THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
When you become part of something, you’re never going to like everything about it.
PLOT
Based on Thomas De Quincey’s essay, Suspiria de Profundis, the film follows Suzy Bannion, an American ballet school arriving in Freiburg to study at the prestigious German dance school, Tanz Akademie. On the way to the school, she sees another student named Patricia Hingle apparently flee in terror and when the protagonist tries to enter, the doors don’t open for her, causing her to stay in town overnight. As for Pat, she ends up taking refuge with her friend Sonya (Susanna Javicoli) at her apartment and tells her she saw something sinister. Shockingly, she would be attacked by a shadowy figure that would hang her from the building’s skylight. As for her friend, she would be impaled by a falling shard of glass. The following morning, Suzy returns to the school and meets both head instructor Miss Tanner & headmistress Madame Blanc, and their servant Patlos (Giuseppe Transocchi) who make her feel comfortable on her first day. The protagonist is unable to see the Directress as she is out of town. The only classmates she gets along with are Sara and Olga, the latter of which becomes her roommate. On her first day of class, she encounters a matron that flashes sunlight to her, causing her to later pass out. When she wakes up, she is moved into the school, now sharing a room with Sara. Before students prepare for supper, maggots start falling from the ceiling due to a shipment of spoiled food in the attic. As this causes the students to sleep in a dancing room, Sara believes the Directress is in the school after spotting another woman covered by a curtain hung around the room’s perimeter, snoring loudly as she sleeps. The next day, the blind pianist Daniel (Flavio Bucci) is fired when his German Shepherd bites Madame Blanc’s nephew Albert (Jacopo Mariani). During the night, Sara tries to deduce where the instructors go at night based on the sound of their footsteps. When Daniel leaves, he is stalked by an unseen force and is killed by his own dog. The day after this, Suzy shares with Madame Blanc and remembers a fragment of what Pat said on her way out. Sara would later share her own details that Pat left notes behind as a result of acting strange before she died. When she goes back to her room to find them, she notices them to be missing. She would then get attacked by an unseen assailant, chasing her into an attic. When she tries to jump out a window, she would fall into a pit of razor wire, which entangles her long enough to be killed by the pursurer with a razor blade. When Suzy notices her roommate missing, Miss Tanner would lie and say she left. Knowing that doesn’t sound true, she reaches out to one of her friends, a former psychiatrist named Frank Mandel (Uso Kier). He shares with her Sara found out the origin of Tanz Akademie: It was founded in 1895 by an alleged witch named Helena Markos. Suzy would then meet a witchologist Professor Milius (Rudolf Schündler) who explains that covens perishes without their leader. This leads to Suzy believing Markos is alive and she chooses to investigate. With the school empty due to the other students attending Bolshoi Ballet, she narrows down the footstep pattern that takes her to Blanc’s office. She would Pat’s words ‘secret’ and ‘iris’ , leading to her opening a secret passage hidden by a blue iris that is a secret doorknob. As she passes through, she overhears Blanc plot to kill her. As she tries to escape, she finds Sara’s corpse to confirm the coven is responsible. She would unintentionally find another doorway, which would take her to the bedroom of the Directress herself, recognizing her from her breathing. When she accidentally wakes her up, Markos would summon a re-animated Sara to attack her. However, when Suzy notices the Directress’ silhouette from a flash of lightning, she would stab her with a broken glass quill from a decorative peacock. As her body vanishes, the coven perishes without the power to save them and the school implodes. The film would end with Sara escaping into the rainy night.
THOUGHTS
Admittedly, I didn’t know of this movie until the remake came about. So I got curious on what the praise is all about. And it ain’t hard to believe this was really something else. Director Dario Agento and co-writer Daria Nicolodi collaborate to create one of the most unsettling horror movies in the 70s. This is the true definition of giallo horror as for not being crafted by Italian filmmakers, but for having an unique form of voyeurism. The second you start hearing Goblin’s soundtrack, you have an in idea how intense it will be, which it delivers on. The production design by Enrico Fiorentini & Giuseppe Bassan is so surreal to look at, it only makes Luciano Tovoli’s cinematography unknowingly beautiful. And the violence shown is so shockingly realistic thanks to unforgettable makeup. Now all of this works because of this layer of understanding there really is no such thing as normal; Evil can rest and will respond when being bothered. What must be reminded is evil can occupy the space just out of reach and even when left alone, it can still be capable of targeting you when not preparing for it. With that being said, you must keep your head up or you will be bound to walk into trouble. This is what the Directress Helena Markos is all about because she is this film’s embodiment of power, has it all for herself and makes a catch for those who want it for themselves, clarified from her callous voice alone. When you look at Tanner & Blanc, Alida Valli & Joan Bennett respectively pull off in making them figures loyal for their own gain. They love what they got and aren’t going to change a thing about it, hence willing to kill whoever they see as a risk of being a threat. That alone is enough for us the audience to root for the final girl who uncovers the truth. From the get go, you know Pat’s death is gonna bring it full circle because Eva Axén has us sense nothing but trauma this character had flowing in her the whole time she was in that coven. Once you sense it, it is enough to feel bad for the demise of her and her friend. Then again, there is Sara who was rightfully suspicious of what happened to her friend. Stefania Casini nails it in making her who was smarter than she had to be to learn what was going on. Had she went to the police sooner, she likely would’ve survived what came her way. All of this however leads us to the final girl who did overcome the odds. Jessica Harper has us fall in love with Suzy for having a stronger determination to defend herself from what threatens her. Like the women before her, she never anticipated encountering a witch coven yet no matter how scared she was throughout her experience, she was focused long enough to confront the conflict and succeed in defeating a grim villain. Since she was able to escape the school unscathed, I hope she is able to enjoy the new chapter of her life that comes after this. This film was undoubtedly impressive, but I admittedly still scratched my head over a few moments. Going from the top, why didn't Suzy invite Pat to her cab? She has no idea of the coven yet, so she could've went back to the airport once the beans were spilt and no one would've died. Also, why would the Directress sleep in the same vicinity as the students when she is trying to hide her presence. That and the maggot situation felt like she was asking to be seen even when having an invisible enchantment around her. I was definitely caught off guard seeing Sara jump into the wires, but how did she not see it? I know she was cornered, but she could've thought it through by just looking at she was in for. I also don't understand why would the whole school go to a ballet show with Suzy? Whether or not Blanc was planning to kill her, they could've tried a little harder covering their tracks like they did with Sara. Other than that, you'll be impressed with what this film brings in store. In short, 1977's Suspiria is a horror classic for creating an unlikely atmosphere. Whatever kind of horror you're into, this is worth checking off your watchlist.
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