly deserted him: the whodunit puzzling of his giallo plots - as stupid as they are - is sorely missed, the murders are boring (except for one doggy moment) and the finale is a howler.On the plus side, there's great location atmosphere, some nice shots, lots of Technicolor window-dressing and another effective Goblin soundtrack.3 out of 10 experts on witchcraft who bear a striking resemblance to Pepe Nietnagel's Dr. Knörz.
But nevertheless, I found this movie a total waste of time -- I mean, there was absolutely nothing redeeming about it; not the plot, nor the sets, nor the acting, nor the music ...
If you are not a horror fan, watch it anyway as it is masterful visual film making.
Everyone was like, "oh get this film, it is unbelievable." Apparently the were either smoking some good herb while watching this film, or saw some other version that I can't rent.This is about a girl that goes to a dance school in germany and weird things start to happen and people start to die while she is there.
You can see the jump scenes coming from a mile away, the blood is so fake you can smell the paint, the acting isn't all that great, and the "gore" scenes aren't gory.The only thing that is scary about this film is the sound track.
If you want to watch a horror film and have a bunch of laughs at the movie's expense, this is the one.
This is the first great horror film I ever saw.My original viewing took place back in 1994, where, as a young lad on the path to a world full of glorious gore and brilliant giallo, I stumbled upon the world of a director named Dario Argento.
The way he uses lights is amazing, especially for the time of "Suspiria's" release.To call him the 'Italian Hitchcock' is a little misleading; Argento brings something totally different to the table than Alfred ever did: he updated the shock factor.
As girls from the school die off violently one by one, this rumor seems more and more plausible.Although only one Argento film is listed in the Internet Movie Database's Top 50 horror films ("Deep Red"), "Suspiria" is the one widely considered his classic.
The blood is much brighter than real life and this just adds to the surrealism which most Italian horror films thrive off of.Sure things often don't make much sense, but it's supposed to be that way.
Superior, highly stylish Italian horror from director Dario Argento is his finest work, and the most sheerly beautiful horror film ever made!Young American girl travels to Germany to attend a dance academy, but after a series of horrific events she begins to believe the academy is hiding a dark secret.Director Argento has long been known for his stylish, unique direction and Suspiria may just be his greatest achievement as a director!
Argento makes bold use of lighting, color, sound effects, and inventive cinematography to give this film a strange but one of a kind visual appeal.
The story of the film is simple and the plot thin, but Italian films are all about style over substance and its Argento's flamboyant style that uplifts this film.Suspiria builds to extremely intense suspense at times and packs plenty of shocks along the way.The opening sequences feature one of the most terrifying murders in cinematic history!
Alida Valli is great as a menacing teacher and Joan Bennett perfect as the school director.Suspiria is must-see horror for genre fans.
Written by the brilliant Dario Argento who've brought such classics as Demons to our lives comes up with this fairy tale gone bad but shot beautifully, it's definitely one of those movies you'll never forget and the reason why I say it's an acquired taste is that not everyone gets this movie, because it's different, like I watched this movie with some of my friends and they thought it was to artsy and made no sense, but I definitely gets it.
It worked for me.I think that Suspiria has stood the test of time over the years and even by todays standards it's still haunting yet mesmerising with plot turns and a real sense of mystery, a strong female lead and scary ass witches.
It seems a pity that these days none of the horror movies that come out has this sense of style they all seem to be about the directer just spending loads of dosh on special effects and actors instead off perfecting a good story line.Jessica Harper (Suzy) was brilliant as the lead displaying strengh and vulnerability that made her outstanding, Stephani Casini (Sara) did fine as the lovable "friend".
Alida Valli (Miss Tanner) gave a chilling performance.The directing and use of the colours clearly took my breath away and moved me and all the scenes such as the "running in the woods while it's raining" scene, the hallway "magic spell scene" scene, the "red lighted curtain" and of course the final scene were all classic a;ON with the haunting and moving music score.All in all just watch this movie it's a brilliant horror masterpiece which will hopefully will never get remade into some sub standard Hollywood tripe such as "Psycho Remake" and "The Hitcher" remake both were an insult to the memory of the original films.
From the moment she arrives, it soon becomes apparent that all is not quite right with the academy, and it isn't long before she's plunged into a world of witchcraft and murder, and decides to escape the academy.Suspiria is famous for it's gratuitous murder scenes, and, like the rest of the film - they don't disappoint.
