Suspiria (1977) - Review

From the Italian master of horror Dario Argento and debuting in 1977, Suspiria is not only the first film in the Three Mothers Trilogy, it is the only one of the three to have maintained much of a following. Quite frankly, nothing exactly like this film has been made since. The story revolves around a young woman who has just joined a prestigious, yet mysterious, dance academy. What starts innocently enough very quickly unravels a neon laced nightmare of operatic proportions.

In some ways Suspiria just hasn't aged well, in others, Suspiria is utterly timeless. Audio dubbing in the 1970s, especially with lower budget foreign films, could be pretty horrendous and Suspiria is a prime example of that. In addition to the poor dialogue dubbing, hammy performances from a lot of the side characters can be pretty distracting.

That said the lead actress, Jessica Harper, is quite good and her dialogue doesn't appear to have been meddled with. It feels as though, even though all the cast members were presumably saying their lines in English, anyone with an accent was dubbed over (poorly). Despite these flaws, the occasionally strange acting choices and odd directorial decisions only end up adding positively to the overall experience. The summation of which is a deeply rooted sense within the viewer that something is not quite right here. It's uncomfortable, but even its flaws work to the benefit of the film. Overall, the pacing of the film is very slow and deliberate with scares coming from Goblin’s layered, memorable soundtrack adding to the slow-burn sense of unease. This vibe is worked into nearly every aspect of the film, from frame composition to the nearly-abstract lighting. Very rarely is something truly frightening shown, but the sense of fear is ever present foreign. Even the gore is hyper stylized, with vibrant splashes of bright red blood juxtaposed against incredible architecture. Everything is composed like a painting and lit with neon light.

The surreal nature of the film compounds as the levels of tensions stack up, making Suspiria feel like a reliving a nightmare. The audience knows that the character should definitely run but they keep inching along directly towards the source of terror in a dream-like stupor. Narrative holes and gigantic gaps in logic simply do not matter to Suspiria. The execution of the story is so dreamlike, the soundtrack so hypnotic, and the images so beautiful that the film manages to just glide past pitfalls effortlessly.

When we speak of our dreams, do the absurdities surprise us or even take away from the experience? Of course not.

Should you see Suspiria?

If watching a trippy slow-burning horror film with a killer aesthetic sounds like a good time to you then Suspiria might just be your new best friend. If you tend to be a bit squeamish and need your films to be pedantically realistic in nature then you might not enjoy Suspiria as much as I did. I do not recommend watching the trailer for this movie before seeing it as it really doesn't represent the final film well at all.

If I must assign a star rating, I would give Suspiria (1977) a 4.75 out of 5. It is the rare case of a film where its imperfections very nearly make it…perfection.

Reviewer: Josh Evans
Initial Review Date: Aug 16, 2015
Transcription/Edit Date: June 15, 2026