#24 SUSPIRIA (1977)
THE MOST
ARTISTIC DEATH OF ALL
Suspiria is
one of the most atmospheric horror films of them all. Made by genius
Italian director Dario Argento, the film starts off as a ballet
dancer from New York arrives in Italy on a stormy night. She's
driven to the dance studio by a creepy cab driver, and is
mysteriously turned away by the proprietor via the intercom on the
porch. Suddenly, we shift gears to a completely different who runs
to a friend's place, in a panic. We don't get the whole story, but
apparently she needs to leave first thing in the morning because of
some unspeakably disturbing events she's been through.
She
seeks refuge in the bathroom and keeps sensing something is outside
the window. She's about 3 stories up, so even as the viewer, you
think she's pretty safe. Out of nowhere a set of creepy eyes appear
in the night air. A hand grabs her through the glass and begins
smothering her face against the pane while her friend struggles in
vain to get in the room to help.
She's
then dragged to the top of a stained glass window, and stabbed
repeatedly, at one point with her heart fully exposed, you have to
see th blade plunge directly in. A noose is wrapped 'round her neck,
then she's kicked through the window, falling down, killing both her
and her friend who watches it all unfold underneath.
Argento's use of color and artistic eye makes this one of the more
beautifully composed death scenes ever filmed. Here's a small
gallery of some stills from the sequence so you can see what I mean.
