Suspiria (1977), a.k.a. Guh?!?

Congratulations on finally seeing it! What the hell took you so long?

This is one of the only movies that I can say that the music and the visuals are pretty much the stars of the movie.

To think it would be another 4 years before murderous throat ripping co-star Dickie the dog would get work again in the Beyond, shame.

Congrats! You watched the piss-poor TCM version that is edited for violence!

TCM ran the R-rated theatrical version, which is cut to shreds.

Posted by Mark Tinta at the Mobius Home Video Forum (http://www.mhvf.net/):

I happened to be up when it was on, and was DVRing it anyway just to see if it was some weird variant version. The two opening murders were definitely cut in comparison to the Anchor Bay DVD or any of the previous VHS editions I'd owned. There was only one stab into the girl's heart, and when you see the body hanging from the ceiling, there's a hard cut to the impaled girl instead of a pan.

The other major edit was the dog ripping out Flavio Bucci's throat. There was no blood at all on the TCM print. You could see the dog gnawing at something, but it was very brief and you never see any flesh tearing.

The technicolour visuals were somewhat taken from Bava, but I feel Argento did them rather better.
Still an amazing film. The sequal, Inferno, is inferior (especially on the score), but it has some scenes that are very worth a look.

Sucks about TCM showing a butchered version of Suspiria. Let's hope they go with the strong uncut versions for the upcoming "Osborne's All Mattei Weekend".

I'll bump this as Suspiria was my choice for Halloween '09!

Like Mattioli, I've never seen this before so it was fun watching an imported UK print in a theatre. Quite the unsettling experience thanks to the visual style and Goblin tracks blaring at me full blast. I really enjoyed Jessica Harper in this, she makes me regret putting off Phantom of the Paradise. Didn't recognize an elderly Alida Valli as Miss Tanner, and Udo Kier? Get the fuck outta town.

Luckily, my friend's got the 3-disc so I can watch it again and learn about it's place in horror history. It makes me want to finish the evening with Mario Bava's Black Sabbeth to cap off the evening.

I think I might like Deep Red the best though. And I like Mother of Tears a lot more than most it seems-- think it has the same sense of atmosphere above all else as seen in these Italian 70s movies by Agrento, Fulci

[QUOTE]The sequal, Inferno, is inferior (especially on the score), but it has some scenes that are very worth a look./QUOTE]

The underwater sequence where she dives for the key... THAT is great.

Opera is also fun but Suspira and Deep Red are my favorites (that I've seen) from Argento.

**ooops did the quote wrong

Yeah, the underwater sequence is about the only thing that stuck with me after watching Inferno. The rest just bored the shit out of me.

I quite like the idea of the house with secret passages under the floors, even if it never goes anywhere, but yes- the film is overshadowed by the underwater room.

The final image also was very cool... The devil image coming through the flames.

Also no Goblin score like his other movies. I would love to pick up one of their CDs.

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/18322156299

Shameless link to elsewhere on the boards:

Gabe's Goblin covers!

Also, everyone must see Profondo Rosso (Deep Red). I'm a die hard Argento fan, but I only require others see Suspiria and Profondo Rosso. Edit: and Bird with the Crystal Plumage.

Kim Newman announced that he recorded a commentary track for a Suspiria Blu-ray on his facebook, so they're at least getting it in the UK. I can't wait to see those colors uncompressed!

I would consider Bird With the Crystal Plummage essential as well. (His most Hitchcock) That's just me though.

Someone should create an all-encompassing Argento and/or Italian Horror thread.

Thanks for linking those covers, they are great

Meh. I'm happy that Argento split with Goblin and went with something different, hiring Keith Emerson to write music (mostly) for piano and organ. INFERNO is one of my favorite film scores.

If the dialogue was less stilted or recorded live instead of dubbed in post, Suspiria would probably be the finest horror film ever made. As such, it's probably second or third to Herzog's Nosferatu and Romero's Dawn of the Dead.

I liked the dubbed dialogue. It contributes to the film's otherworldliness.

Man it's been a forever since I watched Herzog's Nosferatu. I'll have to correct that within the next couple of days.

Nah, it's really awkward and stilted. The "names that start with s" scene is especially embarrassing, although that could be equally the fault of the script.

The interesting thing about Profondo Rosso is that it features genuinely good dialogue, and fully formed characters, which was something the maestro gave up on after Suspiria (which is still the better film).

Yeah, definitely. I do prefer the shorter version though.

Nah, I like all the stuff between Hemmings and Nicolodi in the longer version. I especially like the stuff in her broke ass car.

Deep Red's endless smashing of the big bear-style psychic guy's teeth on the fireplace mantle was killing me.

The longer version has more shots of Hemmings walking through that creepy house with the child's painting. The whole sequence is really unnerving, and more of it is welcome. So, I too prefer the uncut print.

So I ended up doing a weird double bill of SUSPIRIA and WICKER MAN before I went out last night. SUSPIRIA just looks and sounds amazing on Blu-Ray, in fact it feels almost like an assault on the senses, the rasping soundtrack in particular really rattles around the rib cage. Just an amazing experience, even if I did have the 'WITCH' chorus stuck in my head all new years.

They just released INFERNO on Blu over here, I always heard bad things about it but the consensus in this thread seems to state otherwise. So is it worth a punt?

INFERNO is good, 2nd tier Argento. Lot's of memorable sequences and a dream-like haunted house atmosphere. Builds on the Three Mothers mythology from SUSPIRIA.

I guess because it was an official American studio production, prints of it are easily found in the U.S., so I've seen this film projected more times than any other Argento. What I initially found to be a middling effort on home video has improved from having seen it a few times on the big screen.

Just be prepared for the fact that you're going to get a close-but-no-cigar attempt to replicate the magic of SUSPIRIA.

Agreed. Not a cigar but a cigarette. TENEBRE is better, more of a traditional giallo. INFERNO is more on par with OPERA & PHENOMENA. Still, Dario fell hard later, so enjoy these for what they are. Moments of briliiant darkness.

I wonder how much enjoyment someone would get from Inferno if they haven't seen Suspiria. I would venture to suggest that most if not all of Argento's horror films fit in the close-but-no-cigar category.