Suspiria (1977)

An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.

Director:

Dario Argento

Writers:

Dario Argento (screenplay), Daria Nicolodi (screenplay)

Stars:

Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jessica Harper	...	Suzy Bannion
Stefania Casini	...	Sara
Flavio Bucci	...	Daniel
Miguel Bosé	...	Mark (as Miguel Bosè)
Barbara Magnolfi	...	Olga
Susanna Javicoli	...	Sonia
Eva Axén	...	Pat Hingle
Rudolf Schündler	...	Prof. Milius
Udo Kier	...	Dr. Frank Mandel
Alida Valli	...	Miss Tanner
Joan Bennett	...	Madame Blanc
Margherita Horowitz	...	Teacher
Jacopo Mariani	...	Albert
Fulvio Mingozzi	...	Taxi Driver
Franca Scagnetti	...	Cook

Storyline

Suzy Bannion travels to Germany to perfect her ballet skills. She arrives at the Tanz dance academy in the pouring rain and is refused admission after another woman is seen fleeing the school. She returns the next morning and this time is let in. She learns that the young woman she saw fleeing the previous evening, Pat Hingle, has been found dead. Strange things soon begin to occur. Suzy becomes ill and is put on a special diet; the school becomes infested with maggots; odd sounds abound; and Daniel, the pianist, is killed by his own dog. A bit of research indicates that the ballet school was once a witches' coven - and as Suzy learns, still is.

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Plot Keywords:

guide dog | stabbed in the heart | murder by knife | paranormal phenomena | glass shard | 

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Taglines:

Do you know anything about witches?

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Suspiria means "to sigh" or "sighed," but it also possibly means "whispered." It has something to do with the difference in Italian and Spanish language stemming from the Latin root.

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Goofs

[German version only] On being dismissed by Madame Blanc, Mrs. Tanner utters "of course" but her lips don't move. The words aren't included in the international version, too.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Suzy Banyon decided to perfect her ballet studies in the most famous school of dance in Europe. She chose the celebrated academy of Freiburg. One day, at nine in the morning, she left Kennedy airport, New York, and arrived in Germany at 10:40 p.m. local time...

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Crazy Credits

You have been watching "SUSPIRIA"

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Alternate Versions

Some prints featuring the 95-minute American edit of the film (with the most extreme moments of violence removed) also feature another segment cut out of the film: the scenes where Daniel's dog attacks the little boy off-screen and Daniel is thrown out of the school (approximately 3 minutes in total, compared to the uncut 98 minute version) are completely missing, therefore making the reason for his death a mystery.

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Connections

Featured in Ling ye (1981)

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Soundtracks

Markos
Adapted from "Music in Similar Motion" by Philip Glass
Arranged by Claudio Simonetti, Fabio Pignatelli, Agostino Marangolo and Massimo Morante
Performed by Goblin

User Reviews

''She must die, die, DIE! "

"Suspiria" has been acclaimed as director Dario Argento's masterpiece. And it certainly is. The plot is fairly simple. American ballet student Susy Banyon (Jessica Harper) travels to Germany to attend an exclusive ballet school. Once there, she discovers that there is more going on within than just dance instruction. Although the school's directress, Madame Blanc (Joan Bennett) welcomes her warmly, she is unsettled by her aide, Nazified teacher Miss Tanner (Alida Valli), as well as several mysterious student disappearances. When her new friend Sara (Stefania Casini) is the latest to vanish, Susy begins her own investigation of the academy. Filmed in bright, lurid Technicolor, and accompanied by a thundering soundtrack by Goblin, Suspiria is a nightmare-come-to-life. The performances of Harper, Bennett and especially Valli (like Bennett, a major star of the Golden Age) are solid, as is the unrelentingly creepy atmosphere. Also on display are two especially gruesome murders which happen near the beginning of the film. Argento later said that he modeled the look of the film directly on Walt Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and, indeed the similarities are apparent. "Suspiria" may not always make perfect sense plot wise, but it's a thrilling roller-coaster ride through what may very well be Hell. "Suspiria" ranks as one of the best Italian-made horror films of all time.

Details

Official Sites:

Tubi

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian Russian English German Latin

Release Date:

12 August 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dario Argento's Suspiria

Filming Locations:

Studio Mafera, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$21,248

Company Credits

Production Co:

Seda Spettacoli

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (35 mm optical prints) 4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) Quadrophonic (Circum-Sound) (Japan theatrical release) Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (prints) Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1