(Correction: Fourth viewing, never seen in a theater)
This is where Argento comes into his own, yet it's also where he drops the pretense of giving a damn about story, instead focusing on colored lights, tracking shots, wild wallpaper, and of course, horrible, painful deaths. What little plot there is could fill an hour on TV; here, though, it's extended to 98 minutes. Naturally, there's some dry spells, especially for about 25 minutes after the first set-piece. Yes, this portion sets up the "Woman Held Captive By Conspiracy" plot, but clearly, Argento isn't interested. (If you like that kind of story--and I'll admit, I do--try either the classic Rosemary's Baby or the Mary Steenburgen vehicle Dead of Winter.) The film also features the World's Phoniest Bat, which makes the flying bug in Phantasm look like the Facehugger.
But there's a reason this film is beloved by horror buffs, and the reasons are squashed into the back 30 minutes. There's the attack on the blind man (a great sequence starring two Greek-style buildings), Sara's journey into the attic (culminating in one of the great sick jokes of horror cinema), and of course, the end, a masterful use of tracking camera, sound (those voices!), and editing. It's one of the tensest and scariest climaxes in horror history, and makes the tedious parts worth sitting through.
Where we saw it: dvd | We deign to rate it: outta 100
Yeah, I just saw it again myself for the first time in something like seven years... it just might be the most brilliant, effective and frightening really bad movie ever. (In Argento's filmography, I think I prefer "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage" and the even less linear "Inferno", but "Suspiria" is pretty badass anyway.)
Posted by: Steve at February 5, 2004 06:38 PMInferno really is something else, isn't it? I'll probably post something about all the Argento I have (Inferno, Plumage, Tenebrae, Deep Red, and Phenomena) all this week. I've never seen Phenomena--I've been putting it off, cuz I really don't like bugs. But I'll force myself through it.
Steve, I think I read on your site that you prefer Plumage over Deep Red. I find that curious, since I've seen Plumage twice and can barely remember it. Although (and this may be heretical), I think the shorter cut of Deep Red is better than the original long version. Have you seen the shorter version?
You may be wondering (or maybe not!) why I'm posting, when I just said yesterday I'd probably be silent. Well, there's a direct connection between the Argento films and my script, and it's more than just that they're both horror. More soon.
Posted by: Kza at February 5, 2004 07:10 PMWell, I think my preferential treatment for "Bird" (my favorite Argento) is that it's his cleanest, sharpest film. The tendency towards nonsense that would mar his later films don't really seem to enter into that one. It's fairly tight, as I remember. ("Suspiria" and "Inferno" are excepted, since they're evidently not supposed to make sense.) And while I'm here, the main reason I prefer "Bird" to "Red" is that they have pretty much the same plot (even the same gender-related plot twist!), and I saw "Bird" first. Unfair, yes, but then I never claimed to be fair. Heh.
And I've not seen the cut version of "Red" -- in fact, I consciously avoided it until Anchor Bay released the uncut. I rarely watch cut versions of films, simply because they usually don't reflect their filmmakers' visions. (The exceptions, of course, include shit like the opportunistic "American Pie" uncut versions and the endless various cuts of the "Highlander" films.)
Posted by: Steve at February 5, 2004 10:44 PMOh, and I'm one of the most bug-phobic people you'll ever find, but "Phenomena" for some reason didn't bother me. Maybe because there's so much other weird shit in it that the bugs just seem like one more flourish. Or maybe it's because the film goes on too long and makes little sense.
Posted by: Steve at February 5, 2004 10:46 PMNot sure why but Phantasm, as goofy and cheaply made as it is, never fails to creep me out. For me it's a dead-on cinematic depiction of an adolescent bad dream.
Posted by: Scott at February 5, 2004 11:43 PMHi Scott!
To be clear about my comments re: Phantasm: It's my #1 movie of 1979 (oooooooh, sha sha...). I love that movie to bits. But the flying bug scene is pretty cheaply done. Ultimately, I think it's effective, because it's so strange and irrational, but most people I show it to laugh with derision. Yet Suspiria on DVD threw into relief just how effective they were with their cheap bug puppet.
Posted by: Kza at February 6, 2004 12:01 PM