Review of Suspiria (1977) by Natalia E — 05 Jan 2011

Much can be said about Dario Argento's 1977 cult-classic horror film 'Suspiria', which contains a plethora of both ups and downs. 'Suspiria' revolves around a young American woman's (Suzy Bannion) short-lived experience at a very old and prestigious European school of ballet, where she chooses to pursue her education. After a number of strange occurrences and mysterious murders and disappearances, Suzy learns that the school is actually run by a covent of witches.

Much of the criticism that 'Suspiria' has received throughout the years is focused primarily on massive flaws within the plot, lack of substance,continuity errors, and sub-par editing; among other less minor flaws; i.e. : over - exaggerated acting from non-central characters, over-the-top (almost comical) violence, and over-bearing noise that, at times, cancelled out the dialogue. The plot (or, idea, rather) was not a bad one. It certainly possessed what is necessary for an effective horror film, but I felt that it needed development. The film opened loudly, with a bit too much going on, leaving the body of the film lacking in as much suspense as I would have liked to have seen. I say this because I feel that, if written more cohesively, it had the potential to be a cutting-edge, fast -paced, suspenseful, Hitchcock-esque thriller that would have had the audience's minds filled to the brim with suspense, anxious as to what would happen - from one scene to the next. Do not get me wrong, the bizarre occurrences, excellent cinematography, effective score (done by Goblin, an older, Italian gothic-rock band) and beautifully-designed gothic art/ art noveau set design (designed by artist M.C. Escher) created a surreal and genuinely creepy atmosphere that lent itself perfectly to the theme of the film; which, in itself, created an air of suspense. With that aside, however, it did, unfortunately at times, tend to trail off and get a bit boring. This was also coupled with the exaggerated over-acting, which cheapened many of the supposed 'scary' parts of the film. If it weren't for the gorgeous art design of the film synchronized with the frightening over-tones of the music,(which added some form of excitement to the aforementioned boring parts of the film) I would have only had a vague interest in waiting until the end of the film to see what happened.

The latter half of the film, particularly the last twenty minutes, were (in my opinion) very well-done. There were a few things that I would have done differently, (especially with the help of modern-technology and the ability to create better costume-designs) but it definitely brought the film to a level of heightened suspense, and to me, a sense of fear. Once again, the scary set design, (this time of the chamber where the ritual of the witches were taking place) the music, the acting, and most importantly: the very strange and unsettling closing of the plot, created the most memorable part of the movie, and a classic horror film moment. Roman Polanski once said something along the lines of, if you are creating something supernatural in film, never show your audience that supernatural entity; always leave it to the imagination of the audience, where it can be interpreted to anything you want it to be - even what you fear the most. Dario Argento did not follow this structure when creating 'Suspriria', which is what I would have done differently.I don't feel that it necessarily took anything away from the film, because it was still very effective and, like I said, genuinely creepy. All-in-all, I enjoyed Suspiria' and recommend it to anyone who is an avid movie-goer or a horror film fan, in which case you've probably already seen it. While there were undoubtedly blatant holes within the plot itself, the theme and atmosphere of the film are both memorable and inspirational, and I can understand how it became such a cult-classic. Anyhow, if you can get over the flaws and see the movie for what it did best within the respective fields of : cinematography, art/set design, powerful/effective score, unusual and unique story, and a general scary overtone, then I believe that you will not only enjoy it, but respect it for what it is.