Suspiria (1977): Pure Horror Spoilers

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I don’t like horror movies. Shocking for someone who loves Halloween, I know, but I much prefer the wild and campy aspect of the holiday to the spooky side of things. At the same time, though, if there’s one thing I can’t resist, it’s a film about witches, which is why I decided to go against all I stand for and watch 1977’s Suspiria. To be honest, I should have gone with my instinct - the film was rather boring. That doesn't mean all was lost, though; Suspiria ended up being far more interesting than most modern horror films I’ve watched for one simple reason : compared to them, Suspiria is pure horror.

In my heart, I think a film needs a cohesive plot for it to count as a movie, so it’s difficult for me to say that 1977’s Suspiria is really a film - it’s more like a recorded nightmare, just a series of random awful things happening without any clear or meaningful link between them. The film starts strong, introducing Suzy Bannion, an American girl who has just arrived in Germany to study ballet. When she arrives at her school, she sees a girl run out, terrified, only to be murdered later that night. It seems like a strong setup for a plot where Suzy goes to solve the mystery of the murder… And yet, the setup is immediately abandoned. The film is full of incomplete moments like this, too. Maggots fall from the ceiling, but nobody ever brings it up again after they’re removed the next day. A teacher is fired after his dog attacks someone, only for the dog to suddenly attack and kill him later that night. They’re frightening thoughts, to be sure, but they seem to be in the film purely because they’re frightening, having no greater impact on the plot.

It is exactly this lack of plot, though, which makes Suspiria stand out from other horror movies. While all scary movies are called “horror” films, horror is actually only one type of fear. The other most commonly used kind of fear is terror, which refers to the “dread and anticipation that precedes a horrifying experience”. From my experience, most modern horror films love suspense and jump-scares, making them far more terrifying than they are horrifying. As a result, inherently anxious people like me can’t stand them. Horror, on the other hand, refers to the disgust you feel in reaction to something frightening, and that’s what Suspiria is a master of. Thanks to the randomness and lack of plot, you can’t anticipate anything and there’s no anxiety; all you can do is react to what happens onscreen, and Suspiria gives you plenty of awful things to react to. The lack of plot and suspense might not appeal to modern audiences, but it can at least be admired for taking a different approach to fear in film.

Suspiria is a horror movie for more than just its’ horrifying moments, of course - its atmosphere is equally horrific and probably the best part of the film. A typical horror film might build a terrifying atmosphere with dark corners and approaching footsteps that leave you worrying about what might be coming. Suspiria, however, masterfully creates an atmosphere that feels repulsive, not anxiety-inducing. Already, setting the film in a ballet school elicits discomfort from the audience, as ballet is a notoriously violent, painful, and abusive art. Seeing a young girl, alone in a foreign country, enter such a dangerous environment is inherently unsettling. When we see the school’s exterior, the discomfort only grows - the bright red feels unnatural, offensive, and unwelcoming, towering beyond the edge of the screen and far above the lead character Suzy. It’s a claustrophobic introduction, one that makes it feel as though the building is observing her while its few windows keep her from observing it in return.

The interior of the building then maintains this feeling of being unwelcoming and uncomfortably wrong. The red exterior bleeds inside, though it’s joined by other colours as characters wander from one highly saturated room to the next, each feeling more unnatural than the last. What feels creepiest, though, is the seemingly endless space of it all. This is particularly overwhelming as we see Suzy and her friend Sara swim in an enormous pool in the building - it seems impossible that it would fit in the school, so its existence is confusing and discomfiting. Not only does the space seem unnaturally large, it also dwarfs the characters, emphasising how helpless they are, and reminding the audience that in such vast spaces, you’re rarely ever truly alone, and someone might just be watching you…

If you’re a horror movie fan, Suspiria is bound to be a unique experience for you. While I can’t say it’s an enjoyable watch from a story standpoint, it does a fantastic job of illustrating what horror truly is as the audience witnesses one revolting event after the next in settings that feel deeply wrong and unwelcoming. From an aesthetic standpoint, more than anything, the film is a masterpiece worth watching, and no matter how you feel about horror films in general, Suspiria can at least offer you something a little different from the terror so often used in modern horror films. Is it the best film I’ve ever watched? Far from it. But if you want that gothic, oppressive Halloween feel, I can’t imagine a more perfect choice.