Suspiria

Suspiria is a great movie for what it is: a nightmare on film. Like a nightmare, sometimes it doesn’t make much sense - but telling a logical tale isn’t the purpose of Argento with Suspiria. It is a mental assault! Don’t go into Suspiria looking for a carefully plotted film, you’ll be disappointed. However, as a viewing and listening experience, it very well could be one of the best horror movies ever made. This is a reference quality blu ray. The colors in Suspiria pop off the screen like no other movie, a garish fever dream on film. The cinematography is absolutely fantastic. The score by Goblin is equally powerful and this is the best Suspiria has looked and sounded on home video. This is a movie you crank up, turn off the lights, and can be mesmerized by! The packaging is also amazing, a wonderfully gorgeous steelbook with magnificent artwork. Synapse knocked this one out of the park. Easily this is one of the best restorations I’ve ever seen, along with Universal’s Dracula. Now the bad: Movie arrived a day late (not a big deal but strike one), package was “left in a secure place” (sitting on the ground in the wet snow by my garage - with a picture added to the delivery notes! Luckily, I was home so it didn’t sit in the cold, wet snow for long, but strike two). Then I go on Blu Ray.com and see a link to Amazon for the movie a day later at a significant price drop! (Strike three!) I reached out to customer service and I hope they refund the difference here because that is pretty lame. Taking a picture of it in the snow like it’s a good thing is also poor. In the past, my customer experiences with Amazon have been excellent, so I’m hoping they make this right and refund or credit me the difference. So, five stars for this great release from Synapse but one star for delivery. Leaving a movie I paid $74 bucks for on the ground in the snow is a joke. Good thing I was home!!! Added note: After speaking with a customer service supervisor, Kelly H, they made this right for me. My experience with Amazon customer support was a positive one and she resolved it in a way that was satisfactory! Nice save, Kelly!!

Found this here on Amazon and thought that $23 for a sick Blu-ray with an absolute STUNNING 4K restoration and 4.0 English Surround Sound (which has NOT been heard since it's theatrical 1977 release) was too good to be true!! This product is SO COOL! It even features an interchangeable cover artwork so you can either enjoy the original artwork used to promote the film back in the 70s OR you can flip the cover and have the newly commissioned updated artwork as the front for your Blu-ray case! I chose the original artwork as the photos show. But this is a seriously cool item for any film lover or horror admirer! This is easily one of the most visually stunning and beautiful horror films I've ever seen and I'm proud to have this as a part of my collection! Dario Argento is a horror genius and I absolutely love his vision for these kinds of films! The lighting was also something that visually pleased - yet - unsettled me in this movie. I LOVED the ominous neon color schemes Argento went for with this one! Synapse Films absolutely NAILED this release and if you're a Dario Argento fan, a regular film collector/admirer, or just really love horror movies hardcore - DO NOT HESITATE to snag this Blu-ray and add it to your collection! Item also came in super great condition for me in case anyone on here is wondering about that, item was left at my door but I've never had an issue with purchasing Blu-rays or DVDs from here and they ALWAYS show up in the condition they were shipped in! Hope this review and film insight helps you make a cemented decision on grabbing this film!

