Witch!

I tried putting this one off, but can no longer do so. In light of the Mother's Day piece that I did on the Three Mothers, and because I need something to do to take my mind off of my Canucks blowing yet another chance at a championship, today will be about the movie that started my taste in horror movies. Dario Argento's Suspiria is either the most brilliant movie ever or the most overrated movie ever: it all depends on who you talk to about this movie.

The plot of Suspiria is based on an experience that Daria Nicolodi's grandmother had about going to a school that secretly housed a coven. Nicolodi, as you may recall, was Argento's girlfriend at the time, and obviously had a hand in the screenplay. As for the movie, the story begins with Suzy Bannyon travelling to Germany to attend a ballet school there. Before she could be let in, she witnesses a woman bolting from the school in terror. Soon, that woman and a roommate both meet their demise at the hands of a mysterious force in what is undeniably one of the best death scenes ever. The next morning, Bannyon eventually enters the school and things are normal, for a little while. Soon, things begin to get suspicious, as Suzy meets Sarah, who suspects that things aren't what they seem with the school. Except for the death scenes and the last ten minutes or so of this movie, the movie kind of drags a bit. The set pieces for the movie are extraordinarily eye-catching, which makes up for the slow pace of the movie to a degree. Even the paper thin plot, despite the inspiration, doesn't hurt the movie much. This is one of those movies that should never be remade, for scenes such as the first death scene, as well as the use of colors in the set pieces, can never be recaptured without much bastardization.