Fin's Review: Suspiria

This film is very weird and to a large extent makes little sense - in this instance, I mean both as a compliment. Apart from some modern European horror films such as [REC] and The Orphanage, we haven't delved into any of the classic schools of European horror, until now. It was therefore an apt time for Ally to pick Suspiria, perhaps the best film to come out of the Italian Giallo movement of the 70s and early 80s.

The Giallo horror movement is the most influential horror movement to have developed outside the US and directors such as Sergio Martino, Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento and Mario Brava produced some of the most stylish and enigmatic horror films ever made. Suspiria was released in 1977 and while the majority of the world were being captivated by a film set along time ago in a galaxy far far away, horror fans - at least those lucky enough to see it - were raving about a beautiful, bizarre and terrifying horror experience.

Argento created a truly unique vision and his tale of a coven of witches set in an elite ballet school would go on to be not just one of the best films to come out of the Italian Giallo school but one of the most influential of any 70s horror film. Directors such as John Carpenter and Wes Craven have referenced Giallo, and Suspiria in particular, as big influences on their work. This film is a very different experience and those accustomed to more obvious horror fare may find its tone and style too bizarre. If you allow yourself to get caught up in plot and plausibility you may be disappointed, but allow yourself to be drawn into the world that Argento is creating and you will enjoy a unique and startling experience.

Suspiria occupies the middle ground between art house and horror and excels on both counts. This film is both beautifully shot and truly scary. It is fascinating to watch; the strange sets, peculiar colours and crazy camera angles are all done in such a classy and skillful way that it is hard to look away.

One of the best compliments I can pay this film is that it is very hard to find anything to compare it with and this is particularly true for the soundtrack. The soundtrack was created by an Italian prog rock band called Goblin and despite the fact I would probably rather chop my own ears off than listen to one of their studio albums their music is perfect for the film. The music is full of strange, disconnected noises with echoes of sounds that you think you can identify but can never be sure, adding to the real sense of dislocation and isolation both the main character and the viewer are feeling.

I watched this film last Thursday and I would struggle to explain the strange symbols and imagery adopted by Argento, but this makes me like the film even more. Argento doesn't feel the need to spoon feed the viewer either meaning or emotion, rather giving the audience the respect to try and work it out on their own and while this may come as a shock to many people used to modern Hollywood slop, it provides a rich and thought-provoking experience. The influential horror blog Esplatter has described Suspiria as, "one of the most important horror films ever made" and, although this may be a slight exaggeration, it is without doubt a fresh, absorbing and truly unique film and one any self-respecting horror fan should watch.

Clarky's Review: Suspiria

Reviewing this film has been very difficult. There are aspects of this film that I really admire but I wouldn't necessarily say that I enjoyed this movie and I couldn't tell you what happened. Effectively this is an arthouse horror film, which is its greatest strength and weakness at the same time.

Every shot looks absolutely gorgeous. The lighting and set design is incredible, with at least 90% of the film bathed in the colour red. Almost every shot is also framed in such a way that your eye is drawn to something near the edge of the screen, increasing the sense that something sinister is lurking in the background and is about to jump out.

There are some really tense moments in this film, but overall the storyline is so difficult to follow that in the end it is impossible to get involved within the story and really care about Suzy.

I did particularly enjoy the opening voice over and the first 5 minutes and the closing 5 minutes. In between I found it pretty hard going, and whilst there were gorgeous shots there wasn't much to keep the viewer involved in the way of a storyline or plot development, with some characters disappearing almost as soon as they appear.

However, there are two death scenes out with these 10 minutes which were quite effective. I did enjoy how long it took to draw the scene out where the pianist is killed, really wringing the tension out of the scene. The build up to the death of Sara was also effective but the death itself didn't really do it for me.

I'm not a fan of gorno but it was clear that Sara was rolling around in wire, rather than barbed wire. I'm aware it would have been difficult to have the actress rolling around in barbed wire, or have a decent looking prop. But this was almost laughable. Given what had come before I think it would have been easy to make this scene uncomfortable. A couple of quick cut aways to some flesh getting caught or tugged by the barbs, then slowly tightening round an appendage before tearing some flesh open, all the while cutting back to the wide shot of Sara rolling around would have been in keeping with the other death scenes and made it very uncomfortable.