This review is for the Blu-ray edition of 'Suspiria' released by Synapse films in March, 2018. If you are a fan of this movie then this is a must have. The picture is as good as it gets. In my opinion this is a 5 star release. WHAT DOES SUSPIRIA MEAN? I had no idea what this meant so I did a little digging. The actual definition means something like 'sighs'. The latin phrase "Suspiria de profundis" mean "sighs from the depths". "Suspiria de profundis" is also the title of a piece of literature by a well known English essayist, Thomas De Quincey. 'Suspirara' in latin means breathing. 'Suspiria' therefore would mean something along the lines of 'taking a deep breath'. They talk about this briefly in one of the feauturettes as having something to do with the witches but I'm still not sure if the word has something to do with witchcraft. BLU-RAY: This is a new 4K restoration of the original uncut Italian 35mm camera negative done by Synapse films. It is a beauty. The colors are very bright and the picture has virtually no flaws. It is as clear as the day they filmed it. There are subtitles available and the movie is also dubbed in English. EXTRA's: The extra's are top notch. You get: -Two audio commentareis by Derek Botelho, David Del Valle and Troy Howarth. -Featurette - 'Suzy in Germany' - This goes through the locations used in the film both then and today. -Featurette - 'A sigh from the Depths: 40 years of SUSPIRIA - a bunch of historians reflect on the movie 40 years later. -Featurette-'Do You Know Anything About Witches'- This is an very informative 30 minute visual essay that goes a long way toward explaining some of my questions. It answers some of the things I say in the section down below called A FEW THINGS I'M STILL UNSURE ABOUT. PRODUCTION: This movie was made in 1977 and was released under a shell company of 20th Century Fox. -Even though the movie is set in Germany, it was largely filmed in Rome, Italy. -Dario Argento got his inspiration for this movie from 'Suspiria de Profundis' by Thomas De Quincey which was written in 1845. -This is the first movie in Argento's 'Three Mothers' Trilogy. The other two movies are 'Inferno' and 'Mother of Tears'. -Suzy Banyon's character was supposed to be based on 'Snow White'. -Each actor/actress spoke their own language and the movie was then dubbed into Italian and English. -The story itself was initially supposed to be a fairy tale but ended up sort of a hybrid fairy tale. -The school was supposed to be populated with young girls but production codes at the time would have never allowed for it. Argento didn't completely give in. He had the door handles raised to make the girls appear smaller. Also he made the point of having high ceilings. PLOT/SUMMARY: An American ballet student, Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper), flies to Germany to attend a prestigious ballet school. Suzy arrives at the school late in the evening. As she gets to the front entrance, she see an angry girl leaving and can make out two words she days, 'secret' and 'iris'. When she tries to get in, the person speaking on the intercom tells her to go away, which she does. She goes to the school in the morning and meets a tough instructor, Miss Tanner, and the headmistress, Madame Blanc. She is told that she must get a rental apartment briefly and she goes to stay with one of the other students named Olga. During one of Suzy's first classes, she gets sick and starts bleeding. The doctor keeps her at the school and orders her to be given a glass of wine every day. Suzy is given a room next to Sara. Sara reveals that she was the girl on the intercom the first night. Suzy and Sara become friends. A few disappearances occur at the school and Sara becomes suspicious. She confides with Suzy. They figure out that the school supervisors are not leaving at night but are walking to unknown parts of the school. One night while Suzy is passing out from being drugged, Sara goes in search of the hidden place that the supervisors go to. Sara is killed. Suzy is told that Sara packed her bags and abruptly left the school. Suzy, suspecting that something is wrong, calls and meets a friend of Sara's, Frank Mandel. Mandel is a psychiatrist who used to treat Sara. He introduces Suzy to another psychiatrist, Professor Milius. From these people, Suzy learns that the school was founded by an alleged witch, Helena Markos. She also learns about covens. She is told that Markos died in a fire at the school many years ago. Armed with the knowledge about the school's history, Sara's notes and her now complete recollection of what the girl leaving the school said on the first night, Suzy goes poking around the school to find out what is really going on. COMMENTS: I just watched this movie the night before this review and haven't spent a whole lot of time researching this movie but here is what my thoughts are. -I liked how this movie kept me guessing about some things right to