Okay, okay. Another Italian horror movie! SUSPIRIA (1977)!!!! The image above is the least frightening one from the film, seriously. This movie is all about color and atmosphere. Less so about logic, however.
But that doesn't matter, because the movie ROCKS!
Jessica Harper (of Stardust Memories and Inserts) attends an exclusive ballet school in Germany that is actually a front for a coven of witches led by Mother Suspiriorum, the Mother of Sighs, who is the oldest and wisest of the Three Mothers. Some scary, weird-ass shit then ensues, and it's all beautifully executed and photographed by Dario Argento, using the very last technicolor processing in Italy. Bold, primary colors seep through every shot of the film, and it plays more like a fairy tale than a horror movie. It's pure awesomeness from beginning to end for anyone who likes beautiful, weird movies. Seriously. It's just gorgeous to look at. The movie casts a spell on you, if you let it, and is incredibly re-watchable.
Now, Argento would follow this film up with the sequel Inferno in 1980, which is almost as good, in my opinion. It focuses on Mother Tenebrarum, the Mother of Darkness - who lives in New York. It also features a cameo by Mother Lachrymarum in a scene in Rome that Argento would later get to 20 years later, in 2007, when he completed the trilogy with the completely underrated (in my opinion) and wackadoo Mother of Tears (AKA The Third Mother) which features the final mother, Mother Lachrymarum, and takes place in Rome. I loved this one, too, despite how harshly it was received by critics, and found it fit in with the other two movies just fine.
All the movies in the trilogy connect, and all have a dreamy logic to them that doesn't quite work - but they're all innovative and brilliantly shot. Movies like no other movies you'll ever see. Check them out, starting with Suspiria!
I should add, again, that Quentin Tarantino ripped off a LOT of shots from this film for Kill Bill. A lot. Seriously. He must like weird Italian horror movies as much as I do.
Regardless, look up "The Three Mothers" on Wikipedia. There's some really cool info about the history of the idea, and the links with actual history and mythology. It's cool stuff.
In honor of my favorite holiday Halloween, every day this October here on BRAIN POOP I'm going to provide a sketch and a little info from an obscure (and maybe not-so-obscure) horror movie that I love! EVERY SINGLE DAY of October! Stay tuned!
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If you would like to purchase originals, prints, or commission artwork, you can contact me at terbybrown@yahoo.com
