Review of Suspiria (1977) by Eric G — 19 Dec 2009

Even though Dario Argento's Suspiria is a cult horror masterpiece, that far from covers up the flaws splattered across the screenplay and the quite atrocious acting, but it's still fun to watch.

There's one undeniable fact about this picture, and that is involving the impressive visuals. Lighting, staging, set pieces, cinematography, and makeup effects are all top notch and are undoubtedly the reason why this film has reached the status it has today. The problem with Suspiria is that if you're looking for more than that, you may come up a little short.

The awkward dubbing is definitely one aspect that throws you off from the start. I think this would've been a much more effective film if it were made in Italian rather than with Italian's mouthing English words. *Spoiler-ish* The writing flaws I briefly mentioned earlier seemed to be scattered, but the main complaint I found revolved around how quickly the ending sprung at you towards the end. It was over before you completely grasp what's driving the plot forward. Not that it was complex, but it seems like in one scene you get a hint as to what's going on and the next scene is the ending. It just warped the pacing way too much.*End Spoiler-ish rant*.

With all of it's flaws, I can't say that Suspiria completely had me sold that Italian horror is the greatest genre, but I appreciate it's innovation. There are moments that were very original for the time and clearly paved the way for later horror films, it's just a shame that time is doing such a number on this picture...