Ninth Annual FMS Scarelicious October Movie Series: #6 Suspiria

I have finally watched Dario Argento's Suspiria, that 1977 Italian giallo classic.  It was a trip and, to be honest, a little difficult to describe.  The plot is largely meaningless but, if you really want to know - SPOILERS AHEAD: young American ballet dancer Susie Banyon arrives in Germany to enroll in Tanz Dance Academy.  The night she arrives, another student runs screaming out into the dark and stormy night and no one will let Susie in.  The escaping student and a friend are brutally killed and when Susie finally gets into the academy, everyone is all atwitter with the news.  Other very weird things happen, like maggots falling from the ceiling, Susie falling ill from her food, the blind pianist's Seeing Eye dog killing and eating the blind pianist, another student falling into a room full of razor wire.  You know, usual dance academy stuff.  Susie is tough, resourceful and persistent, however, and soon figures out that the academy is run by a coven.  After she dispatches the main witch, she strides off into the night, strong and beautiful, as the academy burns down behind her.

While Suspiria was a little languid for my frame of mind at the time (and not at all scary), the sets and lighting are simply gorgeous, the music is fantastic and the red tempera paint sloshing everywhere as the buckets of blood is magnificent.  And even though I ended up watching it dubbed in English, the dubbing was pretty good.  Suspiria is really more of a horror concept than anything else.  If you don't need much plot or pacing and just want a technicolor experience to wash over you, if you feel like you should see one of the most influential 1970s proto-horror movies out there, then dive into this one.  (P.S. Speaking of diving, the most amazing indoor swimming pool I have ever seen is in this movie.)