Suspiria (1977) by Dario Argento Review: Atmospheric horror from the 1970s

in film •  6 years ago 

Suspiria.jpg

I haven't been watching a whole lot of films as of late, but one I really wanted to watch before the month of October ended was Dario Argento's Suspiria from 1977.

Having heard of it a lot, particularly as of late with the not-so-good remake, I decided to dive into it with only knowledge of the visuals, not so much the narrative. And I have to say, I wasn't hugely surprised by the film, but I can see where it receives such high praise.

Suspiria is a film that certainly wouldn't perform well in today's climate, assuming it was made in the exact same way: a combination of various nationalities coming together to act in a language that isn't native to them. The end result being a particularly awkward sound design throughout the film, with some very obvious dubbing that's not exactly terrible but certainly noticeable and often off-putting.

Suspiria's score is enough to keep you from growing agitated by the sound design, with it fitting almost every scenario within the film. Slowly building up the tension, working perfectly alongside the cinematography and eerie, strange nature of the narrative.

As for the narrative itself, it's your typical thriller story in which an innocent protagonist wanders into the unknown, into a surrounding that quickly establishes itself as out of the ordinary -- there's clearly something strange going on within the walls of the ballet school, and it takes a little time to reveal its true nature: a convent of witches that govern all within the school. Slowly killing off members and using their powers to affect their health.

Now, this isn't an amazing narrative. But the way in which it flows together with the score and incredibly aesthetic colour palette allows it to create this blend of discomfort. This notion that only dark colours and strange art are all this building knows. It creates an atmosphere that just feels off, which helps us connect to our protagonist as she begins to uncover the truth.

It may not be the perfect film for Halloween night, but it's one that must be watched during the month of October, for sure.

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One of my favorite ( seventies ) movies and as close to art as a horror movie can get. Love the location, soundtrack and cinematography and witches are just plain cool ;>)

Happy Halloween!

I could almost say that the visuals were rather dreamlike, in terms of how the interior of the building looked and the colours. Definitely nice to look at.

No doubt about this. I remember showing this film to my younger brother to introduce him to giallo films, trying to make him understand why I enjoy this subgenre so much, that it's way more than a(n Italian) slasher movie but I remember it didn't do much to him.

I can't help but thoroughly enjoying it though :>)

love this movie, really mind opener, i wonder how the remake will be, cant be better...o well, one can only hope :)

I'm usually very sceptical when it comes to remakes of films, and given I recently saw the original I don't think I'll be checking it out at any point soon.

It appears to be getting decent coverage, though.

Bien

Thank you for your review. I haven't watched this version of the movie, but I am keeping an eye on the remake. I will probebly stream it when it is available. I won't watch this version because I don't like old movies and from the trailer, the aestetics of it doesn't look like my style.

I can see why it might not be your thing. I wasn't even so sure it was my kind of thing at first, and I'm typically a big fan of artsy colours and filmmaking. It's a very weird film, but certainly is dated with a few issues. Watching the recent remake might just be a good idea.

I am not into artistic movies usually, unless they are really good and interesting horror movies.

I have a feeling the remake manages to capture a similar aesthetic in terms of the visuals/setting, but probably does so in a way that improves/removes the things that kind of ruined the film, at least for me: like the fact that it's all dubbed and there's blatant audio issues in parts.