Day 364: Suspiria

Suspira

Cleanup on Aisle 3

When it comes to Dario Argento movies, people usually fall into one of two categories: those who “get” them and those who don't. I say usually because I am an outlier and fall right in the middle. I understand what and why things are happening and at the same time have no clue what is going on. They are complicated pieces of cinema with a unique, unmistakable style. The stories are not always clear and easy to understand, which alienates a lot of people. Other relish in the sheer bizarre nature of his movies, soaking up the the director's impressive ability to create beautiful works of art from acts of violence and bloody bodies. Some horror movies go straight for the jugular while others go for a slow burn, letting the audience absorb the deep atmospherics. Argento does both in such a way that can split an entire audience and a single reviewer.

Suspiria is a 1997 Italian horror movie written and directed by Dario Argento (Inferno, Masters Of Horror:Pelts). Suzy Banyon (Jessica Harper, My Favorite Year, Stardust Memories) is an American Ballet student enrolling at a prestigious dance academy in Germany. On the night of her arrival, a student named Pat Hingle exits the academy and runs out into the storm. She mutters something about “secret” and “iris”, but Suzy cannot make out what she is talking about. Later that night, Pat, who along with a friend, is brutally murdered by an unseen assailant. The next day, Suzy meets Madame Blanc (Joan Bennett, Dark Shadows, Father Of The Bride) and Miss Tanner (Alida Valli, The Third Man, Senso) along with a few of the girls attending the school. During her first lesson, Suzy becomes mysteriously ill and is moved into the dormitory against her wishes. The doctor treating her insists that she drinks a special glass of wine a day in order to stay medicated. During this time, Suzy befriends Sarah (Stefania Casini, 1900, The Belly Of An Architect) and the two room together. One night, maggots begin to fall from the ceiling and all the girls room together while the house is fumigated. That night, both girls hear a distinct whistling snore from a sleeping woman that Sarah identifies as the school's director, despite her supposedly being away from the school for several more weeks. Sarah reveals that she and Pat were friends and that Pat had been talking about strange things occurring at the school right before her murder. They search for Pat's notes, which appear to have been stolen, and Suzy is suddenly overcome with sleep. Sarah is chased by an unseen figure and her murder is covered up. Suspicious of Sarah's unexplained disappearance, Suzy reaches out to one of Sarah's aquantances, Dr. Mandel (Udo Kier, Blade, End Of Days) who informs her that the school was founded by a witch named Helena Markos. His colleague Professor Millus tells her Markos was very powerful and lead a full coven of witches. Before Suzy departs, he tells her that a coven can only survive if they have their queen. Will Suzy be able to find and stop the queen before it's too late? 

 Haw-haw!

Dario Argento's movies are known for being surreal and Suspiria is no exception. The movie is a strange fever dream of intense violence and strange events that are hard to piece together. Things don't always make sense in Suspiria and it does take some effort to stay interested. The story isn't very clear on exactly what is happening, though it is easier to follow than the follow-up movie Inferno. A decent mystery is coupled with a few scenes of extreme violence, which is entertaining, at least for a while. The bit about witches and Helena Markos doesn't occur until the last 1/3 of the movie. Why not have that in the beginning, giving the audience something to think and worry about. Instead, we're left in the dark for most of the movie. I suppose it puts us in the same position as Suzy, in terms of knowledge, but a little hint or foreshadowing would have made the previous two-thirds of the movie far more interesting. The final ten minutes actually saved the movie for me as they manage to make sense of what is happening while being incredibly thrilling and scary.

Someone teach this girl how to apply lipstick

While the story and pacing could have been better, Suspiria's greatest strengths come from the audio/visual department. Like most of Argento's other films, Suspiria is a feast for the eyes. He employs beautiful radiant colors throughout the film, using them to convey atmosphere and feeling. Deep blues and rich reds splash across scenes, washing the actors in unnatural, but understandable, colors. These visually interesting scenes could easily be shown at any arthouse or museum. The amazing music in the movie is provided by instrumental band Goblin (erroneously named “The Goblins” in the credits). Their synthesizers and vocalizations create music that is both eerily beautiful and utterly terrifying. The music sets the atmosphere and emotion in every scene and the constant repetition bores it's way into your brain. Without their score, I truly believe the movie would not be as good as it is. (Side-note, if you like the music of Goblin, I highly recommend checking out the band Zombi. Give them a listen here, here, and here.) The acting is good throughout, though as usual, I had a hard time with the voice dubbing. It always throws me off, especially when someone is clearly speaking English, but the voice doesn't match up. I'm pretty sure Udo Kier is dubbed, which is just ridiculous, since he speaks English.

