Stars: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Alida Valli, Joan Bennett, Miguel Bose, Udo Kier, Flavio Bucci

Director: Dario Argento

Summary: A German ballet school is plagued by an invasion of maggots from the attic, bats in the bedroom and a staff-room filled with a coven of witches. Suzy, a young American, arrives at the airport enroute for enrolment at the school....

Argento's masterpiece of horror, with its assault of garish colors, booming soundtrack and horrifically dreamlike set pieces, is the cinematic equivalent of an exceptionally scary fun house. It tells the story of Susan (Harper) a young, impressionable American who travels abroad in order to study at a prestigious European ballet academy. From the first day, however, she begins to realize that frightening things are afoot at the hallowed institution. Enduring a rain of maggots, poisoned food and other unpleasant occurrences, she discovers that the school is a secret convening place for an ages-old witches' coven. Cut to various lengths due to violent content, the film's original full running time is 100 minutes.

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Outside of devoted cult audiences, many Americans have yet to discover the extremely stylish, relentlessly terrifying Italian horror genre, or the films of its talented virtuoso, Dario Argento. Suspiria, part one of a still-uncompleted trilogy (the luminously empty Infernowas the second), is considered his masterpiece by Argento devotees but also doubles as a perfect starting point for those unfamiliar with the director or his genre. The convoluted plot follows an American dancer (Jessica Harper) from her arrival at a European ballet school to her discovery that it's actually a witches coven; but, really, don't worry about that too much. Argento makes narrative subservient to technique, preferring instead to assault the senses and nervous system with mood, atmosphere, illusory gore, garish set production, a menacing camera, and perhaps the creepiest score ever created for a movie. It's essentially a series of effectively unsettling set pieces--a raging storm that Harper should have taken for an omen, and a blind man attacked by his own dog are just two examples--strung together on a skeleton structure. But once you've seen it, you'll never forget it. --Dave McCoy

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Wide Screen, 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Theatrical Trailer, TV Spots, Radio Spots, Daemonia Music Video, Poster And Still Gallery, Talent Biographies, 76 Minute Documentary Of Dario Argento World Of Horror, Tom Savini Make Up On Dawn Of The Dead
Year:	1976
Release Date:	October 28, 2002
Runtime:	94 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	A B D 4195
Keywords:	General, Wide, Screen, Suspiria, Horror, Occult, Sci, Fi
Genre:	Horror/Occult