I just found out recently that I have been a Giallo fan for some time now. As a youngster, I saw a bunch of these italian horror films and just recently I have found out they they are considered the "Giallo" genre.

My introduction to this genre was the Lucio Fulci films and the Joe D'Mato film Buried Alive,aka(beyond the darkness,buio omega, and about 10 other different names)

There were a few others that I recall by other directors but I can't recall. In reading up on this genre, I kept seeing a director named Dario Argento name mentioned as the absolute best director of this type of film. And this film Suspiria was almost unanimously given terrific reviews. Most say it's his best work and others say its one of the best horror films of all time. So obviously I thought it was a must see.

I hate to say, and I obviously must be in the minority, but I did not like this film at all.

Suspiria is about a young american ballet dancer who goes to a very prostegious dance school in Germany. Upon arriving at the school on a rainy night, she encounters an odd girl at the door about to leave ranting and raving some jiberish. It turns out she gets murdered that same night. Once at the school, murders start to occur and her friend is somewhat onto something. The teachers "supposedly" leave the school at 9:30 every night but obviously to the lead and her friend they are not actually leaving the school. They are walking around upstairs at the school. Her friends curiousity ends up getting the best of her. She gets brutally murdered. The lead, played by Jessica Harper wants to get to the bottom of what happened to her. It turns out that everyone at the school are witches. Although, not really witches in the classic sense that your thinking. In turn, she has to fight for her life to escape.

Suspiria is definitely a unique film. Thia guy must have an obbesion with the color red. The whole movie has this redddish hue to it. As a matter of fact, the whole movie is extremely colorful. With red being the prominent color.

There is no doubt Argento is a talented director, but he is just too artsy for my taste. Every scene is beautifully shot with really artsy looking scenery. To me, this is the downfall of this film. It just creates no atmosphere because of it. Everything is too "pretty" to be scary. The acting and plot are decent for the most part. The story explains itself somewhat as it goes longer into the film. Dubbing is good, and the dialogue is tolerable.

Not the most gory film, but has a few decent gore scenes. Nothing really original in the way of death scenes. The seeing-eye dog attacking his master was somewhat original though.

As far as the score. I didnt see where it was as great as others have, nonetheless, it was some very good music by Goblin. Some of it you almost want to hear on a cd with lyrics added! Really cool, loose bass guitar type of stuff on part of it.

This film just isnt very scary. It is really slow and just not very effective in my opinion. This is my first Argento film and probably my last. He is no doubt a better director than Fulci and D'Mato, but he is way too stylish for me. I prefer a grittier, more realistic type of film. He is too worried about everything being about colors than setting a mood. The above mentioned directors are far from talented directors and very cheesy, but they direct horror films. Argento should have gone into some kind of art type genre.

I hate to knock this film so hard, seeing as I am almost in the overwhelming minority on this one, but it just wasnt very good. I am still going to explore more of the Giallo genre, but just no more of Argento's films. Beyond the Darkness(d'Mato) is still my favorite so far.

Overall, I wouldnt recommend buying this film. Rent it if you can find it first to see if its your type of thing.



Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older