Suspiria

Dario Argento’s symphony of horror is a demented fairytale that, as J Hoberman put it, “only makes sense to the eye (and even then…)”. The movie defies rational explanation but plunges us into a nightmare world in a series of bravura set pieces. Jessica Harper is an American dancer who transfers to a ballet school in Germany, who comes to realize the academy is a front for the occult. The high water mark for Italian horror, Suspiria is an extravaganza of saturated primary colours, macabre effects, and features a magnificent score by Goblin, one of the greatest soundtracks of the era.

With sights and sounds that aim for sensory overload, Suspiria converts vulgarity and excess into high art, escalating to a fever pitch on former Antonioni cinematographer Luciano Tovoli’s eye-popping images and Goblin’s assaultive score.

Scott Tobias, AV Club

Suspiria is one of the most radical horror films that has ever been made, and the precise reason for this is that it is unapologetic in the way it expresses horror and the way it demands the opening up of the viewer to take pleasure in things that they cannot describe.

Patricia MacCormack

Media Partner