Suspiria

SUSPIRIA
Starring: Jessica Harper and Joan Bennett
Directed by: Dario Argento

Style: Supernatural slasher
Blood and Guts: 5
Fright Factor: 5
Laugh Factor: 0
Weapons of choice: Knife, barbed wire
Overall rating: 5 out of 5

Ballet dancer Suzy (Jessica Harper) is living the dream. She has been invited to attend the prestigious Tans Academy in Germany. From the moment she arrives, however, strange events begin to haunt her. The students and faculty are reticent to speak of the dread that Suzy feels in the Academy, and soon students begin to disappear. The more Suzy investigates, the more she learns of the occult history of the Academy and its fabled Black Queen, a witch of incredible power and malice. Now, Suzy is the target, and the only way out of danger is to discover the Queen's identity and destroy her.

Suspiria may not sound like much of a film, as many modern day horror films all follow similar plot points. What makes this film such a great horror film is that the director Dario Argento is truly a master of the horrific. From the first murder sequence that practically opens the film to the ending moment that made my bones chatter, Argento displays a talent for finding those moments that make us shiver to our core. It is that talent for silence and ominous anticipation that drives the film rather than the slapdash technique of loud, sudden noises many movies use in place of legitimate scares.

Argento finds an art to his film, frequently employing dreamlike color sequences to paint the story as almost ethereal in nature. Even the blood that spills forth is a vibrant red, adding to the feeling that reality is slightly off-kilter. All of the death sequences are both brutal and stylized, a technique that does not diminish the horror of the event. As for the soundtrack, mhile most films suffer from a rock soundtrack removing the audience from the story, Argento's band Goblins feel more like something born of the world of the story than a separate entity. That too is a testament to the talent of Argento.

Now, the movie is not perfect. Some of the plot does drag a bit, and the style is borderline silly when characters are interacting. However, these can be forgiven as Suspiria is less of a movie and more of an experience, and I feel it is one that truly lives up to the hype surrounding it. People who really don't like excessive violence should probably skip this film, as well as people who don't like to be frightened, but everyone else should give this one a chance. It can be considered one of the staples of the horror film genre.