Suspiria (DVD)

Unlike many other horror movies Dario Argento's 1977 movie Suspiria is menace filled from the offset. Goblin's musical score that accompanies the movies opening credits is enough to turn those weak in the genre of horror running for the nearest sofa to hide behind. Having escaped the credits viewers are then tormented by Argento's lurid colourings as the movies heroin Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper) arrives by plane to a German airport. Argento's use of red from the offset is a taste of the blood you are to endure as the movie proceeds. Suzy's taxi ride from the airport does not give a feeling of any nearby happiness either, the taxi driver is emotionless and unresponsive; ...  Read the complete review

A young woman dressed in white arrives at an airport. We painfully follow her through the departure lounge, and will her to turn back. We don't know why, but there's something outside she really oughtn't be stepping into. She ignores our concern, and through the swish of automatic doors, opens up the jaws of Hell, wandering into the torrential thunderstorm of a pitch-black night. Struggling with her luggage, she finds it difficult to hail a cab, and when she eventually finds one, her chauffeur is far from welcoming. Outside, the storm's ferocity increases, and as we pass breaking riverbanks and scenes of rolling forestry, we realise that the film is ...  Read the complete review

If you're after a break from the current trend of torture porn horror and shameless remakes of eighties classics, then try this one. Totally different from conventional Hollywood horror, this is a movie with something special and sinister about it. The plot: Jessica Harper plays a ballerina who arrives one stormy night at a Ballet school. The school is run by two creepy women, Miss Tanner and Madame Blanc. It isn't long before strange occurences and some grisly events start happening and alert Jessica that things might not quite as they seem at the ballet school. The director: Dario Argento is often described as the master of ...  Read the complete review

Dario Argento is without doubt the greatest horror filmmaker in the history of cinema. His films ooze with style and explore sadomasochistic relationships between victim and murderer. "Suspiria" delves the audience into sheer audio-visual delirium and is so relentless in its efforts to scare that the trailer tells the viewer "The only thing more terrifying than the last 12 minutes of Suspiria is the first 92". Dario Argento is an Italian filmmaker who is often dismissed by snobbish film critics as a genre filmmaker and often attacked for being a misogynist. These claims are not without their points and Argento loves to photograph the ...  Read the complete review

There's something about witchcraft which really allows for some creepy movies. You can forget you Freddy Kreugars et. al. because you're common old witch is a much scarier prospect and is vastly underused in horror cinema. The Blair Witch Project was one creepy movie, but long before then a movie featuring witchy shenannigins in the woods was already scaring the hell out of all those who watched it. Suspiria, set in Germany's Black Forest region was that movie, and almost 25 years later it has lost little of its original impact. It has been around ten years since I last saw it and it's still as knuckle whitening now as it was then for me. Dario ...  Read the complete review