Suspiria (1977)

by Joshua Skye:

Popcorn? Check. Extra large soda? Check. Dark, dingy grindhouse theatre out in the middle of 1970’s urban nowhere? Oh yeah! The scratchy film stock opened with the close up of the long, black tresses of a woman sitting with her back to the audience as she combs her hair. An impish voice hisses, “Roses are red. Violets are blue. The iris is a flower…” The figure turns revealing that it’s a fleshless corpse. “That will mean the end of you!”

The American trailers were a bit hokey to be sure, but there is nothing hokey about this celluloid nightmare. Suspiria is Italian horror maestro Dario Argento’s masterpiece, an absolute horror classic ranking right up there with “The Exorcist” and John Carpenter’s “Halloween,” though it could be argued that “Suspiria” outshines them all. There is simply nothing like it, and I seriously doubt it will ever be equaled.

The tale is well known, but for those few who haven’t seen “Suspiria,” I’ll give you a brief rundown without ruining any of the thrills with inconsiderate spoilers. The talented Jessica Harper plays American ballet student Suzy Banyon, the enchantingly dreary ingénue who ventures abroad to study dance at a prestigious academy. Immediately she is submerged in a lurid world where nothing is quite what it seems.

This is the realm of fantasy, but make no mistake, this is a horrifying fairy tale that the true Brothers Grimm would envy. It’s vicious. It’s cruel. It is one of the most brutal horror films of all time and yet it is also one of the most beautiful. Following Suzy on her dreamlike adventures is nothing short of a visual spectacle, an extravaganza of impeccable production design. There are bold splashes of color, haunting geometric silhouettes, swirling architectural embellishments, and yawning apertures. And let’s not forget the hellish, unsettlingly stunning score! It all merges to create the most nightmarishly compelling film in horror history.

“Suspiria” was followed by two sequels, the garishly enigmatic “Inferno” and the disappointing but compulsively watchable “Mother of Tears.” I consider myself lucky enough to have seen “Mother of Tears” at an arthouse venue in Dallas, and indeed it was a wonderful treat. The last Italian horror film I’d seen at the theatre was way back in the 80s, a crazy little gem called “The Other Hell.” With any hope I’ll be able to catch “Suspiria” the way it was meant to be seen, on a massive screen in a dark theatre with a thundering sound system. Until then, I have my cherished special edition DVD to sate me when the desire arises.

Even if you are only a casual horror fan, you must see “Suspiria,” after all…

“The only thing more terrifying than the last twelve minutes of ‘Suspiria’ are the first ninety-two.”

DarkMedia contributor Joshua Skye’s short stories have appeared in anthologies from STARbooks Press, Knightwatch Press, Sirens Call Publications, Rainstorm Press, JMS Books and periodicals such as Blood and Lullabies. He is the author of “The Singing Wind,” “Bareback: A Werewolf’s Tale,” “Midnight Rainbows,” the forthcoming “The Grigori,” and “The Angels of Autumn.”   You can find him on his website.