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Suspiria

Suspiria

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A classic splatter film.
Review: Though admittedly lax in the logic department, this film by Italian horror maestro Dario Argento is still a stylishly ghoulish treat. The bizarre sets and brilliant, almost lurid, color schemes(utilizing Technicolor's "Matrix" system)combine to create a strange netherworld of supernatural menace and imminent doom. Immensely adding to the viewer's unease is the booming score by Goblin. A diabolical concoction consisting of many different styles, the music acts as the final catalyst in the audience's free-fall into unimaginable terror. Intensely savage, flamboyantly artistic and unforgettably terrifying, Suspiria is definately a classic splatter film.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Peerless in horror imagery; hardly so in writing.
Review: The way to enjoy Suspiria as a horror film is to put aside all consideration of logic and drama. For above all else, Dario Argento is a weaver of visual palettes married to blatant scores, and in that area he has no peer in the horror-film genre. Even if George A. Romero is an infinitely better director of actors, editor and writer; even if John Carpenter is subtler -- Argento surpasses them all in imagery, composition and lighting, and Suspiria is his masterpiece in that regard.

Much has been made of the film's use of outdated stock and wild colour schemes and that still stands. Suspiria is one of the few films willing to abandon reality almost entirely. There's no physical reason why this room is blue and one spot by the bed is red...but why not? Suspiria is a horror show, and its merits lie not in the construct as a whole (the writing is very shaky and the narrative even worse), but in key sequences of almost delirious power.

It helps that Jessica Harper gives what may be the best performance in an Argento film to date (Daria Nicolodi in Tenebrae and Asia Argento in Trauma come close), saying little but expressing much with her face and mannerisms. The Goblin score proves the power of rhythms and motifs within a film score (instead of the boring classical film scores coupled with Carpenterian "stingers" in most '90s horror films) and is entirely horrifying. And the set pieces -- a room filled with barbed wire; the famous maggot storm; the seeing-eye dog plaza sequence; the incredibly vicious stabbing on the ceiling; the final destruction -- are breathtaking.

Get past the bad performances (Harper excluded) and terrible writing (dialogue *and* plotting), and just absorb this film with your senses. Suspiria is a sensory experience, and on that department it carries enormous power.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Once you see it, you will never again feel safe in the dark!
Review: And it's true. Even though this is my second review, I didn't get all I wanted to say into my last review. Since it was like the same day I saw it, I hadn't done the research I have done lately. And now I want to share that research with you. Suspiria came from the book "Confessions of an Opium Eater" by Thomas De Quicy. In the book, The Three Mothers were said to own three houses of witchcraft across the world. Daria Nicolodi, Dario Argento's girlfriend at the time, told him about a finishing school where her grandmother once went where black magic was practiced after dark. This was the inspiration for the Tanz Akademie in Suspiria. Dario used outdated color film to make the brilliant and flowing colors more vivid and powerful. Since he used all, he could never use it again in another film. With its colors, terror, and sheer power, Suspiria is a classic. If you have not been exposed to the wonderful world of Dario Argento, see this film. Now! Note: I also reccomend: Phenomena, Tenebre, Inferno and Deep Red.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Read this review
Review: Never will the music score of this film leave your head once it has been heard...with the possible exception of Carpenter's Hallowe'en score, this is the best horror film music. That said, another aesthetic quality the film has is the lovely Jessica Harper (too little appreciated in Hollywood the last 20 years) in one of her first and most beautiful roles - no sloppy, teenage wardrobe here, but evocative and meaningful clothes. Truly, a film where every detail matters - pay attention during the (terrifying) sequence with all the students sleeping in the auditorium together...heavily influenced by Dante, the Pre-Raphaelites, and Ambrose Bierce, Dario Argenti has succeeded in creating a film well nigh defiant of plot summary. The best shot is probably the last, where the heroine, safe from horror, casts a weird smile at the devastation - throwing viewer loyalty out of sync in a way that hasn't been seen since Hitchcock caused viewers to hope the thrill kill went unsolved in 1948's Rope...a superior film, despite about three scenes of visceral violence which restrict this film to adults and the non-squeamish.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: HORROR IS ART IN HIS HANDS!
Review: "The story is this", "the story is that" oh, give us a break! This is Argento for God's sake! Haunting images, lightings that are far out of this world, shock, fear, horror, horror, horror, horror and oh, did I mentioned horror?