the final scene. I tend to get bored in horror movies once the mysterious killer is revealed, as the rest of the movie is usually just a game of cat and mouse and the director usually attempts to come up with some creative way to end it. I could guess some of what was going to happen but I was never really sure to what extant all the people were involved. I wasn't really sure if Helena Markos was still alive or if she just passed down her knowledge. -I think this was a good movie. I do not think it was a great movie. There are all kinds of ways to rank movies. I look for an engaging plot. If you don't have that then you don't have a great movie. I think this movie has a good plot but by no means is it great. Atmosphere is a big thing to me also. This movie has it to some extent, just not quite what I'm looking for. -The musical score is unusual. It seems to combine elements of different horror movies. Sometimes it reminds me of 'The Exorcist' other times it reminds me of 'The Omen' and others. Whatever it is, it is quite effective. Without it, I believe many of the scenes would have been considerably less 'creepy'. -There are a lot of things that I didn't understand the meaning of. This is not to say that these are complicated things and that the plot lost me. I'm saying I just didn't understand why these scenes were in the movie. Here is a list of those things right below: A FEW THINGS (NOT COMPLAINTS) I'M STILL UNSURE ABOUT: These are some things that I don't quite 'get'. Either I missed or forgot about parts of the dialogue or the meaning just went over my head. -I didn't quite understand how the girl could be running through the black forest and be so close to the center of the city. That opening scene was a bit disconcerting. Was she running because she was scared or because she was in the rain on a stormy night? She didn't seem to be running for her life as nobody was chasing her so I'm not sure. -What was the point of the maggots falling from the ceiling? I didn't catch the meaning of this. Was this just a way to setup the next scene, which I also don't quite understand? That scene was... -The scene in the gymnasium. Why did the directoress come to the gymnasium to sleep? and once the girls figured out who was behind the curtain sleeping, why didn't they look? Or perhaps they did look but the movie doesn't show you? -I completely missed out on the reason for making the dog violent and killing the blind pianist. They obviously wanted to get rid of the pianist. Why? I understand why they killed off the others. The other people that died had learned the secret of the witches. But the pianist was blind and they gave no indication that he knew anything, at least as far as I can see. Why make the dog violent?... why fire the pianist and why kill the pianist? -What was Olga's role? She becomes Suzy's roommate and then right after that Suzy goes back to the school and we never see her again. I'm not exactly sure what the point of this storyline was. Why make her leave for such a brief time just to come right back to the school? Was this just to show her stubborness when she decided she didn't want to board at the school? -What was the reason for the bat? It enters and Suzy dispatches it rather easily. Was the bat influenced by witchcraft? If so, what was it's purpose? It obviously wasn't all that dangerous. It couldn't have been sent by the witches to attack Suzy because you see the order given to eliminate her well after that scene. It couldn't have been sent to spy on her or be somebody's 'eyes'. It was too obvious for that. -Was there a purpose for the setting being a ballet school? That seems like a very odd place for a coven of witches to be doing business. Could it be as simple as it's as good a cover as any? -I'm still not sure why they were drugging Suzy. Why have her stay at the school at all if they were concerned with her? Why not let her stay with Olga so she can't figure out anything at the school? Why did they decide to kill her? Were they originally planning on making her a witch? To me, this whole main story line was unclear. *****QUESTIONS ANSWERED*****I watched one of the featurettes and it did explain some of what I wanted to know. The girl running through the forest was supposed to mimic a scene from 'Snow White'. Olga apparently was most likely supposed to be a witch. One of her scenes ended up being not shot but that wouldn't really have changed anything. My confusion is justified as many of the scenes were in fact 'red herrings' or for whatever reason, Argento never finished some of the plot lines he was developing. MY NITPICKS: The purpose of this section is not to 'slam' the movie. It's just to point out that no movie is perfect in my eyes and there are always things that could have been done better. Overall, I think this was a good movie. -Ultimately, what makes this movie so memorable is the very bright colors and lighting.It is something that I did not really