Suspiria [VHS Retro Style] (1080p Transfer) 1977

I really enjoy this movie ever since I first saw it. Just the lighting schemes throughout are great. I wasn't expecting a huuuuge amount of difference in picture quality (most editions do pretty good job. I already have the LTD 3 DVD disc Edition the definition on that is good). The Synapse Edition is ok with the extras. But where they shined on this edition is the picture restoration and enhancement is AMAZING !!!!!!!! I really liked the fact that they did a great job on the picture. The color tints and hues were just stunningly brilliant!!! Great job overall.

This is by far one of the all time greatest horror films! It’s colorfully surreal with an incredible soundtrack. This blu-Ray transfer is the best I’ve ever seen Suspiria look! Razor sharp with unusually vivid, stable color. I’ve checked out other transfers and they’re very soft and pale by comparison. Unforgettable experience!

Legendary horror masterpiece of giallo maestro Dario Argento tells the chilling tale of an American student and her enrollment in a prestigious European ballet school that holds a dark and sinister secret. One of the ultimate examples of style over substance, this film is a bloody, beautiful assault on the senses. A dazzling, anxiety-fueled thriller filled with intense atmosphere of torrential thunderstorms, mind blowing use of hypnotically vivid color and light, a driving haunting score, and impossible architecture, punctuated with outrageous murder tableaux and supernatural set pieces. A seminal combination of art and horror film that, no matter how hard they may try, has no true equal. Modern examples of it's descendants include the over-rated Black Swan, due to the ballet, and the under-rated The Neon Demon. As for other films by director Dario Argento, I recommend Deep Red and Tenebrae, but are more of murder mystery films. This Synapse Films Blu ray is truly extraordinary, and is one of the most impressive restorations I've ever seen of any film. I have seen Suspiria many times on TV and VHS years ago, and seeing this restored print with it's proper aspect ratio, color correction, and cleaned up soundtrack- I was literally watching Suspiria for the first time. The film is 40 years old and looks utterly amazing, from the texture of the velvet curtains ,down to the intricate wallpaper. This two disc set also contains two audio commentaries and plenty of extras, even reversible art (very cool !). An essential horror classic, best watched alone and in darkness, and an unforgettable movie experience.

Just a quick review of the movie quality, its jaw dropping I had never seen it but wanted to try it in its restored glory and it is a reference bluray even at 40 plus years old. My niece had a marvel movie on from 2017 on bluray and this eclipsed it in terms of picture quality by far. Get it before its gone again.