Argento gave his story a tremendous dreamlike feeling as if we are seing a 90 minute long nightmare. Stephen King and Clive Barker believe that this is one of the best horror films EVER! Do you hear?

The eerie music score (done by Goblin and Argento himself) assaults the viewer in every way you can imagine. It's twisted, noisy and higly effective.

Remember, after all this is a witch story right?

And believe me.. this is nothing less than pure Magic.

On the other hand, if your favorite horror films are Scream, I know what you did last summer or Killing Ms. Tingle, try something else...

This is art, not cheap butchery!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Modern Masterpiece
Review: This film is renowned as one of the scariest films ever made, and I aggree. It differes from many horror films because the film's strength is what is not shown rather than what is shown. If you are an imaginative and responsive viewer, Suspiria will greatly affect you. If you are a passive viewer, this film will be meaningless and plain boring. One thing most people aggree on is that director Dario Argento is a true original with an inspired and groundbreaking eye for cinema. One of my top five films of all time.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: The kind of movie you outgrow
Review: I loved this movie when I was a kid, but I saw it again just recently and I couldn't believe how silly and tasteless it was! Sure, it's well directed... but give me a break.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: terrifying masterpiece!
Review: Someone should write a book about all the different versions of "Suspiria" floating around on tv and on video. I taped the version from the Sci-Fi cable channel and it had naturally been so cleaned up for the kiddies it could have been shown on the Cartoon network. Yet, when I brought the "unedited! Uncut!" version on video, there were several gory scenes not seen on TV. But the Sci-Fi showed a version which begins with a great animated credit: Suspiria spelt out in the form of writhing maggots! In my video version, the credits were the usual blah type. Also, the color on the TV version was much richer than on my video. Others have told me that they remember seeing the theatrical version at one Manhattan theater and it was nothing like we see in USA either on cable or video. Where is the original? If Dario Argento is still alive, I wish he would personally restore his original version and issue this one, while withdrawing all others. By the way, the color, the decor, furnishings, costumes were all knockouts. Especially great was the way Jessica Harper always dressed--like a classic old-time horror heroine in beautiful dresses and ensembles. Flashforward to today's version of horror heroines, a la Scream, I saw what you did. Jeans, halters, sneakers. But none are as awful as the hideous faded jeans and frayed top that Linda Hamilton wore throughout the entire story in The Terminator. Yuccck!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: weird movie, great eerie score builds the suspense.
Review: I didnt understand this movie one bit. it was weird and confusing, badly dubbed in English, or maybe it was just the weird accents, i dont know. But u won't understand half the stuff being said. That pushed aside, it is one of the creepiest horror movies ever made. A genuinely creepy score builds the suspense and leaves u on the edge of your seat. The movie isnt all that great, and sometimes boring and confusing, but the overall effort is amazing. This is definitely one of the best horror films ever made. Colorful, atmospheric, and fun. Not for all tastes though. Some people, especially non-horror fans, will hate it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This is the Best Horror Film I have ever seen.
Review: I just checked out the Dario Argento classic "SUSPIRIA" on home video last night. Originally released in 1977, I thought that nothing from that era could scare a jaded post-Freddy Kruegar gal like me. Boy was I wrong. I was soo spooked I couldn't leave my apartment to get my laundry until sunrise!

The plot follows a young American woman,who journeys to Rome to study ballet. Along the way, she discovers that her teachers are part of a witches coven. A scary soundtrack provided by Goblin, combined with good old fashion spooky scenery makes this a first rate flick. Definitely check this one out. It's worth it!


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