Info

Original Title: Suspiria
Country: Italy
Director: Dario Argento
Release: 1977
Genre: Horror
Language: Italian
IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes

Updated on 14.April.2020

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Suspiria is an Italian Horror movie from 1977, directed by Dario Argento. A ballerina from America goes to a renowned German dance academy where she encounters some bizarre and dangerous occurrences.

Suspiria

Hello there! I’m dos Santos, welcome to Ulven Reviews.

An American ballerina called Suzy Bannion (played by Jessica Harper) arrives at Freiburg, Germany, to study in a prestigious dance academy.

As soon as the young woman lands at the airport, the difficulties begin, with heavy rain and poor communication with the taxi drivers. But when she arrives at the dance academy, late at night, is that the weirdness goes wild.

Among the weird shit happening since Suzy’s arrival, there is death, rotten food, maggots falling from the roof, and scary noises at night.

Eventually, Suzy becomes friends with Sara (played by Stefania Casini), who tells her that things were already happening before her arrival. Both Suzy and Sara became paranoid and started investigating the weirdness of the Dance Academy.

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Suspiria has a simple and straight forward plot, yet has originality enough to have only a few movies similar to it to this day, especially considering it’s a film from the ’70s, an era that defined much of the horror genre.

The Exorcist generated a frenzy of possessions outside the screen and a wave of copycats in the film industry. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre created a fever of Slashers. The list goes on.

I think Suspiria didn’t have the same replicable formula to generate this kind of copies or movies highly inspired by it. However, it is a film that has a Cult status and notoriety, that’s why I felt a little disappointed after watching it. For a movie with such fame, it was pretty average.

The movie is tense from beginning to end. I can’t remember any light moment where the characters chill and have a good time, there’s always someone dying, investigating, having nightmares. I like it.

The acting is very satisfactory, but everyone was dubbed, they spoke their native language, and another person voiced-over in English. The dubbing bothered me, it always feels off and is too noticeable. Wikipedia says it was prevalent for Italian films at the time, but my impression remains.

Jessica Harper does a decent job carrying the movie as the protagonist. Suspiria it’s virtually the only movie I have ever seen with her, there’s Minority Report, but I honestly don’t remember her in it.

Another character that has prominence is Miss Tanner, I watched the whole movie without recognizing the actress. Only when I was checking the credits, I realized she was Alida Valli, who played Anna Schmidt in The Third Man.

A character I would like to see more from is Prof. Milius (played by Rudolf Schündler). I believe he only has a single not very dynamic scene, so it would be nice if he was introduced a little earlier, and had something more to do.

Practically the only thing I didn’t like it’s one specific song from the music score. I hated it. It’s uninteresting, resembles a bad, generic action movie, and is also absolutely anti-climatic.

On the other hand, there is another part of the musical score that I loved, and it was perfect for the scenes with suspense. To me, music is fundamental in creating an atmosphere capable of evoking emotions essential for the movie experience. In this aspect, we can say Suspiria was inconsistent, since I loved one piece, and hated another.

I saved the best for last. The movie is gorgeous, the visuals are the best aspect of it by far. Suspiria is one of the most appealing-looking films I have ever seen, the lights and colors are absolutely breathtaking. I can say the same about the settings, just exceptional.

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Suspiria failed to touch me at the emotional level, but I can recognize that it’s a noteworthy film. I was affected by its status, I expected so much more from it, so in the end, it was a bit of a disappointment.

So, in conclusion, it’s a decent movie with a few flaws, and the best thing by far is the film’s appearance. However, it’s very ordinary in general, especially considering its Cult status. I’ll give Suspiria 7 Moons.

That’s it for now. Don’t forget to always refrigerate your food correctly to avoid maggots. Bye!