I watched Dario Argento's "Suspiria" on Netflix streaming the other night. Scariest shit EVER.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

:scared:

This is from someone jaded by hundreds of horror movies, good and bad.

A really remarkable film in my opinion, not just as horror but as cinema in general.

I didn't expect it to be so artful and have such a unique aesthetic, I thought it would be savage slasher hackery as I've been accustomed to from American horror movies since the 80's.

Anyway... go see this!

Here's the creepy theme music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJUaCAIxSk4

[Forkboy]

1. I'm kind of a horror heretic in that I'm not a huge Argento fan.

I think many of his films are actually overrated, which pisses off many hardcore horror fans. But it's not that I don't like his movies, it's just that I think most of them are merely average (Suspiria is one of his best movies, and deserving of the praise it gets, imo). I get into Mario Bava's work more than Argento's (Bava was a huge influence on Argento, Carpenter and others). These two, and Lucio Fulci, all have a couple of great movies, and whole lot of average ones, but you can see how all three inspired much of the horror through the 70's and 80's. All of them understand how important atmosphere is in horror movies, and all three have that down pat, even in their bad flicks.

[blm]

6. I love them all - Argento, Bava, Fulci, Franco, Hammer....you name it, I've probably seen it.

Been into Asian horror flicks the last 10 years.

And anything Brigitte Lahaye is in....we're there!

[Forkboy]

8. Asian horror seems to have two modes.

Either supernatural/ghost stories, or completely over the top insanity. There's very little middle ground to be found, at least in the mainstream. Digging about in the underground will turn up some nice gems though.

I think Korean cinema is the best going right now, horror or otherwise. Not sure if this one qualifies as a horror movie or not, but this is the best movie of the year so far for me.

I Saw The Devil
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkwEFKdTckk

Hammer Studios recently put out a movie called Wake Wood that is getting some good reviews. It's on my list of movies to see, I just haven't gotten to it yet. It looks good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS_L06Mub40

Franco is just the horror version of Tinto Brass. Cheesy fun. :)

[blm]

11. Yup.....movie got plenty of cheese, then I'll bring the wine. ; )

Yup to Korean horror, too. Asian horror, in general, is pretty compelling to me. The occasional camp horror flick like Save the Green Planet gets my nods, too.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

13. Love "The Host". Korean cinema in general has some serious mojo right now.

[Forkboy]

17. I loved Save the Green Planet!

You're the first person I know besides me who has seen it! YAY!! It's those oddball demented little flicks that I get into. :)

[flying rabbit]

2. I kept seeing it on top 10 horror lists

for longest time. Watched it, and now I own it. Good Stuff - especially love the sets.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

4. Thing is, the movie was in theaters when I was a kid. I remember the corny TV and radio spots.

But they still scared me, but it looked schlocky as hell based on the way it was promoted, so when I finally saw it it's so different from what I expected.

Now seeing it for the first time after all these decades, I'm amazed that it's the opposite of a hack slasher movie to me, which I've been conditioned to in American films since the 80s.

Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of slashing too but Argento has so much more of an aesthetic vision than most exploitative American horror movies. Suspiria is art directed and set designed to within an inch of its life. The whole look of the film is so carefully cultivated, and the creepy theme is used to great effect.

I love it!

I still remember the skull ads on TV like in the trailer below (trailer spoilers some key stuff though):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zak1AUiOvLo

[Ohio Dem]

3. When Bravo did their top one hundred horror

movie list, a commentator mentioned that in his films, people die ugly deaths that look really beautiful, or something to that effect. I thought that comment summed up Suspiria quite nicely.

[rbnyc]

5. Have you seen Opera? (nt)

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

7. No. I've heard Suspiria is his best, but now I'm interested in checking out his other stuff.

Even if it's not as good.

[rbnyc]

10. Opera is my favorite.

The first time I saw it, I was in this creepy illegal warehouse apartment and everyone else was passed out. I was seriously creeped out.

I saw that Mother of Tears has reached my on-demand, so I'll be checking that out soon.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

12. I just watched Opera. Even though it looked great, I liked Suspiria much better.

The serial killer story in Opera couldn't compare with the supernatural theme in Suspiria and the fairy tale atmosphere of that film. Also, the death metal rock during the murder scenes in Opera could not compare with the eerie Suspiria theme. Opera wasn't a bad thriller though, but the ending was a bit weird.

[rbnyc]

15. Can't argue with any of that.

The whole eyeball thing just trumped everything for me, though.

[Taverner]

9. EXCELLENT movie

Every death is operatic...

[TuxedoKat]

14. Ok

I'll let my 14 year old know about it, she really likes horror movies. I'll try it but if it get too scary I'll have to shut it off.

[Orrex]

16. Likely the worst horror film I've seen in more than a decade

Someone explain where the horror was.


Or the watchable part?



:wtf:

[Forkboy]

18. "Someone explain where the horror was."

You could say that about every single horror movie in the last 30 years. If there's a scary one out there I've missed it, despite an exhaustive search. :(

[Orrex]

19. My favorite thing about Suspiria is that it's said to be Argento's finest work

That'll save me a lot of time, since now I don't need to sit through any of his other crap.

[ceile]

20. I have not been able to get through it.

I've seen the first 25-45 mins numerous times. I thought it was boring. Maybe I just need to force myself to sit through it...

[Orrex]

21. There's a big payoff at the end

It's called "the credits," and you'll never be so glad to read a list of names as when that list signals the end of this terrible, terrible movie.