Dario Argento directs as two girls are murdered simultaneously, and while the effects can be a little hokey, there's enough bright crimson blood to please any horror fan.
Suspiria isn't about plot details or making sense - it's a film that bypasses that stuff in favour of style and atmosphere, and it's these things that are always more important in a horror film.
No doubt that this film is technically superior to almost every other horror film and it breathes a truly horrifying atmospherebut, like in so many other Argento movies, the plot and dialogues are second to the diabolical surrounding.
It's too bad her career near the end was in schlocky films like this!This horror story, featuring witches, is not usually my cup of tea but I could see where this would have been a very interesting film had made some changes in the dialog and did a better of dubbing.
Dreadful acting,the goodies fighting aggressive sheep is scarier than this film, blood that looks like paint, no suspense whatsoever, I watched it because i thought the reasonable score with the number of reviews may have been a good indicator of a classic film.....I was wrong...This is possibly the worst film I have ever seen...even bad taste and braindead were better than this film ...Dont waste your time...If you liked this movie Im afraid your taste sucks and you are either too old or simply haven't watched enough horror and suspense to know that this is an absolute yawn to the serious and prolific watcher...The music is dreadful-distracting, overbearing without any real or necessary effect on the watchers mood and sounds like a joke!
VALLI doesn't do much better in this tale of a young woman (JESSICA HARPER) who discovers that she's entered a ballet school where girls fall victim to vicious crimes (involving horrific mutilation) because the place is actually a front for a coven of Witches.At least that's what I was able to understand of the so-called plot, which exists for the sole purpose of exhibiting as many gruesome deaths in loving detail as possible.At the same time, the settings are overlit in garish colors, loud music by The Goblins fills the soundtrack, and you know the heroine is in danger whenever too much red appears on the screen.
So much for subtlety.Dario Argento has filmed the whole thing on bold, fake looking sets with crooked camera angles, using color to create a campy, surreal looking atmosphere, and lots of carnage.
Sheesh, give me a break.The only good thing about this movie is that now that know what the "classic" and "scariest horror movie of all time" is, I won't have to waste any more of my money buying stuff like this pathetic drivel.
It is simply awful, the story goes nowhere, the plot is almost inexistent, and the script a mess, the acting is wooden, and the blood looks like cheap oil paint.Well, I have to admit that the sets are interesting, the colors are very vivid and the sound track by Goblin is not that bad, but what about the film itself?
Dario Argento should have known better, and he could have done better, but he didn't, thus I'm not going to look past the fact the murder scenes were so poorly done I couldn't hold back laughing.As far as gore goes, there is so little I don't even find it worth mentioning.
If this is a work of art, the entire film is nothing but a poorly drawn stick person drawn with bright colored Crayons.The only sole good thing I can say about this movie is that the soundtrack is great.
There is no reason for Suspiria to be as bad as it is, and I cannot excuse its faults because it's old.All I can say is what I said in the beginning: Dario Argento should have, could have, and probably does know better than he put into this movie.2/10..
Now, here's my verdict: Argento is nothing but another mediocre director who makes b-series movies with such hackneyed stories, bad actors and, of course, tons of macabre stuff.Witchcraft, gore, a soundtrack that gets on your nerves, and that aesthetic that's so ugly and looks so old fashioned.If you want my opinion I think that only those who unconditionally (and strangely) love this man will enjoy this kind of films.*My rate: 3/10.
I've seen many horror films in my life, but none as mesmerizing from beginning to end like Suspiria!!
To date there has not been a film so overwhelmingly beautiful in its use of both existing and specially produced deco and nouveau sets and design -- and only a genius such as Argento could properly light these edifices with the colors to trap them into the dream-like trance of a true classic, abiding, flawless horror film.
Dario Argento made several Italian horror classics but Suspiria in my opinion is his finest work.
Some of the camera work, set design and gore scenes reminded me of some of the B-grade horror movies I've seen.
Suspiria proved to me that the Italians can do that even better, and has provided me with a film which seems to be entirely based around using that kind of atmosphere, to extreme lengths.As with all of Dario Argento's movies, the acting and dialogue is, well, comedy genius.
Do not come to this movie expecting a typical horror film or an exciting experience.