Suspiria The Bloody Thumb Review
”The most Famous, acclaimed, and Widely Seen Italian Horror film ever Made.” - Scott Michael Bosco
Stats
Color, 1977, 92 minutes, Not Rated
”The most Viscous murder scene ever made.” - Entertainment Weekly
Plot
For the young American Ballet Student Suzy Banyon, it is the chance of a life time. She has studied Ballet all her life, and finally, she has been given the chance to study at one of the most prestigious Dance schools in the world. It is the chance she has waited for her entire life. It will be an experience beyond imagination.
The experience begins to sour almost immediately. First, no one is their at the airport to pick her up, so Suzy is forced to hail a cab and trudge her way across the unfamiliar Frieburg landscape. In the pouring rain no less. It will be better when she reaches the school, her mind whispers to her. This is only the beginning, the proverbial stranger in a strange land. Things have to get better.
Instead though, the experience continues it’s downward spiral into hysteria as she reaches the school. She arrives in time to see one student flee the building, and when she finally manages to enter the school, they are unprepared for her. She has no room and is forced to reside off campus for a time.
Young Suzy Banyon’s foray into independence lasts just about one day. In her first practice of her first day, Suzy passes out. A sickness descends upon her, forcing her to move into the school where they can keep a closer eye on her. She recovers so quickly though, she is forced to wonder if it was really a sickness that attached her, or did someone drug her…. And if they did, why do they want to keep her at the school so badly.
One mystery upon another is piled on pour Suzy’s fragile mind. Murder after murder, compounded with the strict regiment of the school lead her almost to her breaking point. She can feel it, just beyond in the darkness. Like a living breathing thing she can feel her darkness and terror stalking the school halls at night.
Questions assault her mind. Why did the girl run away? Who murdered her? Was Suzy really the last one to see her alive? And most importantly, at night…. Where does the staff go. She knows there out their somewhere, hiding something. But what.
And finally, who is that figure. Who is the strange dark headmaster of the school whom none of them get to see. And why does the sound of her voice make Suzy want to scream out in terror.
Of coarse some would say that the pour little American Suzy Banyon should stop asking questions and leave well enough alone. Some would say that Suzy Banyon should be more concerned about surviving till morning, for the body pile is growing, and her number is coming fast….
Cast
Jessica Harper played the lead role of Suzy Banyon. Lets face it folks, she's
not a great actress, but i suppose she did the best she could with the meger
acting skills at her disposal. She also starred in the followup to the Rock
Horror Picture Show, Shock Treatment. She was also in Big man On Campus and the
Blue Iguana.
Udo Kier played Prof Frank Mandel. As always he did a wonderful, wonderful job. If you've managed to make it this far into the horror field without knowing who Udo Kier is, your not ready for Suspiria.
Crew
Directed by Dario Argento. You know… If I really plan on reviewing all of Dario’s movies, perhaps I need to start up a dedicated solely to Dario. I can only say so many times that I think he’s a wonderful director, and that he’s also directed such Italian giallo classics as Deep Red, Trauma, and Tenebra. I can only say so many times that Dario’s work is not for everyone. Often he focuses on the beauty of a movie over the coherency of plot and logical characters. I can only say so many times that that is okay, that I forgive him. Yeah, I think I need to set up a page dedicated to the man so that I can just link it in the next couple of review’s. Sound good?
Daria Niccolodi, long time Argento co conspirator and sometimes wife, helped write this story. She's starred in Deep Red, Phenomana, Opera, Inferno as well as many others. She also helped write Argento's followup to Suspiria, Inferno.
Fun Facts
-The Band Goblin recorded the Score to Suspiria before filming ever
began. Then, Dario played the Score during shooting to increase the mood of
tension among the actors. Sergio Leone utilized the same technique earlier in
Once Upon A time In the West. Lead Actress Jessica Harper has stated on
record that the music created a very hectic and uncomfortable mood on the set.
-As the movie opens theirs a cameo by frequent Argento star, ex wife, and Suspiria Co writer, the very lovely Daria Nicolodi. She can be seen in the left frame of the airport. Daria stared in the film Deep Red and is the mother of Argento’s second daughter Asia.
-Argento had the films Cinematographer, Luciano Tovoli emulate the animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to help him achieve a “fairly tale” like look to the film.
-Suspiria was inspired by the works of the relatively obscure 19th century English Romantic scribe, Thomas DeQuincey, Specifically his 1845 piece Suspiria de Profundis.
