Review of Suspiria (1977) by Patrice B — 16 Aug 2010

I'll admit: I've never seen such a colorful horror film. As one of the final films to use the Technicolor process, it never disappoints. The reds bleed, the blues submerge the viewer, and the greens fill the scenes like slime. The colors pop out, communicating emotions better than the wooden actors themselves.

There's some sort of plot about a American girl named Suzy (Jessica Harper) who begins to sense that something's not quite right about this dance academy in Germany.

And by "something", I mean that the academy's run by witches.

Right.

And, of course, she has to set things right.

Let's get to the main problem of this film: it's not scary. I don't care how highly this film is ranked on scary film moments, this film is--at its worse--laughable. Falling maggots? Not scary. An invisible, cackling witch? Not scary. A zombie? Nope.

The plot is supposed to be interesting, with its focus on the magical evil beneath the clean image of a dancing academy, but I quickly found myself only caring about Suzy solving the mystery so that the film would end.

Okay, back to what's good about the film. The death scenes are strangely artistic. Along with the nice use of color and effective camera angles, Goblin provides the music. Whether it's a hypnotic celesta, whispering vocals, or a pounding synthesizer, the score completes the picture painted by the vibrant colors. The opening theme--a sinister version of a lullaby--crafts an atmosphere that hovers between darkly cartoonish and nightmarish reality, and remains great to this day. Still, because the film fails to frighten, the music works too hard and seems over the top at times.

So, I give the film two stars: one for the colors, one for the music, and none for the lack of scares.