The Kool-Aid Man is a wonderful interior decorator

Suspiria is an intense and unique horror movie unlike anything seen before. The story is a bit difficult to follow and the pacing is a bit slow. There should have been more foreshadowing and an earlier mention of witches just to keep the audience on their toes. The talk of witches towards the end comes out of nowhere and feels out of place. When everything comes together, though, the movie becomes much more entertaining. There are a few scenes of violence spread throughout which keeps things interesting and scary. The acting is good, but the real pleasure of Suspiria comes from Argento's directing and Goblin's music. Patience is required for a movie like this, but it is well worth it. While I did not particularly care for Inferno and struggled at times with this movie, I felt that Suspiria was able to pull things together to be an interesting and unique watch. There are plans to remake Suspiria, but watch the original first. If you can deal with a movie that makes complete sense and no sense at all, I think you'll like it.

8/10

Day 326: Rosemary's Baby

Rosemary's Baby

Hit me, baby, one more time

Right off the bat, I have to say, “Fuck Roman Polanski”. He is a statutory rapist who ran away to avoid sentencing. Glad to get that out of the way just in case there was any confusion. I probably wouldn't watched today's movie if it wasn't for a slip in my memory that he directed it. On the one hand, I have wanted to see Rosemary's Baby for a long time as it is considered a horror classic. On the other hand, Roman Polanski is a scumbag who committed a crime and has never been punished. It does bring up an interesting and difficult point, though. Can you separate the art from the artist? People love T.S. Elliot but he was anti-semitic. William S. Burroughs was convicted of manslaughter. Some people are able to disassociate the real-life trouble that these artists get into from their art. I have rarely been able to do that, but for you, I'll give it a try.

Rosemary's Baby is a 1968 psychological horror movie based on the novel of the same name by Ira Levin. The movie stars Mia Farrow (The Great Gatsby, Alice) as Rosemary Woodhouse and John Cassavetes (The Dirty Dozen, Capone) as her husband Guy Woodhouse. Rosemary and Guy, a struggling actor, move into an old apartment building called the Bramford. Their old friend Hutch (Maurice Evans, Planet Of The Apes, Bewitched) warns them that the Bramford has a famous and strange history with witches and satanists, but they move in anyway. Rosemary befriends a young woman named Terry who lives in the building with her neighbors, Roman and Minnie Castevet. She is shocked when Terry, who was supposedly a happy woman on the road to recovery from drug addiction, killed herself. Rosemary befriends the eccentric Castevets. Minnie even gives Rosemary a good luck necklace containing something called tannis root. Guy is cast in a role after the man who originally got it suddenly went blind. Rosemary and Guy decide to try to have a baby and on that night, Minnie gives the couple homemade chocolate mousse to go with their dinner. Rosemary insists it has an undertaste and disposes of most of it. She becomes dizzy and passes out on the bed. She dreams that she is surrounded by naked people from the apartment and is raped by a demon. She wakes up with scratches on her back as Guy apologizes for being to rough with her. Soon, Rosemary is pregnant and the Castevet's tell her to go see their friend, Dr. Abraham Sapirstein (Ralph Bellamy, The Awful Truth, His Girl Friday). He prescribes that Rosemary forgoes any vitamins in favor of a natural drink made by Minnie. Rosemary begins to lose weight and has terrible pains. On the day Hutch plans to see her, he falls into a deep coma. He soon dies and leaves Rosemary with a book on witches, leaving a cryptic message, “the name is an anagram”. She is able to deduce that Roman Castevet is actually Steven Marcato, the son of a famous witch and devil worshiper. She suspects that her neighbors are part of a satanic cult and becomes paranoid about all those around her, including Guy. Is Rosemary's baby really the product of a satanic cult and what will happen to her?

Satan has the dreamiest eyes

Rosemary's Baby is an intense, engrossing psychological horror film that wraps around the audience and doesn't let go. You're never quite sure if there really is a cult or if Rosemary is paranoid. This tension becomes unbearable as the audience wants to scream for her to run for her life. Thrills and suspense rage throughout most of the film and is quite exhausting by the end. The beginning of the film starts off slow and quite normal. Minnie Castevet is so wacky, the film might be mistaken for a situational comedy at certain points. For the first half hour, nothing really happens. The horror doesn't begin until the conception where the movie practically flips and switch and sends the audience into a tailspin of fear. We never fully see the demon, just hands and eyes, which I found disappointing. We didn't have to see everything in detail, but I think a little more could have sent the mind reeling.

The biggest reason why the movie succeeds is because of Mia Farrow. She is fantastic in the movie with her emotions laid bare and projected onto the audience. Her line “This is not a dream! This is actually happening” sticks in your brain and makes you feel supremely uncomfortable. She makes the character and the film itself far more believable than one would suspect from a satanic baby film. The supporting cast is equally as good and truly create a sense of horror and dread as the movie progresses. The ending is very good and ends on an uncomfortable down-note. The beginning and ending “la-la-la” music is great, but sparingly used, which is a shame because it could have been as iconic as the music from Halloween and Friday The 13^th. While I still hate Roman Polanski, I have to say that his direction helped create a dark atmosphere that hangs like a fog over the entire movie. If I have any complaints about the movie, it's that it is way too long. The 2-plus hour run time could have been cut down in certain scenes for a neater overall package.