-The story for Suspiria came from Daria Nicolodi’s family history. Daria’s grandmother attended a music school until the age of 15 when she fled the school after discovering they also taught black magic. This story and Daria’s insistence that Argento explore the writings of the above mentioned DeQuincey are what lead to the darkly disturbing plot of Suspiria.
-Argento originally envisioned the school to be filled with Adolescents. They decided instead to go with a much older cast for the film. Still though, Argento kept the idea of school full of children in the back of his mind and later revisited the idea in the film Phenomena.
-The role of Suzy Banyon was originally written for Daria Nicolodi, but she was forced to drop out after the producers demanded an American actress take the role.
-The Actress who plays the “Old Mother” at the end of the film is an aged prostitute they found on the streets and hired to look spooky.
-Actor Fulvio Mingozzi is one of only three people to have roles in both
Suspiria, and its follow up Inferno. He drives cabs in both films.
-Principal Photography on the film lasted about four months.
-In the scene with the worms falling from the ceiling Rice was used for the far away shots, but they used real live worms for the close ups.
-The interiors for the film except for the swimming pool where all shot in Rome. The swimming pool and all Exteriors where shot in Germany.
-Suspiria was envisioned as a trilogy of films, called the three Mothers trilogy. The three mothers are three witches of great power. The first mother is called Mater Suspiriorum (The mother of Sighs) Freiburg Germany, the second is Mater Tenebrarum (the Mother of Darkness), who resides in New York, New York and the Third is Mater Lachrymarum (the Mother of Tears) who lives in Rome. So Far Argento has told the tale of Mater Suspiriorum in Suspiria and the tale of Mater Tenebrarum in the wonderful visual masterpiece Inferno. As of now the tale of the Mother of tears is yet to be told, but she does appear in the movie Inferno. Still, each film stands on its own.
Summation
Okay, I planned on starting this off with a really cool analogy comparing the three Italian horror maestro’s, Bava, Fulici, and Argento, to the United States government. Then I realized even though it was a great analogy, it really had no point here other then to show off how clever I can be. So I’ll skip. Needless to say, the punch line of the analogy was that Argento was the president, and Suspiria was his show case.
Or that’s how most people see it anyway.
Allow me for a moment, to repeat something said earlier in this review. ”The most Famous, acclaimed, and Widely Seen Italian Horror film ever Made.” - Scott Michael Bosco. Wow. In the words of a character from a movie of one of Argento’s many admirers, “That’s a Bold statement.” I am of coarse quoting a Quentin Tarrintino movie called Pulp Fiction. Quentin is the man who said he wanted to be Dario Argento. In a recent biography on the works of Dario Argento both John Carpenter and George A. Romero have stated that Suspiria is the greatest horror movie ever made.
Again. That’s a bold statement.
It is of coarse, one I’m not entirely sure I agree with. Is Suspiria a good
movie? Yes it is. It’s even a great movie. But I don’t know if I have the
convictions and enough faith in my opinion to call it the best horror film ever.
Still, Quentin Tarrintino, John Carpenter, and George A. Romero. That’s a pretty
strong field of backers. Truth be told, they’re only the tip of the ice berg.
David Cronenberg, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Ahhhhh!!!!!! I could go for
hours naming the admirers of Dario Argento and the supporters of this film.
Hours. And as you can already tell that list contains the name of some of the
greatest directors in the horror industry and some out of the industry! It
amazes me that one man could get that much of a backing.
Now, if you ask all those people which Argento movie is the greatest, at least eighty percent of them will name Suspiria, with the other twenty percent naming Deep Red. Argetnophiles the world over all agree, that Suspiria is the Dario at the top of his game, the pinnacle if you will. Personally?
I like Inferno, the sequel to Suspiria Better. Eh, what can I say. I’m weird like that. Now don’t get me wrong, Suspiria is an amazingly well done movie. It contains several of the most brutal and violent murder scene in celluloid history! It’s an amazing movie, from start to finish. An add campaign said that the only thing more exciting then the last ten minutes of this movie, is the first eighty. Since the movies 92 minutes long, that gives you two minutes of Down time to catch your breath and relax. You’ll need it.
I suggest this movie to everyone. I don’t care who you are. Even if you don’t like Italian horror, you should watch this film. Even if it’s just to get the opportunity to see where some of the American maestros got their ideas.
