CGAA Unit 3 Environment: Cinema of the Strange: Suspiria 12/12/2011

Summary:

An American ballet dancer transfers to a prestigious ballet academy. Disturbed by the schools uncomfortable atmosphere and strange occurrences, she gradually realises the staff are a coven of witches. Dario Argento’s Suspiria is a delirious and surreal Horror film that eschews typical Italian Giallo conventions to a meld film that is quite remarkable. Plot and characters become embroiled in the films hallucinogenic use of warped set design, complex aural design and fantastical Technicolor.

Analysis:

“Suspiria is like a high concept Madchen in Uniform meets The Cabinet of Dr Caligari...Few Horror films have made such bravura use of colored lights (bright blues, oranges, greens) or of such deliriously geometric set design that itself suggests madness and promotes sensory overload” (Derry, 207:2009)

Derry, C. (2009) Dark Dreams 2.0: a psychological history of the modern horror film from the 1950s to the 21st Century USA: MacFarland and Company Inc.

Release:

1977

Director:

Dario Argento

Screenplay by:

Dario Argento, Daria Nicolodi

Produced by:

Claudio Argento

Genre/subgenre:

Horror, Giallo

Country:

Italy

Cast:

Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci, Miguel Bose, Alda Valli, Joan Bennet, Udo Kier, Barbara Magnolfi

Selected Director Filmography:

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, The Cat o’ Nine Tails, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, Deep Red, Suspiria, Inferno, Tenebrae, Phenomena, Opera, Mother of Tears

Related Films:

Black Swan, Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Exorcist, The Omen, Phenomena, The Beyond, Inferno, Carrie, Rosemary’s Baby, Don’t Look Now