Who wants pie?

I was able to separate the artist from the art in order to watch Rosemary's Baby and I'm glad I did. Rosemary's Baby is a scary, uncomfortable horror movie that sticks with you long after the credits have rolled. While overly long, the story is believable while still being supernatural. There is a lot of suspense and thrills with plenty of scares. Mia Farrow is great and gets a lot of help from a solid supporting cast. As I said before, I still hate Roman Polanski and wish to never watch another one of his movies again, but Rosemary's Baby is highly enjoyable.

8.5/10

Day 322: Witchfinder General

Witchfinder General

That sly come hither stare. That strips my conscience bare. It's witchcraft!

Horror may have the most sub categories of any film genre. We have zombies, vampires, werewolves, monsters, ghosts, possessions, exorcisms, exploitations, blaxploitations, aliens, viruses, fantasy, torture, gothic, lovecraftian, creature features and so much more. In other 300 movies, I've pretty much seen them all. Well, at least I thought I have. Today's movie is a request by Justin which brought me into a subgenre I had yet to experience: historical horror. I don't think I can really name any other historical movies off the top of my head, but the idea makes sense. History is full of atrocities and real-life monsters. After all, man is the scariest villain of all.

Witchfinder General (also known as The Conqueror Worm) is a 1968 historical horror movie based on Ronald Bassett's novel of the same name. The film stars Vincent Price (House On Haunted Hill, The Last Man On Earth) as Matthew Hopkins. In 1645, a civil war is raging throughout England. Amidst all the chaos, witch hunter Matthew Hopkins sees opportunity. With his assistant John Stearne (Robert Russell, Doctor Who, The Avengers), Hopkins travels from village to village, torturing both men and women to coerce confessions out of them of being a witch. Hopkins receives payment from the local magistrates for his work, growing his power and influence throughout the countryside. In the town of Brandeston, a soldier named Richard Marshall (Ian Ogilvy, Return Of The Saint, Death Becomes Her) plans to marry Sara, the niece of the local priest, John Lowes (Rupert Davies, Ivanhoe, Dracula Has Risen From The Grave). Richard leaves for duty just as Hopkins and his men come into the village. They begin to torture Lowes when Sara offers herself to Hopkins in order to spare her uncle. Lowes is thrown in jail as Hopkins has his way with Sara. When Hopkins is called to another village, Stearne rapes Sara. When he learns of what Stearne has done, Hopkins loses interest in Sara, and executes Lowes, along with two other women. Richard returns to Brandeston and is horrified at what has happened to Sara. He marries her in a self-made ceremony and vows to gain revenge on Robert Hopkins. Will Marshall be able to stop the torture-loving man who now calls himself the Witchfinder General?

That hair is clearly the work of Satan

On the surface, some may be quick to dismiss Witchfinder General as a horror movie. Those people would be mistaken. Granted, the movie does not contain anything of the supernatural, be neither does Jaws, and that is unquestionably a horror movie. Much like The Wicker Man, Witchfinder General's horror is out in the open with it's blatant terror. The movie is that much scarier when you know that Matthew Hopkins was a real person and actually committed these atrocities. There are quite a few graphic scenes for the time and the movie was subsequently censored as an “unusually sadistic film experience”. I am certainly no fan of torture, but the movie is tame compared to today's ultra-graphic closeups of cut achilles tendons and snapped bones. The blood used in the movie is actually bright red paint, which comes off as quaint through today's eyes. The violence is quite vicious, especially towards women, so consider this multiple “trigger” warnings. Beyond the action and torture, the movie does have some slow and dry moments.

While the movie may not be entirely historically accurate, I know very little about England's civil war, so it's not like I noticed any mistakes. In a historical context, it is important to bring up the civil war, but it doesn't add a lot to the movie itself. If anything, it takes away from the main focus which is Vincent Price being a sadistic lunatic. Price is as good as always, giving the role of Matthew Hopkins a sinister calmness that other actors would not have been able to pull off. The movie had a small budget, but the acting and direction manages to hide the fact. Having a lot of scenes filmed in the beautiful English countryside certainly helped distract from the rather mundane sets.

Witch: The other white meat

I may not have watched Witchfinder General on my own, but I had a decent time watching it. I enjoyed the historical aspect of it and learned a few new things. Though tame by today's standards, the movie still has a lot of violence and torture, particularly towards women. While there are no graphic or extended scenes of rape, they do exist and are at best uncomfortable. There is a good amount of action, though the time in between does become slow and meandering. Vincent Price is great at Matthew Hopkins, giving the character a cold and calculating feel. The movie does have a creeping sense of terror and uneasiness that is hard to shake, especially with the dark ending. Witchfinder General may not be at the top of any horror list, but it's a sneaky movie that will stay with you long after the credits have rolled.

For your listening pleasure, here is the heavy metal band Witchfinder General with their song "Death Penalty". Special thanks to Justin for the request. If you'd like to request a movie for review, send me an email at 365daysofhorror@gmail.com.

7.5/10