Suspiria, (1977), Directed by Dario Argento
Grade: A -
Suspiria is a "love it or hate it" film. I really don't think there's any in-between. I can't imagine anybody who can look at the works of Dario Argento and just say, "Eh, that was pretty good, but nothing great." Argento, who after his debut film The Bird With The Crystal Plumage was dubbed "The Italian Alfred Hitchcock", has a style that he has made all his own, as it's most notably been called the "Giallo Genre" for film. Suspiria has strong use of colors and art direction that Argento has used fully in his other films such as Deep Red and Opera.
The story of concerns a young woman moving to a ballet academy and the strange events that start occurring there. Sound familiar?
Yes, I'm sure Aronofsky was influenced somewhat by Suspiria, but Black Swan was nowhere near the vicinity of Suspiria at all. (That's the Suspiria theme being played over this TV ad. The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences bought the rights to it and made this ad during Oscar season.)
Personally, I have to say this: Suspiria's plot is pretty thin. Basically the film is just a set-up for the beautiful cinematography and the creepy set design, and the chaos that ensues. Sounds boring, I know....but Argento allows his camera to be at a complete 360 here and with his style of direction, and with the incredibly horrific soundtrack by Goblin, the movie works more so as a play in several acts than just a movie itself. Nowadays in horror films, everyone wants the gore piled on, and while there are some scenes of that in Suspiria, it still stands out as something different, because of the way it looks and feels.
Argento's style is incredible, and while the movie was made in 1977, the obscurity, the build-up, and the kitschy imagery really make the movie what it is, which is a different sort of horror classic.
And I just noticed...not too many sarcastic, fed-up sentences in this review. Guess I'll have to do better next time.
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