"Suspiria": A Beautiful Nightmare

When you think of horror movies, what do you think?

Dark and stormy nights where long, creeping shadows threaten to overwhelm the screen? Characters wandering into impenetrable, inky blackness, doomed to never return?

These conventional images apply to so many horror films – new films and bona fide classics alike. They do not, however, apply to Dario Argento’s 1977 masterpiece, Suspiria.

Indeed, Suspiria may very well be one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen.

To simply try to describe its vibrant, bold use of color would be doing the film a disservice. Like an uncompromising artist, Argento uses the screen as his canvas and paints his film in striking reds, greens, yellows, and blues. Few movies – let alone horror movies – are so liberal in their use of color, but it is a daring directorial decision which once seen is not likely to be forgotten.

There was, however, some precedent to the way Suspiria looked.

Director Argento began his filmmaking career redefining a subgenre called giallo. Italian for yellow, giallo at first referred to a series of pulp crime novels published in Italy which were noted for their striking yellow covers. Film adaptations of these stories followed; all filled to the brim with murder, mystery and intrigue played out against vibrantly-colored settings.

Dario Argento’s giallo thrillers – most notably The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) and Deep Red (1975) – cemented him as a distinguished filmmaker dabbling in the macabre. Indeed, Argento soon was praised as “The Italian Hitchcock” as his films were comparable to the Master of Suspense working many miles away in Hollywood.

And like Hitchcock who continually pushed the boundaries of his thrillers to their extremes, Argento did much the same with Suspiria.

Suspiria tells the story of American dancer, Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper) who arrives in Germany to begin studying at a prestigious dance academy. Suzy’s arrival coincides with the violent death of a fellow student which plunges Suzy into a real-life nightmare as she realizes not all is as it may seem at the academy.

Though the giallo films which proceeded Suspiria were all grounded in reality, the supernatural hangs oppressively over Suspiria and definitely marks the film as a horror movie and less of a murder mystery.

The freedom that came with this, I think, allowed Argento to create some of his most visceral set-pieces which still resonate over 40 years since the film’s release.

I have been fortunate to see Suspiria screened twice at independent movie theatres, and both times, the film still manages to surprise and unsettle viewers.

Perhaps the reason for this is the film’s incredible simplicity. Clocking in at just over 90-minutes, Suspiria is not bloated with in-depth characterizations, subplots, or extraneous dialogue or detail. Suspiria is a lean, mean machine whose only goal is to get under your skin and frighten.

As an exercise in frightening sound and visuals, I think it is unparalleled.

Beyond this, there is a timelessness to the film which adds to its continued relevance. The predominately female cast are all presented as autonomous human beings, and the film never lingers and leers in the exploitative way which was so common in the late ‘70s.

Additionally, the film leans upon the standards of Gothic horror which give the movie a unique fairy tale quality which is absent in so many horror movies.

I would also be remiss if I did not mention the music by the band, Goblin, which underscores so much of the movie. Memorable in its own right, the score would go on to influence several other filmmakers; most notably, John Carpenter who cited the group as a major influence to his revolutionary score to his film Halloween a year later.

Suspiria was recently remade by filmmaker Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) and starring Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton and Chloë Grace Moretz. The film opened to divisive critical reviews, but I am unable to pass judgment on it as it is a film which has still eluded me. It’s recent arrival on DVD and Blu-ray, however, mean that that will change very soon.

Suspiria may have fallen into relative obscurity outside the horror movie community, but its recent revivals suggest that the film is poised for a resurgence and the time has finally come for it to take its rightful place alongside the hallowed classics like Halloween, The Exorcist and other pillars of the horror genre.

Until then, Suspiria remains a beautiful nightmare. And probably the greatest horror movie you have never seen.