Suspiria BD

After making some of the finest gialli in the genre, Dario Argento (known as the Italian Hitchcock) decided to take a break from the brand of films with which he made his name to try something altogether different. Teaming up with writer Daria Nicolodi, a story and screenplay was written about a young American girl who goes to Germany to perfect her ballet only to find that the school is run by witches.
 
There aren't many films that begin with a climax and continue from there, but this is what Argento does with Suspiria. When Suzy Bannion lands in the pouring rain and only just manages to get a taxi with the world's least talkative cab driver, she arrives at the school and rings the bell only to find that the voice on the other end of the intercom system tells her to go away. If this wasn't disconcerting enough, the conversation was preceded by a girl, Pat, fleeing from the building shouting something practically indistinguishable in the direction of the school doors.
 

Cutting to an apartment where Pat is staying with a friend for the night, she is drying off in the bathroom when the windows fly open and, once securely closed, Pat thinks she sees something outside, only for a hand to burst through one window and press her face against the other. What follows is typical Argento elegant violence as Pat is repeatedly stabbed to death and hanged with electrical cord when she falls through the stained glass ceiling, a large piece of metal impales her friend and a sheet of glass cuts her head in half. All of this is in the first fifteen minutes and if that doesn't get your attention, nothing will!
 
With Suzy settled into another dancer's apartment, she notices the various cliques inside the school but when she faints during her first lesson she is quickly moved to the school in a room next to Sara, the only girl who Suzy has got to know, and is placed on a strange diet of bland food and red wine.
 
As events unfold Sara confides in Suzy that she believes that the school is run by witches, with the mysterious directress, instructress Ms. Tanner (Alida Valli), and the vice directress Madame Blanc (Joan Bennett). As is occasionally the case in an Argento film, the narrative plays second fiddle to the aesthetics but Suspiria is perhaps the most exaggerated example as the plot (what there is of one) is extremely difficult to make out and it is best to sit back and marvel at this most gifted of directors at work.

The Disc

 
Extra Features
If you wanted two people to provide a commentary for Suspiria, the names highest on the list would be Kim Newman and Alan Jones. Newman is an encyclopaedia of horror and Jones has been following Argento's career since The Bird with the Crystal Plumage. They've made entertaining commentaries before and this is no exception, full of facts about the actors and shooting down rumours that have been doing the rounds for years!
 
Fear at 400 Degrees: The Cine-Excess of Suspiria examines Argento's claim that fear is 370 degrees and he wanted to make a film that was 400 degrees. It is a well made documentary with interesting contributions from Claudio Simonetti, Norman J Warren, Kim Newman and film scholar and theorist Dr. Patricia McCormack. They all know the film very well and give their opinions on the points raised.
 
Suspiria Perspectives is a collection of the interviews with Simonetti, Warren and McCormack in their entirety, so bits are replicated from Fear at 400 Degrees. It's odd that Simonetti is given the position of a critic, as he was a member of Goblin, and there isn't a longer interview with Kim Newman.
 
There is a 'Welcome to Cine-Excess' with its chief executive Xavier Mendik talking you through what the company is going to release and why.
 
The Picture
You can say what you like about Suspiria but there is no denying that it is one of the most stylish shot and beautifully lit films of the decade. The production design and set decoration are sublime with some terrific sets and wonderfully orchestrated and executed set pieces - the death scenes are some of the best that Argento (and anyone else, for that matter) has ever done. Argento shot the film on Technicolor film from the 1950s to secure the bright and lurid colours that make the film so distinctive.
 
The final scene is an interesting mix of slightly dodgy optical effects with impressive prosthetics to create something quite memorable and powerful.
 
The HD picture is amazingly clear and the colours are fantastically vibrant. I thought the upscaled DVD looked good, but this a noticeable step up from there and, for a film that relies so much on colours and aesthetics, this improved picture adds to the experience.
 
The Sound
The English DTS-HD Master Audio is a beautifully balanced and reassuringly loud soundtrack with clear dialogue (as it should be, being dubbed in post-production) and an amazingly complicated and insane soundtrack by Goblin which means more in repeated viewings.
 
The score is inseparable from the film and is as mesmerising as it is uncomfortable - it's so loud and the timbre is so unsettling that you are simultaneously compelled to listen, yet wish it would stop! There isn't another soundtrack like it.
 
Final Thoughts
I love Dario Argento's work in the giallo genre and continue to pick up his DVDs - I have nearly all of them - but consider that he rarely has an off day, so to speak and have as much time for his 'mothers' trilogy as for his gialli. Though this was intended to leave those films behind and give him a break and new challenge, there is plenty of evidence of a giallo in Suspiria with the stylish cinematography, a mystery killer and sexual undertones.
 
The casting is inspired with Jessica Harper giving a reasonably competent mix of vulnerability and determination and Italian film legend Alida Valli proving why she is regarded in such high esteem by fans of Italian movies with a suitably powerful performance.
 
This is the best release of Suspiria due to the superlative AV quality and fascinating commentary, even beating the brilliant R1 Limited Edition DVD set. If you have the equipment, this is a must-have horror BD.