like. It was different. I get it... it's part of what makes this movie so memorable. I just didn't like the constant use of it. More specifically the lighting. The painted buildings and rooms are not the issue for me. The colored lighting just seemed out of place a lot of the time. I think it would have been more effective had Argento used it more strategically. For example, I see no reason for the lighting to be all red right at the beginning while she was in the airport. I think a scene like that should have been similar to the scene where Suzy meets the psychiatric doctors at the corporate park. The lighting becomes more effective when you don't see it the whole time. Think of how effective the 'Wizard of Oz' was going from black & white to color. -The blood didn't look very much like blood other than the fact it was red. It just looked like paint, which is what it probably was. One of the problems of such beautiful restorations and watching in such high resolution is that flaws in the special effects are magnified. -The girl who falls into the room with the razorwire doesn't actually get cut up by the razor wire. She did a lot of struggling in it and didn't appear to be cut at all. The only blood on her was from her previous wound. Perhaps it wasn't razor wire? Was it just put there to entangle her like a net? If it was razor wire what was it doing there? Was it intentionally put there? There didn't seem to be any use for it at the ballet school. -I thought the scene where Suzy meets the psychiatrist's was out of place. On the one hand it does take some pressure off of the tension that is prevalent throughout. But somehow it just doesn't seem to belong in the movie. You go from almost surreal to the real world. I don't like it for just one scene. If going back and forth between realities was part of the movie then it would be OK but in this case it happens just once. -Finally, the final scene. Two things here... 1) I didn't like Suzy's reaction at the very end. Her smile was just wrong. Instead of looking like she was relieved, like she should have been, she had a big smile, almost as if somebody just told her a joke... The reaction doesn't seem to be the proper reaction for what she just went through especially since the school was on fire and crumbling and people were dying. 2 ) I didn't like how Argento ended the movie. It just didn't seem right. The music with the direct jump to the credits just seemed out of place to me. CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS: I'm giving this release 5 stars. The picture is 4 1/2 to 5 stars. The extra's are 5 stars and the movie... let's call it 4 stars. But overall this is a 5 star release. This is about as good as a release as you can get for this particular movie. If you are a fan, it is worth the upgrade. Recommended for fans of Italian horror and/or 'Giallo' films and obviously Dario Argento fans. Recommended for fans of 70's horror films. Recommended for fans of any good horror movie, anytime, anywhere.

Suspiria is awesome mystery horror about suspicious dance academy with great visual style and great music. Style of this movie reminds the nightmares you can't get out of. This 4K release presents awesome video quality for 50+ years old movie and strong audio track - if you have good TV and soundbar or home theatre system, you will absolutely enjoy it. This movie is one of my favorite Halloween playlist items, it has good replay quality.

Well, Synapse Films obviously knows the importance of this film, and the result is nothing short of AMAZING. This is one of the best restorations for a classic film I have ever seen. It looks like it could have been made yesterday. Suspiria has always been one of the most beautiful, colorful horror movies ever filmed and this new transfer perfectly showcases the vivid color palet laid down by Argento and the great cinematographer Luciano Tovoli. This transfer looks incredible. Colors pop right off the screen. Dark/shadowy scenes look crystal clear, no crush at all. Very smooth all throughout. The sound mix on this release is also nothing short of amazing. I have seen this movie countless times in various formats and I seen and heard things in there that I've never even noticed before. If you are a fan of Suspiria, this release shouldn't even be debated. This is a MUST OWN for fans. Even if you already have 3 different versions, then get a 4th. This is the definitive release to have. Unfortunately the Steelbook version was super limited and if you didn't get it for retail, the prices have already skyrocketed. But I will tell you this, it will be worth every penny you spend to get it. For those who just downright can't afford the Steelbook, this standard release is definitely a perfect alternative and also includes some amazing artwork on the cover. Includes both discs that came with the initial Steelbook, minus the third disc, which was the soundtrack. This is a HIGH, HIGH recommend.

