I'm a picky horror fan because its not really my genre or form of entertainment but in the rare event one comes out that looks right up my alley, I get very excited. Hoping this is one of those. Everything so far adds up to be that.
Suspiria (2018)
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Joined:
May 2010
I’m rewatching it right now as part of my Road to Suspiria (2018) trailer #2 journey. God help me and the (in)famous (and pretty common in Italy at the time) English dub. But what was I supposed to do? Watch the Italian dub and miss on Jessica Harper’s sexy voice? Not a chance. So ‘ingrish prease’ it is.
Man, I still really love this rainy intro. And German cab drivers are the worst.
Man, I still really love this rainy intro. And German cab drivers are the worst.
Posts: 55632
Joined:
May 2010
Little update on my Suspiria (1977) rewatch.
I still see it as a huge missed opportunity. Good movies about witches have always been about something more than just children fright stories. Dario Argento (Profondo rosso) chooses the scare tactics of a relentless drummer who, suddenly, decided the whole band is a lost cause so he alone can capture the essence of that one special song. That's why he gives Goblin so much space (movie's biggest gift and curse at the same time), that's why he chooses to go with the agressive color palette, even when it's not thematically needed (everything is bloody red and rave dungeon frightening so nothing really is). Where the movie fails upon rewatch is first and foremost the script, basis of any story. Even when you get past the terrible, albeit time and place appropriate English dub, which isn't eactly the easiest task in the first place, pretty basic story about a coven of witches (shot in Munich and Rome playing parts of Berlin) falls apart in moment to moment scenes that have little to do with how the real, palpable tension was supposed to be made in a horror movie with a certain detective flavor.
Still my favorite part of Suspiria (1977)... promise of something more.
The girls have a vague reason to believe there's something fishy inside the imposing dance academy so they decide it's best to explore the building on their own, using Enid Blyton's The Famous Five tactics, only to be brutally taken down in perfectly staged, gruesome, ultimately stylistic and phantasmagoric more than realistic scenes of death. That's all fine, it's perfectly giallo and B-horror (candy, not Ken Russell styled) gothic. But Suspiria goes on for an hour and forty minutes (so not even two full hours) and barely does anything with the premise along the way. A hint of backstory here, a slice of villany there... and those (in)famous final 12 minutes that are pure Goblin chaos (like much of the movie before it) with the cheesiest revelations, and acting, you'll see this side of the early Bond movies, and a heroine (objectively beautiful Jessica Harper) who can only dream of reaching the adrenaline levels of other famous mayhem survivors like Laurie Strode, Sally, Nancy or Sidney.
Back to missed opportunities, even though it's a movie firmly set in its time (and place) slot, it never manages to capture the depth of thematic possibilities even though it has all the right tools (young women traped in a foreign land, in a colosseum of competition, envy and death, not to mention the whole juicy girl-becomes-a woman with a demonic twist angle). It's an audio-visual exstravaganza first and foremost, never Hardy's Wicker Man, or Roeg's The Witches, even Eggers' The Witch, if you want to go full unfair and modern. Suspiria (1977) is entirely what you see in front of your eyes and not much more. And even within that, set frame, it fails to deliver an entirely satisfying directorial vision, with its often cheap effects, camera work that stops right before it starts being exciting, and again, all the external noise that is actively working on destroying even a glimpse of nuance, something deeper lurking beneath the crimson walls. I'd probably give it 3/5 out of pop cultural respect, if it weren't so awfully, cringe worthy dubbed, which completely destroys already weak Argento's script, so it's a 2.5/5 for me.
I love the premise so give it to someone else, needs an update. That kid Luca Guadagnino, I hear he's alright. 🕷
I still see it as a huge missed opportunity. Good movies about witches have always been about something more than just children fright stories. Dario Argento (Profondo rosso) chooses the scare tactics of a relentless drummer who, suddenly, decided the whole band is a lost cause so he alone can capture the essence of that one special song. That's why he gives Goblin so much space (movie's biggest gift and curse at the same time), that's why he chooses to go with the agressive color palette, even when it's not thematically needed (everything is bloody red and rave dungeon frightening so nothing really is). Where the movie fails upon rewatch is first and foremost the script, basis of any story. Even when you get past the terrible, albeit time and place appropriate English dub, which isn't eactly the easiest task in the first place, pretty basic story about a coven of witches (shot in Munich and Rome playing parts of Berlin) falls apart in moment to moment scenes that have little to do with how the real, palpable tension was supposed to be made in a horror movie with a certain detective flavor.
Still my favorite part of Suspiria (1977)... promise of something more.
The girls have a vague reason to believe there's something fishy inside the imposing dance academy so they decide it's best to explore the building on their own, using Enid Blyton's The Famous Five tactics, only to be brutally taken down in perfectly staged, gruesome, ultimately stylistic and phantasmagoric more than realistic scenes of death. That's all fine, it's perfectly giallo and B-horror (candy, not Ken Russell styled) gothic. But Suspiria goes on for an hour and forty minutes (so not even two full hours) and barely does anything with the premise along the way. A hint of backstory here, a slice of villany there... and those (in)famous final 12 minutes that are pure Goblin chaos (like much of the movie before it) with the cheesiest revelations, and acting, you'll see this side of the early Bond movies, and a heroine (objectively beautiful Jessica Harper) who can only dream of reaching the adrenaline levels of other famous mayhem survivors like Laurie Strode, Sally, Nancy or Sidney.
Back to missed opportunities, even though it's a movie firmly set in its time (and place) slot, it never manages to capture the depth of thematic possibilities even though it has all the right tools (young women traped in a foreign land, in a colosseum of competition, envy and death, not to mention the whole juicy girl-becomes-a woman with a demonic twist angle). It's an audio-visual exstravaganza first and foremost, never Hardy's Wicker Man, or Roeg's The Witches, even Eggers' The Witch, if you want to go full unfair and modern. Suspiria (1977) is entirely what you see in front of your eyes and not much more. And even within that, set frame, it fails to deliver an entirely satisfying directorial vision, with its often cheap effects, camera work that stops right before it starts being exciting, and again, all the external noise that is actively working on destroying even a glimpse of nuance, something deeper lurking beneath the crimson walls. I'd probably give it 3/5 out of pop cultural respect, if it weren't so awfully, cringe worthy dubbed, which completely destroys already weak Argento's script, so it's a 2.5/5 for me.
I love the premise so give it to someone else, needs an update. That kid Luca Guadagnino, I hear he's alright. 🕷
Posts: 55632
Joined:
May 2010
Bloody disgusting exclusive:
Possibly playing a version of Alida Valli’s character from the original.
And from Suspiria Twitter:
Theatrical trailer tomorrow or Friday.
Possibly playing a version of Alida Valli’s character from the original.
And from Suspiria Twitter:
Theatrical trailer tomorrow or Friday.
Renée! I spotted her in the teaser trailer, great that she's in this
Posts: 55632
Joined:
May 2010
Nevermind, here she is. They’re expanding the teachers’ roles.
That’s real hair alright.
Edit: rottentomatoes confirmed trailer for TOMORROW!
That’s real hair alright.
Edit: rottentomatoes confirmed trailer for TOMORROW!
that outfit...what...why...?
This is going to be such an unsettling experience.
Posts: 55632
Joined:
May 2010
Give your soul to the dance.🕷
Edit: I just saw this in 4k on my beautiful new 55'' Samsung and cried a little.
