| | | "The Terrifying First Chapter of Dario Argento's ""Three Mothers"" Trilogy...Uncut, Uncensored and Remastered from the Original Negative!"
Features: Special Edition, DVD
Jessica Harper (Phantom of the Paradise) stars as Suzy Banyon, a young American ballet dancer who arrives at a prestigious European dance academy run by the mysterious Madame Blanc (Joan Bennett of Dark Shadows) and Miss Tanner (Alida Valli of Killer Nun). But when a series of bizarre incidents and horrific crimes (including what Entertainment Weekly calls "the most vicious murder scene ever filmed") turn the school into a waking nightmare of the damned, Suzy must escape the academy's unspeakable secret of supernatural evil.Experience the most shocking and hallucinatory horror movie in history as you've never seen or heard it before, now featuring the fully remastered landmark score by Goblin and a heart-stopping new film transfer supervised by cinematographer Luciano Tovoli. This is the definitive version of Dario Argento's Suspiria, an aria of terror beyond imagination and one of the most extraordinary horror films ever made.
"One of the scariest movies of all time!" Entertainment Weekly
"...a wild feast of imagery that has never since been duplicated..." Keith Breese, FilmCritic.com
"Terrifying tale...brilliant camerawork, atmosphere, musical score..." Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide
"...a classic that all genre fans should see." Mike Bracken, Mike Bracken's Horror Films
"Throughout this nerve-wracking journey, Argento's sly gift is to strike when you least expect it." TV Guide
Editor's Note
Dario 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.
Plot Summary
Gory horror tale about an American dancer who goes to Europe to attend ballet school. As soon as she arrives, bloody corpses begin lining the halls, since the academy is actually a haven for sinister witches!
| Features | Suspiria: 25th Anniversary - Interviews With Co-Writer/Director Dario Argento, Co-Writer Daria Nicolodi, Cinematographer Luciano Tovoli, Composers Goblin (Claudio Simonetti, Massimo Morante, Fabio Pignatelli & Agostino Marangolo), & Stars Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini & Udo Kier | | Suspiria Music Video By Daemonia | | Audio: English DTS ES 6.1 Surround Sound, DD-EX 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital Stereo | | Audio: French, Italian Dolby Digital Stereo | | Dubbed: English, French | | Interactive Menus | | Poster & Still Gallery | | Radio Spots | | Scene Selection | | Talent Bios | | Theatrical Trailers | | TV Spot |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Rhino |
| Release Date: 9/25/2007 |
| Running Time: 98 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1977 | | Catalog ID: 2013 | | UPC: 00827058201391 | | Number of Discs: 2 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: Italian | | Available Audio Tracks: English, French Dubbed, Italian | | Available Subtitles: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"...Campy, surreal....Really quite funny, during those isolated interludes when nobody is bleeding." 08/13/1977 p.11Total Film
"...SUSPIRIA is an impressively accomplished chiller..." 06/01/2000 p.90 Classic-Horror.com 7 of 10
While it may not be the scariest of films, Dario Argento's Suspiria (1977) is certainly among the most beautiful. Filmed on the last Technicolor system in Europe, and awash in colored lighting, it is a candy-coated confection and a grueling, bloody horror at once. It is like a dose of arsenic covered in cream...In the end, the plot and storyline are less than they appear to be. For all of its dreadful atmosphere, bloody acts, maggot infestations and animal attacks, there is nothing to hold it all together but perhaps the logic of a nightmare. When the mystery is revealed, most viewers will be left scratching their heads. From the drenching rain and dripping blood that opens the film, to the fire-and-thunder climax that closes it, there is little cohesion and little to pull the viewer from one scene to the next. The more times one watches, the more shallow the plot is revealed to be. But it is the gorgeous visuals, the pounding score, and the dreadful atmosphere that will bring the viewer back, again and again.
Reel.com 8 of 10
The plot of Argento's film is simple -- a wide-eyed American gal named Susy Banyon (Jessica Harper) arrives at a prestigious German dance academy only to find herself preyed upon by the coven of witches who run it. What is remarkable about Suspiria is what the director does with this basic story line. Goblin's eerie electronica score (which Argento collaborated on) with its repeated susurrations of "witch" is unforgettable...So what is wrong with Suspiria? Well, first there's the atrocious dubbing. It has to be tolerated in most foreign horror films, but it's still distracting...Argento apologists would argue that Suspiria is so fabulous in other ways that it doesn't need to make complete sense; most of his work doesn't. One can understand where these folks are coming from, but their argument doesn't quite work. Neither does the claim of masterpiece that many append to this film. I would argue that Opera is scarier, Deep Red more intricate, and Phenomena his best work. Suspiria is loads of fun -- highly imaginative, fairly scary, wildly creative -- but it does have some flaws. - Rod Armstrong
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