For those who are not familiar with the italian horror genre or with Dario Argento this is the film to watch in order to be correctly introduced to Argento and the genre. The film is about an american ballet dancer named Suzy Bannon(Jessica Harper) who is accepted into a prestigous ballet school in Germany. But then she discovers that the headmistresses and some of the other staff are actually a coven of witches. Don't concern yourself with the plot because this movie is not about the plot. In this film Argento uses every method he can to scare the bejesus out of you. Creepy camera movements, a terrifying music score which he composed and which is played by Goblin, great cinematography (a great use of the colors blue, red, yellow, and green) and an immense amount of blood and gore which only adds to the terror. Your senses experience a rush watching this film, especially in the dark and that was the intention. Jessica Harper turns in the best acting ever seen in an Argento film and the supporting cast is good as well, it includes Alida Valli(THE THIRD MAN, INFERNO) and Joan Bennett(THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, SCARLETT STREET). He also co-wrote the film with his wife Daria Nicolodi(TENEBRE, PHENOMENA). It was based on a story she heard from her grandmother about when her grandmother was young how she enrolled in a school and how she discovered that the teachers did witchcraft. And the first ten minutes of the film are unforgettable, they are arguably the best sequence in an Argento film. They inclue one of the most terrifying and one of the most bloody murders in film history. I dare say it even rivals the shower scene in PSYCHO. This film has been acclaimed by critics around the world and it had a great commercial success too. Do yourself a favor and watch this masterpiece. Do not miss it.

WOW!!! Talk about flirting with disaster!! So, clearly I'm not an Argento-phile. The pig I alluded to would be the film "Suspiria". The lipstick is Dario Argento's visual style. What I ended up with was a very visually appealing film that could have been 20 minutes long and still not have been nearly as interesting as the hype. I can clearly hear your cries of protest and disbelief; "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT MORON!!! Believe me, I've been here before. I'm use to it. You would present as evidence of my suspect intelligence, approval of films like "Hatchet" and "Slugs". Yet, I have watched this movie twice and a half and have recently watched four other Argento "classics", some of which I enjoyed to a certain degree. So armed, I will endeavor to explain why this film didn't do it for me on a complete level (yea, this is serious stuff!!!). -THE PROVERBIAL PIG. Of course, the "pig" in "Suspiria" is the story. Everybody who loves this film, including the amazon.com reviewer up there, willfully dismisses the admittedly convoluted story as extraneous to the brilliance of this film. I guess I'm screwy because I think that idea is just appalling. Let me qualify this by saying that I am a professional artist. I have knowledge of most of the visual arts including photography. I'm a visual person by nature. Yet, the visual experience in "Suspiria" was not enough for me to give the bloated and shallow story a free pass. I understand surrealism and the attempt at a nightmarish atmosphere. Though visually achieving these goals, the story was not given nearly the same attention to detail and thus suffered. Since my first Argento film (Tenebre) my opinion of Argento's story telling has been that he's "clumsy".After watching several other Argento films, that opinion has been greatly reinforced. Not surprisingly, I felt the story could not match the drama of the visual experience. My bad for expecting the Director to at least find a way to keep things moving. The result is that I spent a lot of time waiting for something to happen... ...ANYTHING! -THE LIPSTICK. There is just too much to say about the visual nature of this film. Given the time it was made, it is slightly rough around the edges yet visually alluring. From what I can tell, Argento basically invented the now cliché use of red and blue lighting to elicit a creepy feel. Heck, I use that same lighting on my Halloween displays at home to great effect. However, the images in "Suspiria" are more than just lighting tricks. He clearly intended to use the primary colors with a few tertiary colors as a palate for everything in this film. This would include bold paint schemes for the architecture. Speaking of architecture, as an artist, I love the building locations Argento chooses for his films. So many classic styles are on display. I almost felt I was watching a documentary on early 20th century design styles. I particularly enjoyed the Art Nouveau interiors of the dance school. Add this to Argento's love for the creative shot and you have visual heaven. My favorite shot in this film puts all the elements together as we look through a light bulb; beautiful. Clearly I enjoyed the visual experience of "Suspiria". To deny that would just be... ...pigheaded. -LIPSTICK PART II I'm not sure how many people realize this, and it might