Truth be told though, much like the Beyond, this movie is hurt by its reputation. The first time I saw this flick It was enjoyable, but nothing special. At that time I knew nothing of the hype of this flick. That’s really the best way to go into this. Whip all that shit I said earlier out of your mind and go watch the movie. If you’re like me, you’ll see a nice little flick with some awesome death scenes and some really weird imagery. It’s not till your second or third viewing that you begin to realize how great this movie really is. From the hectic Goblin score, right down to the weird Snow white inspired visuals, to the ever amazing Udo Kier.
So as I said, I suggest watching this film. At the very least even if you don’t
enjoy the story, you’ll get treated to some killer death scenes and a small
piece of horror history.
All that being said though, I must begrudgingly admit a certain underlying beauty to this film that I missed in my scratchy old VHS copy. The landscape is dotted with moments of psychotic beauty. As always with an Argento film, Imagery is numero uno, and this film is no exception. From the almost Ink Blot like blood stain under the body of the first victim to the last confrontation of the film, theirs always something to watch and something to miss. I defiantly suggest repeat viewing, Again, much like Fulici’s the Beyond, each time I watch this film it grows more, and more interesting for me.
Like all Italian Horror, it’s a little plot lite. If your looking for a heavy plot that’s going to cause you to ponder the authors underlying meaning, damn. You’re looking at the wrong movie. Still though, unlike most Italian horror, and unlike most Popcorn flicks, theirs still some meat their. The meat in Suspiria lies in the visuals, and the angles, and the color’s. Theirs so much meaning worked into every tilt and angle of the camera, that they don’t really need a heavy plot. Any heavy of a plot and it would have all become over whelming.
As is said, all in all, a good movie. And thankfully, it’s one that gets’ better each, and every time you watch it.
Dvd Specs
Okay, I usually don’t plug the product in these reviews, but I felt in this case
it was necessary. There are some great extra’s on this disc! It’s released by
the fine folks at Anchor Bay Entertainment. There are two versions of it out
right now, a single disc version, and then a three disc Limited Edition version
that is limited to 60,000 copies. I have copy number 9157. First off, this is
the best the movie has ever looked in the states. I can finally put that old
tattered VHS tape I’ve been watching over and over again in the old tape rest
home where it belongs. Never has this movie looked better then it does on this
DVD. I never realized all the vivid colors permeating every inch of this film.
The sound, as well as the video is simply a work of art.
The break down on the three disc’s is as follows.
Disc one is the movie and the extra’s. The extra’s on disc one include all the usual theatrical trailers, TV spots, Radio Spots, Talent Bio’s, a Poster and Still gallery, and finally a Daemonia Music video. I’ve really been enjoying the talent Bio’s in the Anchor Bay Dario Argento series. They really put a lot of work into them and it shows. The disc will also play in English, French and it’s native Italian.
Disc two is a 52 minute documentary called Suspiria 25th anniversary. Sadly, I’ve only watched part of the documentary so for. Most of it is in Italian with yellow subtitles. That’s right, yellow subtitles. But that’s okay, it’s not widescreen so you need the yellow so it shows up better. From what I’ve seen so far though, it is rather interesting.
The third disc is the wonderful Goblin soundtrack to the movie. Disc three sounds great. I have yet to watch the entire documentary, but I enjoyed what I saw. The documentary features, Dario Argento, Daria Nicolodi, Luciano Tovoli, The Members of Goblin, stars Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, and finally the always wonderful Mister Udo Kier.
The set also features a number of numbered lobby cards, and a small booklet
featuring an introduction to the films of Dario Argento, written by Scott Bosco
and excerpts of an interview with Jessica Harper conducted again by Scott Bosco.
The lobby cards are great. I wish more DVD’s came with these. It’s like holding
a little piece of the movies history in my hand.
The set retails for about thirty American dollars and can be found at any Best Buy, Suncoast, or any other store that carries Anchor Bay releases. The Single disc version contains the same extra’s as Disc one of this set and is priced around 19.99. Personally I find the three disc set to be the better value.
My only complaint about the disc is a small one. Again, an Argento film without commentary. It’s not Anchor Bay’s fault, it’s Dario’s. The man refuses to do any more tracks. Now, I’ve heard conflicting reports as to why. I’ve heard he feels that his films stand alone so well that they don’t need commentary. I’ve also heard that he’d rather we interpret the movies instead of him doing it for us. And I’ve also heard it’s because English isn’t his first language and no one is interested in an Italian commentary for an English release. Don’t know the truth, but I must admit, a commentary track is missed.