Suspiria (1977)

Reviewed by: Emma

I don’t really watch horror movies. Nor have I updated this blog in say… many many months, possibly a year. However I just watched a movie by Dario Argento (the genius who directed Phenomena) and I can’t sleep. I think it’s because I’m scared shitless, to be honest. But also it could be because I just witnessed the best musical score for a movie ever (which added so much suspension I felt like I was being warped into my own brain with no way out), amazing art direction, fantastic and odd colours, it was like a surreal dreamscape. I’m not against realist movies, however I do tire of the ordinary. Ordinary cinematography, ordinary scenarios… albeit, with an interesting storyline, characters and dialogue this can be okay. That being said I’m not hugely into sci-fi fantasy films that are unrealistic in their use of props and whatnot. Dario Argento is a genius because he is a master of the surreal. I thought David Lynch was the King of surreal but I think I may be wrong here. No. There is a new king. HAIL the king. Ok sorry maybe I should talk about the movie.

The music, done by musical legends Goblin (awesome name if I may say so myself), create mood in this film. The colours, eye-popping literally, create a feeling of another world, or of a heightened sense of an experience. The master of surrealism is making something absurd believable. It’s about making the absurd subtle enough to be real… and to do that it takes mastery and finesse. For once in a film, I have not cared for acting or storyline. Not that the acting or storyline were bad, in fact I found it thrilling. “A young American ballet student comes to Germany to be a part of a royal academy, only to find out the teachers are part of a coven of witches hell bent on chaos and destruction.” That sounds pretty tasty to me, but my point is, the strength of this movie (and what makes it) is in the style of it. It’s like in a painting, when you create impressions to create a feeling. It’s almost instinctual. And I feel that this movie is a series of impressions, that impact on the mind and make you go “holy shit I’m so fucking scared and intrigued and I know it’s cuz of the music but I can’t help it, dammit.” or something along those lines.

What I find interesting, and disappointing, is that some people find satisfaction in calling this a bad movie. THESE PEOPLE ARE IDIOTS. They are idiots because they think a movie is all about being conventionally good. Now where’s the fun in that? I watch a movie to be taken into a whole other atmosphere and to be introduced to something I am not used to… seeing, believing, experiencing. To sum up this movie:

Magical, fucked up surreal fairytale, and chilling to the bone.

In the words of an imdb user,

“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.”

If you can handle not sleeping and refusing to turn out the lights, like me.