A really great Horror film really has to have the right mood for it to work. There’s that sense of dread that creeps up and makes you feel uncomfortable when you’re watching it. Without thinking about it, your knee or hand is shaking and the next thing you know, the film has you. Sure, if the movie has fantastic gore or a really good monster that goes a long way, but the real classics are the films that use a combination of cinematography, music and direction to create an atmospheric mix to and a feeling of hysteria within its audience.
For instance, look at the two versions of The Exorcist prequel that were produced back to back, but with completely different ideologies to the approach of directors. Take a very similar story, the same lead actor, but change this one variable and you’ve got two totally different pictures. Renny Harlin’s Exorcist: The Beginning is visceral gorefest with little room for great character work in amongst the bad CGI and maggot filled still births. Harlin’s film was ordered by the studio when the original version of the film, entitled Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, did not seem marketable by the studio. Dominion, directed by Paul Schrader, toned down the gore, and made the film more of a psychological thriller. The difference is astounding as Schrader’s film is generally frightening and harkens back to the original Exorcist film where as Harlin’s film uses shocking violence as a crutch that neither scares nor impresses.
A lot of the classic Horror films in the past have been able to mix the two aesthetics in order to achieve maximum impact upon an audience. Perhaps the greatest of these is the Italian genre Giallo, which took many queues from Spaghetti Westerns concerning how operatic you can make your film to give it an extra epic quality. The king of the genre was Dario Argento. Argento was to Giallo what Sergio Leone was to Spaghetti Westerns and Kurosawa was to Samurai Movies. Although his films recently have not been up to par with his 70’s classics, at one time Argento was one of the most influential Horror film directors in the world. To look at the man’s prowess, you would only have to look as far as Suspiria.
Suspiria Starring Jessica Harper and Stefania Casini. Directed by Dario Argento
Have you ever been to a foreign country? There’s a horrible feeling of isolation as language and cultural barriers keep you from really fitting in. This can be great material if you’re trying to do a character drama like Lost in Translation, but Argento uses this programmed apprehension into making one of the most operatic and meretricious Horror films ever made.
Suspiria is the story of Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper), an American dance student, looking to join a famous dance academy in Germany. Almost immediately things begin to go wrong. Suspiria show’s the director at the height of his powers. From the opening minutes, Argento set’s the mood specifically to creep you out.
His first accomplice in helping with this mood is the band Goblin. Goblin was headed by Claudio Simonetti, the composer that has become synonymous with the director’s work. Simonetti had previously composed the score for Argento’s Deep Red, and would go to do the director’s Tenebre Phenomena, Inferno, Opera and The Card player. Horror fans will know Goblin from perhaps their most famous score, Dawn of the Dead, which was produced by Argento.
Goblin produces an absolutely brilliant score here, heightening the director’s visual flare to create moments of ultimate tension. The music is just downright creepy and is instantly recognizable once after just a single viewing of Suspiria. But even a strong score can be undone if other elements do not help with creating suspense.
As Suzy reaches the doors of the dance academy, another girl runs out the front, yelling hysterically. Suzy is unable to hear what she says and who can blame her? As per usual, Argento uses nature as a big way to create mood. Here he cooks up a hurricane-sized storm with high winds and tons of rain.
The film’s following double murder sequence is one of the finest examples of Horror film making ever. The girl who abandoned the dance academy takes refuge in a friend’s apartment. She plans on leaving the country, but never makes it. Argento stages a masterful sequence, utilizing the already established score, and ambience already provided by the storm effects.
Gore fans waiting for some blood get buckets as the girl is stabbed, by an unseen assailant repeatedly. She is stabbed so many times that apparently her heart become exposed, at which time the killer takes the opportunity to stab her in the heart. The girl is then lynched from a skylight, where the shards of glass cut the other woman’s face in two. The murder is a bravura opening sequence, but Argento does not do all the legwork alone.
The work of Cinematographer Luciano Tovoli and and Produciton Designer Giuseppe Bassan can not be understated. Tovoli sets up beautiful shots helped immensely by Giuseppe Bassan’s amazing setpieces. All of the sets here are painted in vivid primary colors, with most being a bright red. This creates a stark surrealistic look in which these nightmares play out. While Luciano Tovoli shot the film on Eastman Kodak film, the film was printed using the 3-strip Technicolor process, which helped bring out the vibrant colors. The Technicolor process can not be understated as it historically used to bring out some of the most beautiful images ever caught on film, such as The Adventures of Robin Hood and the 1948 masterpiece The Red Shoes, directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.
The school itself also has many rooms that are filmed with these beautiful colors. The rooms themselves feature many windows that are skewed, giving the academy a nightmarish quality all its own. The production design harkens back very much to Robert Wiene’s classic German Horror The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which also heavily influenced the work of Tim Burton.
As the film progresses Suzy learns that the school she is attending is run by a coven of witches. Slowly but surely, all that offend or stand in the way of the rulers of the school die in grisly deaths. Argento does have the tendency to let his style get away from him though.
One sequence has a blind piano player named David, who recently quit the school, having his throat ripped out by his own Seeing Eye dog. The scene is set up with some great camera shots and a beautiful German courtyard with huge building surrounding it. Argento then decides to go to a camera from the point of view of a bat. The shot is a bit too over the top and isn’t really needed. It isn’t as excessive as the “butterfly cam” in his film Trauma, but it’s up there.
Fortunately, the sequence still packs a punch when the formerly obedient German Shepard turns on his master. Gore fans will again have reason to cheer as the throat ripping seems to go on forever. Just when you think its over, the horror continues.
Another death sequence is perhaps the most gruesome of the entire film. Suzy’s friend Sara (Stefania Casini) has found out the truth about the school and its founder, Helena Markos. The sequence where she is hunted down is a textbook example of Giallo’s power over an audience. Emotions run high as the poor girl seemingly narrowly escapes her fate, only to land in a pit of razor wire. The scene is uncomfortable to watch to say the least. Adding another close-up shot where the girl’s throat is slit up close only adds to the tension.
Two criticisms can really be laid on the movie. First the film’s dialogue is very childish at times. Apparently, when Argento originally planned the film, he wanted the school to be for no one over the age of 12. This would make the film much more shocking, but fortunately cooler heads prevailed. The film’s producer, Argento’s father, refused to finance the film, as the chances of a film about 12 year olds being brutally murdered would have a high chance of being banned. Dario eventually conceded, but didn’t change the script. According to imdb.com, Argento also placed all the doorknobs in the film at head level, to have an aspect of the girls still being children.
The women in charge of the school still treat the girls as if they were children. Alida Valli has a massive onscreen presence as Miss Tanner, the school’s main dance instructor. She is your typical, hardnosed German instructor and is the scariest of the characters. Joan Bennett’s Madame Blanc seems to actually be running the school. Her demeanor is always courteous, but underneath seems to lay a real creepiness. This is a great performance.
Most of the girls here are your typical slasher victims. They make a lot of bad choices and end up really dead. Jessica Harper is fine as the main character. She’s got enough innocence that you would want to root for her, even though her acting isn’t breaking any boundaries or anything.
The other criticism is the very abrupt ending, but by the time it rolls around, you’ve been given such a great experience it doesn’t matter. Suspiria is one of the best examples of style over substance ever put to film. The influence over the Slasher film genre can not be overstated, with its unstoppable silent killers. It’s in the film’s mood and ambiences that will make you want to come back to it every October.
Picture Credits: allposters.com, terrortrap.com, moviebox.se, slantmagazine.com