be a key to why so many are wowed by "Suspiria" on a visual level, but this film was the very last film ever to use the "Technicolor" dye transfer process. This highly stable process insures long term quality of color and a highly saturated color palate. Given these two advantages, this DVD and the film in general, have eye popping colors on top of the bold palate Argento employed. Though Technicolor was not as realistic a depiction of color as other film, it actually added to the surreal quality of the visuals in "Suspiria". -ONE OF MY FAVORITE MUSIC SCORES. See, I'm not a total loser! I thought this music was incredible and on the cutting edge of where music was going at the time. There are two main themes that get played over and over again, and I have to admit, I kept anticipating them eagerly. Since this film was made when I started High School, I was much more into the music trends of the day. This music greatly anticipates the "New Wave" African rhythm trends of the late 70s and early 1980s that Peter Gabriel so fervently promoted. I happen to be an old Gabriel fan so this sat well with me. The music is simultaneously very intense and sublime while heightening a sense of dread and anticipation. The problem occurs when not much usually happens in the story to accompany the music. -SO, WHAT'S WRONG WITH PIGS!? I have no problem with pigs in general, even when used as a metaphor for a screenplay. Heck, I love "Evil Dead II" and that has the loosest of story threads bordering on nonexistent. But I love evil dead because it's off the wall and wildly entertaining. I'd kiss that pig any day. My troubles with the "Suspiria" story are lack of dynamic or interesting developments. Now here is where many put up the red flag and say "you miss the point". Of course I would argue that I didn't. I've heard explanations of Suspiria's story that go kind of like this: "...things happen which don't always make sense or get explained, and things move slowly. But this adds to the surreal, nightmarish experience of "Suspiria"." I agree with two of those points. As far as the nightmarish experience, I'm not feeling it. Oh, visually and musically this film has "creepy" and "nightmarish" written all over it. However, more often than not, there is nothing going on in the story to make me feel that way. Often, defense of the bloated story sounds like excuses to me. This is a story that could be told around a campfire in 20 minutes. I don't mean to oversell my dissatisfaction with this film. I didn't hate it. But when the most brutal and frightening moment in the film occurs in the first 15 minutes, everything else is a bit of a letdown. Ultimately, it was the lack of fear or dread compounded by overwrought attention to mundane action that bored me with "Suspiria". -FLAP, FLAP, SCREAM, WAVE, FLAP, FLAP... To further the lack of scariness, a few very silly and unintentionally funny scenes appear in "Suspiria". One involves what might be the worst fake dog head ever. Other things about that scene are funny too, but I've said enough. The other is a scene with a bat that highlights why this film lacked the proper ingredients for me to bestow greatness upon it. In this scene, a character is attacked by a little, fat, motorized bat. Now, this sounds funny enough, but there is more. Said bat attacks for what seems like 5 minutes. All the while, his victim waives arms and screams with little conviction while standing in one spot. Finally, the bat flies off into the corner and apparently tries to flush the toilet. I'm kind of joking because I'm not sure what the little bugger was doing. Finally he decides to attack from the ground; "hump, hump, hump", he thumps towards the still stationary victim. It ends quite beautifully but I won't elaborate. Unfortunately, I laughed very hard at this stuff. Immediately after this diabolical bat attack, the mood of the film was completely moot to me. Nothing happens after that to make up for a complete lack of dread or fear on my part. It just wasn't good enough. -IT'S SCARY BEING ME. Sorry Argento-philes; the story here is just too uneventful for me to bestow greatness on "Suspiria". The film does a lot of things in a great way but the overall story lacked the required substance to keep me on edge. Not even the glorious visuals in Technicolor combined with one of the best soundtracks ever in a horror film could make me sit on the edge of my seat or scare me for that matter. I will admit that the second viewing was better than the first, so thank goodness I deferred reviewing after one look. However, the enhanced enjoyment wasn't because the film got better in my eyes; it was because I knew to pay more attention to the visual and musical aspects than to invest effort into the story. Yet, all the coolness of image and sound could not overcome the hype of how scary this movie is supposed to be. A little bit edgy? Okay. But without a flowing, eventful, scary story, this film will always be incomplete to me. Visuals....5 Stars Music......5 Stars Acting.....3.5 Stars Story......2 Stars Average....3.88 Stars

My into to Dario Argento, and Giallo. A favorite of mine, and I recommend it to absolutely everyone