Suspiria

Dario Argento
1977
Second Viewing

I was surprised to find after re-viewing the best known of Dario Argento's nightmare fairy tales, that I much prefer both "Phenomena" (1985) and the more traditional slasher "Opera" (1987), to the first installment of his "Three Mothers" trilogy. Strange things begin happening the moment Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper) arrives at a prestigious dance academy, as she's initially turned away in the middle of a downpour, and a fellow student is murdered in classic Argento fashion (thrown through multiple panes of glass, stabbed, and hung dramatically). Sinister events continue as Suzy falls ill due to a mysteriously enforced diet, and a plague of plump maggots rain from the ceiling - it becomes apparent that a malefic heart is at work deep within the school's walls. The film's stylistic hallmark is it's nauseating phantasmagoria of bright colors, which go a long way toward creating the fantastical and otherworldly feel of the dance academy. I'm particularly fond of the film's title card, a pulsating and glistening line of what appear to be prosthetic rubber letters against a black backdrop - a three dimensional title is definitely something you don't see too often anymore. While the aforementioned maggots, and final confrontation are pretty excellent, there's not quite enough scares here to make it really stand out. Most disappointingly, the famous scene in which Suzy's buddy Sara falls into a pit of razor wire doesn't come off as grisly as it should be due to murky cinematography and the visual distortion of color gels. Also, it seems that Argento shoots his wad too early with the film's opening murder scene, as no scene after really measures up.