Suspiria (1977)

Directed by

Dario Argento

Genre

drama film, horror film, independent film, exploitation film, experimental film, mystery film

Country

Italy

Runtime

1h 34m

Rated

R

Rating

7.5 of 10 from 3,206 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

An American ballet student transfers to a prestigious European dance academy. She discovers the school is run by a coven of witches after a series of murders.

tensedreamlikeunsettlingvisually lushstylizedatmosphericgothicslow-burn

What happens

Suspiria is a 1977 Italian supernatural horror film directed by Dario Argento, who co-wrote the screenplay with Daria Nicolodi, partially based on Thomas De Quincey's 1845 essay Suspiria de Profundis. The film stars Jessica Harper as an American ballet student who transfers to a prestigious European dance academy but realizes, after a series of murders, that the academy is a front for a coven of witches. It also features Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci, Miguel Bosé, Alida Valli, Udo Kier, and Joan Bennett, in her final film role. The film is the first of the trilogy Argento refers to as The Three Mothers, which also comprises Inferno (1980) and The Mother of Tears (2007). Suspiria has received a positive response from critics for its visual and stylistic flair, use of vibrant colors and its score by Argento and the progressive rock band Goblin. Suspiria was nominated for two Saturn Awards: Best Supporting Actress for Bennett in 1978, and Best DVD Classic Film Release in 2002. It is recognized as one of the most influential films in the horror genre and has received acclaim from critics in retrospective reviews. It served as the inspiration for a 2018 film of the same title, directed by Luca Guadagnino. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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