Leave it to the Italians to make a GOOD horror film. Leave it to Dario Argento to make a GREAT horror film. SUSPIRIA has the lot.
Unease from the word go that puts a scare into opening airport terminal doors...bleeding colour schemes that hint at an ethereal world yet confine the action to the real...jaw dropping splatter moments presented at such unconventional interludes that you just gape agog and then are disappointed that the finale is so splatter free...a pounding soundtrack that gets into your brain and just won't let go...
Actually, DEEP RED is my Argento film of choice. Nevertheless, SUSPIRIA is still a masterpiece. Anyone agree?
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It didn't do anything for me. I think it's one of those horror movies that made it's mark, but doesn't stand the test of time, kind of like the original TCM.
It wasn't scary, it was rather drawn out, and I think I fast forwarded through a good portion of the middle because of the heavy dialogue.
While I don't think it's overrated, per se, I don't think it deserves all the praise it's garnered.
SUSPIRIA is like an unending nightmare...it just won't let go!
For more conventional splatter check out DEEP RED. Or THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, TENEBRAE and CREEPERS. Argento has...or should that be HAD...style to burn!
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I'd be all for checking out his other works so I can base a better opinion of him. I've been able to do so with Lucio Fulci, whom I love, and finally got around to buying 3 of his films.
It's just smalltime movie rental chains not knowing what real horror is. They just now got "Dawn of the Dead" on DVD.
"The Beyond", "City of the Living Dead", and "Zombie". I'm considering "House by the Cemetary", since it falls into alot of peoples Top 3 Fulci Films list.
House by the Cemetery is way better then City of the Living Dead, which was a huge disapointment for me.
Oh, and I like Susperia quite a bit, although I don't think it's all that great. Definately a unique and brilliant film though, just kinda wierd and artsy for my tastes.
Suspiria is definently one of Argento's finest films, and a masterpiece of horror cinema. That like the original TCM still stands up after all these years.
I've heard recently that some major Hollywood studio has plans to remake Suspiria, this in my eyes is total blasphemy. Suspiria works on so many levels from the lighting, music, set pieces, right down to the very film stock used to create the look of the film. This cannot and should not be recreated.
I do not see how people can actually believe that films like this and TCM do not stand up after all these years. It seems in this Scream-obsessed, remake friendly world. These films still haunt us, they come back year after year, and show all these others who's the big guy in town.
Recently I sat my girlfriend down for her first ever viewing of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and let me tell you I've never seen anyone so terrified of a movie, and she has seen her share of horror movies
I've hear alot of people comment on Suspiria over the years, most say they didn't get it the first time, but on their second or third viewings it finally clicked. I'm not one of those people however, I saw Suspiria about 5 years ago, and was totally mesmerized by its beauty. Dario Argento took the horror genre, and made it beautiful.
Everything Argento has done from Bird with the Crystal Plumage through Opera is definently worth checking out. Stendhal is good, but an acquired taste, and unfortunatly he seems to have lost it with Sleepless and the Phantom of the Opera. I have yet to see Il Cartaio so I cannot yet comment.
If you like Fulci check out some of his other works such as....
The Psychic
Don't Torture The Duckling
Conquest
Lizard in a Woman's Skin
The New York Ripper
Beatrice Cenzi (this one is not horror, and difficult to locate, but it's absolutely stunning and worth tracking down.
THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY is Fulci at his most Gothic. Some people have put the whining kid as a major distraction from the film. Don't listen. There's much to enjoy. And make sure to check out the FULLY UNCUT version. It's as gruesome as anything Fulci dished up in the three films you mentioned.
For vintage Fulci check out DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING and A WOMAN IN A LIZARD'S SKIN. The later has notorious effects -albeit brief- from Carlo Rombaldi of ET fame.
__________________ #I've kicked the habit...
shed my skin...
this is the new stuff...#
Talking of Fulci, C, you really should pick up the definitive book on him; BEYOND DARKNESS: The Films Of Lucio Fulci by Stephen Thrower on the FAB label. This one's probably my favourite read. Ever.
It's got everything he's lent a hand to including a whole chapter devoted to ZOMBIE FLESHEATERS as well as pages and pages of critiques on his other zombie films as well as making a very interesting positive case for THE NEW YORK RIPPER which has to be read to be believed.
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I totally agree, Deep Red is his best film but Suspiria is almost as good and one of the most beautiful and atmosferic horror movies of all time. A classic.
BTW has anyone seen his new film "The Cardplayer"?
DEEP RED has some flaws. Most involve the relationship between David Hemmings and Daria Nicolodi. Way, way too much redundant exposition.
But it's DEEP RED's style that is the killer. For it's time it is damn audacious and boasts some of the best murderous moments put on film. Ever.
Argento isn't afraid to use the whole width of the wide-screen frame either. Watching DEEP RED in pan and scan is a travesty. And with the legendary Goblin on board, a red herring that meets an unforgettable demise and a very neat twist in the revelation of the killer, DEEP RED is THE business.
Oh, and the camera-work, the art direction, the cinematography...blah!blah!blah!
__________________ #I've kicked the habit...
shed my skin...
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OPERA is by no means vintage Argento but it's still interesting and has some really memorably violent set pieces. The stand out one has somebody looking through a keyhole and being shot through the eye. The way it's filmed, as one would expect coming from good 'ol Dario, is incredible.
I would'nt put OPERA in my top five Argento films but it's still worth checking out in my opinion.
__________________ #I've kicked the habit...
shed my skin...
this is the new stuff...#
Opera is the final must see Argento film. It's quite beautiful, and the Opera music, and metal really fit the mood of the film, though many critics will disagee with me. The ending is another part of the film, that is constantly being slagged. I know it's different than the hour and a half before it, and the whole story behind it is kind of odd, but I enjoy it, and I believe it shows the state of Betty's mind after all that happened to her.
KMC Community Forums
Apr 1st, 2004 07:09 PM
Looks like a 4th Fulci title for me.
