There's a lot out there. Watch something good.

I watched Suspiria based on the opening shot of Climax, below.

Opening shot of Climax
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pins1y0XAa0
Feel free to play the Suspiria theme song as you read this article for a full sense of what you’re in for

I had heard of Suspiria being an inspiration for the hallway scene of Possession, a film banned at the time of its release. While I’ve yet to see Possession, its on my end list of films to watch.

And I had heard Possession was an inspiration for Climax’ hallway scene, which I absolutely fucking loved.

The final nail in the coffin to get me to watch Suspiria was when my sister texted me that Ari Aster, who directed Hereditary and Midsommer, tweeted that Suspiria was an influential film for him that shook him to his core.

The film did not have the same effect on me, but the hallway scenes, the lighting, the music, and the story were all on point and exciting.

One of the hallway scenes

The film falls in the giallo genre, which means “mystery film” according to Wikipedia’s top-level summary. My only experience with giallo films comes from Quentin Tarantino’s film festival where we watched The Blood Splattered Bride (which was the character inspiration for —– from Kill Bill). My recollection from QT was that giallo was Italian psychological horror films that were wildly different from the US slashers at the time which tended to bring up vampires, female leads, and mental uncertainties pretty often.

Also highly important is that giallo films were filmed in Italy with actors who spoke different languages with the intention of being screened for American audiences. So the actors could essentially say whatever they wanted, not understand each other, and ultimately get their voiced dubbed in post, much like spaghetti westerns.

Another shot with vivid colors

This is probably one of the few films I won’t have spoilers for since there’s nothing much to say about it and much more to show. The two hallway scenes are fun. The ending wasn’t bad. The tension was nice, but never overwhelming. And the colors were beautiful the way that Good Time‘s fun house and Uncut Gem‘s club scene are beautiful.

Aside: If you’re looking for a high tension movie, checkout The Invisible Man, which has earned its spot as my most favorite domestic violence films. Before you look at me weird, Sleeping with the Enemy, Double Jeopardy, and Enough are enough to make a subgenre. Not to mention the endless list of made for TV Lifetime movies my mom and I watched, some better than others.

Now if you’re ever going watch a giallo film, might as well watch this one which comes from Dario Argento the director who essentially created and maintained the genre. Interestingly, he is also the father of Asia Argento who was dating Anthony Bourdain when he took his life. RIP.

I’ve already seen the second film in the Three Mothers trilogy, Inferno, but it’s not strong enough for me to recommend. I’ll update this page when I watch the Mother of Tears (2007), starring Dario’s daughter Asia, which might be a nice experience to see how the giallo genre evolved after 30 years.

Ratings Breakdown

Textures
9 / 10
9
Colors
10 / 10
10
Soundscape
8 / 10
8
Story
7 / 10
7
Plot
6 / 10
6
My IMDb Rating
7 / 10
7

0 Community Reviews

What did you think about the film?

Film Rating: