31 Days of Horror - Suspiria
The name Dario Argento is highly revered among cinephiles, especially horror geeks. He's known for extravagant and lavish gore. Eli Roth once said "He put the 'gore' in gorgeous," which is kind of cheesy, but very true. It might be hard to imagine gore as being beautiful, but not after you've seen an Argento movie.
A young American woman goes to study ballet at a pretigious German dance academy. Upon her arrival, she is unable to get into the building and must find somewhere else to stay for the night. As she is leaving, she sees a young woman running from the building in absolute terror. The camera follows thw woman in one of the most horrifying chase scenes I've ever seen. You can't see anyone chasing her, but the look on the woman's face and the panic and desperation of her fleeing make you utterly scared for her and certain that something must be pursuing her, even if you can't see it.
When she arrives at a friend's house, she starts planning to leave the country. But she is soon brutally - brutally - murdered by some invisible being or force. This is seriously the most horrifying thing I think I've ever seen in a movie. There's just nothing there except a pair of eyes and an arm that comes from nowhere and shoves her face through a window before stabbing her repeatedly. After this, she is tied up and dropped through a sky light, only to be stopped halfway down by the rope that is around her neck. The falling shards of glass claim the life of her friend. It's hard to overstate how terrifying this is, especially without the aid of the uber-spooky score by the Italian rock band Goblin. I mean it, that music has got to be what hell sounds like.
*ahem* Moving on ... Meanwhile, the American - Susy - starts having some strange experiences of her own. More deaths occur in connection with the school - all incredibly elaborate - and Susy soon finds out that the school has long been home to a coven of witches. The headmistress of the school turns out to be a notorious witch who is over 100 years old and has kept herself alive by way of dark magic. Susy eventually finds the hidden place where the rituals take place and kills the witch.
This is not a very traditional movie that follows any kind of rules. It's very much like a dream in the way it plays out. And as scary and frightening as it is, it's such an exquisitely beautiful film. Argento supposedly styled it after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I haven't had the courage to watch it again to try and see that, but his use of light and color is just mesmerizing in a way that I imagine fairy tales to be.
Suspiria is on just about every "greatest horror movies" list, and for good reason. It's Argento's "punk horror" masterpiece.
A young American woman goes to study ballet at a pretigious German dance academy. Upon her arrival, she is unable to get into the building and must find somewhere else to stay for the night. As she is leaving, she sees a young woman running from the building in absolute terror. The camera follows thw woman in one of the most horrifying chase scenes I've ever seen. You can't see anyone chasing her, but the look on the woman's face and the panic and desperation of her fleeing make you utterly scared for her and certain that something must be pursuing her, even if you can't see it.
When she arrives at a friend's house, she starts planning to leave the country. But she is soon brutally - brutally - murdered by some invisible being or force. This is seriously the most horrifying thing I think I've ever seen in a movie. There's just nothing there except a pair of eyes and an arm that comes from nowhere and shoves her face through a window before stabbing her repeatedly. After this, she is tied up and dropped through a sky light, only to be stopped halfway down by the rope that is around her neck. The falling shards of glass claim the life of her friend. It's hard to overstate how terrifying this is, especially without the aid of the uber-spooky score by the Italian rock band Goblin. I mean it, that music has got to be what hell sounds like.
*ahem* Moving on ... Meanwhile, the American - Susy - starts having some strange experiences of her own. More deaths occur in connection with the school - all incredibly elaborate - and Susy soon finds out that the school has long been home to a coven of witches. The headmistress of the school turns out to be a notorious witch who is over 100 years old and has kept herself alive by way of dark magic. Susy eventually finds the hidden place where the rituals take place and kills the witch.
This is not a very traditional movie that follows any kind of rules. It's very much like a dream in the way it plays out. And as scary and frightening as it is, it's such an exquisitely beautiful film. Argento supposedly styled it after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I haven't had the courage to watch it again to try and see that, but his use of light and color is just mesmerizing in a way that I imagine fairy tales to be.
Suspiria is on just about every "greatest horror movies" list, and for good reason. It's Argento's "punk horror" masterpiece.