I finally got my Xbox to play the English dub of Suspiria directed by Dario Argento.
Released originally in Italian in 1977, Suspiria is not only considered a classic horror film but one of the best movies ever.
The premise of this movie is that an American ballet dancer decides to take her career to the next level by going to study at an ultra-prestigious German ballet school. Unfortunately the school is a front for a coven of witches who derive power from torturing and murdering the students.
I really liked this one, it's probably the best movie of the season so far. Even with the elements that I really had a hard time enjoying this was supremely creepy and very focused, which are qualities everything else this year has lacked. It's heavily atmospheric, very bloody (for the 70's, anyway), and very imagery heavy. The soundtrack has what might be one of the best horror motifs I've ever heard next to the Halloween soundtrack.
Unfortunately the soundtrack is also the first thing that I found somewhat distracting. It has a tendency to get absurdly loud during the tense scenes, especially during the murders. And it's not a typical modern soundtrack that's built around being melodic or rhythmic in a traditional sense, it's a 70's style synth, sample, and noise soundtrack. It also has the peculiar tendency to cut off abruptly during a scene change from scary night time to a daytime scene. It makes the dialog very hard to understand since it's so quiet in comparison.
I'm also pretty sure they got a lighting director who was used to working in the theater to design their lighting. It's definitely a unique look but compared to more modern movies that have done that it looks a bit too strong. The movie is overwhelmingly red. Everything is bright red. So bright red my eyes hurt a few times. The lighting is red, the walls are red, the wine is red, the blood is red...all the same red. There was one scene where a character dumped some wine down the sink then had to scrub it off the bowl because it was pretty clearly red paint. They also have a heavy green light at certain times, and sometimes they even pull out blue lighting towards the end. At times it serves the atmosphere very well, others it's "MIEN EYES THAT IS SO RED". Thankfully it seems to serve the atmosphere most of the time, just when it doesn't work it pretty glaring.
The ending sprint is absolutely glorious, and the sound design was just great. The noises and the voice the witch queen was using were truly creepy in the most visceral sense. It made my skin crawl.
Definitely a must-see.
I'm heading out of town for a few days for a friend's wedding so the next few movies might have to get back dated, or I'll just post multiple reviews per day if I have to catch up since I might miss a few.
On deck: The Collective
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