There is perhaps no horror movie quite so relentlessly surreal as that of Dario Argento's Suspiria, which is an art house movie in every sense, and is without question the best and most interesting horror film to have ever come out of Italy. As the first film in a loose, wild trilogy of ideas, Suspiria's plot thwarts description, but in its simplest terms, it tells the story of an American ballet dancer, a group of witches and a German dance school. If you're wondering how, exactly, these elements add up, forget about it: Suspiria is more about mood and tone than a cohesive narrative. Which is to say, Argento's movie is bonkers; a trippy ride into the mind of its director as well as its leading lady (played by Jessica Harper), Suspiria lavishes in its own stylistic juices for the entirety of its runtime, until a crazed, hallucinatory finale threatens to blow your mind entirely. Everything about the movie is so over the top - the sets, the soundtrack by Goblin, the odd performances - that it actually defies a conventional viewing approach. In fact, Suspiria is probably best seen knowing very little about it at all... perhaps under the influence of some illicit substance.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