There are certainly a lot of discussion points within this film that did improve my enjoyment. There seem to be a number of recurring motifs including reflections, running water, light being reflected back in to the camera before a death and the colour red. Although given that the entire film seems to contain the colour red I began to wonder if it was a motif as it infiltrated every scene. Its strange it almost lost some of its resonance as it was so over exposed.

Finally, it has to be said that the effect of the score (by Goblin) cannot be understated. Without it this film would not be nearly as unsettling. A little like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre there is no let up in unsettling and uncomfortable noises that put you on the edge of your seat throughout the films running time. However, unlike The Texas Chain Saw Massacre this is more like a typical score, granted not one you would ever listen to, but its not just sound design it is a musical score. In fact this film could almost have been silent with no dialogue and just had the score playing over the top. The storyline would have probably made as much sense and still been as creepy.

Not a perfect film, but it is perfectly shot and does throw up a lot of questions as to what the relevance of a number things on screen relate to. Unfortunately the result of this type of film can go one way or the other for the viewer. You either get obsessed with what the film means and go an investigate and read everything you can about the film in order to gain a deeper understanding of the film or you have no interest in what is happening.

Immediately after the film I was consumed with what had happened and wanted to find out about the film. Now writing the review I realise I've not done this and also found it hard to remember what actually happened in this film. I wholly put this down to the fact that I just was not that involved in the storyline and couldn't connect with the characters at all.

It is certainly worth a watch and I'm glad that Ally brought it to the table otherwise I would never have seen it. It is a surreal, gorgeously shot and atmospheric film, but ultimately it feels shallow and unconnected and is definitely a case of style over substance in my opinion. I don't know if I would watch it again, even to get a deeper understanding of what actually happened, but I would maybe give another Argento film a shot as there is enough here to have piqued my interest.

Ally's Review: Suspiria

A little background information for anyone reading this blog (aside from the 3 members... if there are any of you out there?!), there is quite a lot of rivalry when it comes to each other’s choices. I’ve often been accused of playing it ultra safe, picking classic and well respected films. I can’t deny this charge, I’ve certainly selected many films that are well known horror classics... and I make no apologies for it! I would argue that I try to bring films to the table which will entertain my fellow horror clubbers: I don’t wish to subject them to films like Hatchet or The Eye, if I can help it. Having said that, I thought it was probably time I went for something a bit more leftfield than usual. We’ve not really looked at much classic European horror in the 2 years we’ve been doing this and I thought it was an area we needed to explore.

It was certainly a different sort of experience. At least four times during the movie I shouted out ‘what’s going on??!!’ and I meant it... I had no clue for most of the film what was happening. It is an incredibly strange film. One that makes you feel very uneasy and uncomfortable. Visually, it is magnificent – unlike any film I’ve seen before. Aside from just being beautiful, the way it is shot also adds to the disturbing nature of the events unfolding. You are convinced you see things all the time in the corner of the picture, the unique look of this film means that you are constantly feeling that your eyes are being tricked. You’re never exactly sure where you stand with this film, and you have literally no idea what the next scene will bring.

Suspiria reminded me of two films. The first was Mulholland Drive. Probably quite a weird comparison – but it is only other film I can remember watching where I didn’t know what was going on and it didn’t bother me. Something about it sucked me in: it was compelling. I didn’t care that the intricacies of the plot didn’t really make any sense, or the dialogue was weird. It somehow added to the experience. Suspiria was similar in that sense. Secondly, I was reminded of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The visuals and sound are maximised in Suspiria to really test the audiences resolve. The sound, in particular, really pushes the envelope of horror movies. It is so freaky and every time that weird music starts you are put in a state of high alert. It is a brilliantly used device. Films that go beyond the usual horror trademarks – namely jumps and tension – to create something new and challenging are rare, and I think that these two films are similar in how pioneering they both are.

I could spend a lot of time delving into the significance of that intense red colour, and all manner of other things... but the truth is I don’t know what it was all about, and it didn’t matter to me. I could also criticise the film for its apparent flaws (which are plentiful) but they didn't bother me either. The simple fact is that I was compelled to watch this film from the very first scene. I couldn’t not watch. It was freaky, scary (balls out in some parts), unsettling, strange, beautiful and unique – a completely original horror experience.

Admittedly this one is probably not for casual horror fans, but it really is unlike any other movie that you’ll see.