3. Suspiria (1977)
Suzy Bannion, an American dance student arrives in Freiburg to attend a prestigious dance school. She cannot gain access to the academy and spends the night in town. Meanwhile a former student of the dance school - Pat - who was expelled from the academy goes to stay with a friend. They are both brutally murdered in a stunning set piece by Argento. When Suzy arrives at the Academy the next day, she is introduced to Madame Blanc and Miss Tanner. They ask her to stay in the dorms but she has arranged to stay with a girl called Olga. After a weird encounter with the Academy's cook, Suzy collapses during a lesson and wakes up in a dormitory room where a doctor tells her she must stay and drink a glass of strange wine everyday. Suzy befriends a girl called Sarah with whom e shares a room. As they sit down to dinner, a shower of maggots falls from the ceiling which is apparently due to spoiled food in the rooms above. The girls have to stay in a practice hall overnight. Suzy and Sarah become suspicious of the goings on at the Academy, and like all good Argento characters, decide to do a little snooping. They are concerned about the welfare of a student called Pat who is talking strangely. Whilst uncovering some truth about the Academy, Suzy faints and Sarah is killed by falling into a room full of barbed wire from which she cannot extricate herself. The next day Blanc and Tanner tell Suzy that Sarah has left the academy. In her investigations she is told by Sarah's psychologist that the Dance Academy is a front for a coven of witches - Helena Markos founded the academy and she is the Queen with without whom the coven would not survive. These revelations force Suzy into a confrontation with the witches who are planning her demise. She manages to stab Helena and the whole Academy goes up in flames as Suzy flees for her life. Suspiria is one of Argento's most famous and most critically acclaimed movies. Unlike many of his films, the acting is excellent - Jessica Harper is fabulous as Suzy - and his use of colour is very striking. The sequence where the two girls die at the beginning of the movie is legendary for a good reason. The aesthetics of the scene, the ominous music by Goblin and the brutal murders of the two young girls is a heady combination. Again, the plot keeps it light and focuses more on the set pieces than creating a coherent narrative, but this doesn't bother us as the film is so beautiful to behold. The shock of the barbed wire scene and the reanimation of Sarah is horror movie gold dust. Possibly the most beautiful horror film ever made.