This review is for the Blu-ray edition of 'Suspiria' released by Synapse films in March, 2018.If you are a fan of this movie then this is a must have. The picture is as good as it gets.In my opinion this is a 5 star release.WHAT DOES SUSPIRIA MEAN? I had no idea what this meant so I did a little digging.The actual definition means something like 'sighs'.The latin phrase "Suspiria de profundis" mean "sighs from the depths"."Suspiria de profundis" is also the title of a piece of literature by a well known English essayist, Thomas De Quincey.'Suspirara' in latin means breathing. 'Suspiria' therefore would mean something along the lines of 'taking a deep breath'.They talk about this briefly in one of the feauturettes as having something to do with the witches but I'm still not sure if the word has something to do with witchcraft.BLU-RAY: This is a new 4K restoration of the original uncut Italian 35mm camera negative done by Synapse films. It is a beauty. The colors are very bright and the picture has virtually no flaws. It is as clear as the day they filmed it. There are subtitles available and the movie is also dubbed in English.EXTRA's: The extra's are top notch. You get:-Two audio commentareis by Derek Botelho, David Del Valle and Troy Howarth.-Featurette - 'Suzy in Germany' - This goes through the locations used in the film both then and today.-Featurette - 'A sigh from the Depths: 40 years of SUSPIRIA - a bunch of historians reflect on the movie 40 years later.-Featurette-'Do You Know Anything About Witches'- This is an very informative 30 minute visual essay that goes a long way toward explaining some of my questions. It answers some of the things I say in the section down below called A FEW THINGS I'M STILL UNSURE ABOUT.PRODUCTION: This movie was made in 1977 and was released under a shell company of 20th Century Fox.-Even though the movie is set in Germany, it was largely filmed in Rome, Italy.-Dario Argento got his inspiration for this movie from 'Suspiria de Profundis' by Thomas De Quincey which was written in 1845.-This is the first movie in Argento's 'Three Mothers' Trilogy. The other two movies are 'Inferno' and 'Mother of Tears'.-Suzy Banyon's character was supposed to be based on 'Snow White'.-Each actor/actress spoke their own language and the movie was then dubbed into Italian and English.-The story itself was initially supposed to be a fairy tale but ended up sort of a hybrid fairy tale.-The school was supposed to be populated with young girls but production codes at the time would have never allowed for it. Argento didn't completely give in. He had the door handles raised to make the girls appear smaller. Also he made the point of having high ceilings.PLOT/SUMMARY: An American ballet student, Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper), flies to Germany to attend a prestigious ballet school. Suzy arrives at the school late in the evening. As she gets to the front entrance, she see an angry girl leaving and can make out two words she days, 'secret' and 'iris'. When she tries to get in, the person speaking on the intercom tells her to go away, which she does. She goes to the school in the morning and meets a tough instructor, Miss Tanner, and the headmistress, Madame Blanc. She is told that she must get a rental apartment briefly and she goes to stay with one of the other students named Olga.During one of Suzy's first classes, she gets sick and starts bleeding. The doctor keeps her at the school and orders her to be given a glass of wine every day. Suzy is given a room next to Sara. Sara reveals that she was the girl on the intercom the first night. Suzy and Sara become friends. A few disappearances occur at the school and Sara becomes suspicious. She confides with Suzy. They figure out that the school supervisors are not leaving at night but are walking to unknown parts of the school. One night while Suzy is passing out from being drugged, Sara goes in search of the hidden place that the supervisors go to. Sara is killed. Suzy is told that Sara packed her bags and abruptly left the school. Suzy, suspecting that something is wrong, calls and meets a friend of Sara's, Frank Mandel. Mandel is a psychiatrist who used to treat Sara. He introduces Suzy to another psychiatrist, Professor Milius. From these people, Suzy learns that the school was founded by an alleged witch, Helena Markos. She also learns about covens. She is told that Markos died in a fire at the school many years ago.Armed with the knowledge about the school's history, Sara's notes and her now complete recollection of what the girl leaving the school said on the first night, Suzy goes poking around the school to find out what is really going on.COMMENTS: I just watched this movie the night before this review and haven't spent a whole lot of time researching this movie but here is what my thoughts are.-I liked how this movie kept me guessing about some things right to the final scene. I tend to get bored in horror movies once the mysterious killer is revealed, as the rest of the movie is usually just a game of cat and mouse and the director usually attempts to come up with some creative way to end it. I could guess some of what was going to happen but I was never really sure to what extant all the people were involved. I wasn't really sure if Helena Markos was still alive or if she just passed down her knowledge.-I think this was a good movie. I do not think it was a great movie. There are all kinds of ways to rank movies. I look for an engaging plot. If you don't have that then you don't have a great movie. I think this movie has a good plot but by no means is it great. Atmosphere is a big thing to me also. This movie has it to some extent, just not quite what I'm looking for.-The musical score is unusual. It seems to combine elements of different horror movies. Sometimes it reminds me of 'The Exorcist' other times it reminds me of 'The Omen' and others. Whatever it is, it is quite effective. Without it, I believe many of the scenes would have been considerably less 'creepy'.-There are a lot of things that I didn't understand the meaning of. This is not to say that these are complicated things and that the plot lost me. I'm saying I just didn't understand why these scenes were in the movie. Here is a list of those things right below:A FEW THINGS (NOT COMPLAINTS) I'M STILL UNSURE ABOUT: These are some things that I don't quite 'get'. Either I missed or forgot about parts of the dialogue or the meaning just went over my head.-I didn't quite understand how the girl could be running through the black forest and be so close to the center of the city. That opening scene was a bit disconcerting. Was she running because she was scared or because she was in the rain on a stormy night? She didn't seem to be running for her life as nobody was chasing her so I'm not sure.-What was the point of the maggots falling from the ceiling? I didn't catch the meaning of this. Was this just a way to setup the next scene, which I also don't quite understand? That scene was...-The scene in the gymnasium. Why did the directoress come to the gymnasium to sleep? and once the girls figured out who was behind the curtain sleeping, why didn't they look? Or perhaps they did look but the movie doesn't show you?-I completely missed out on the reason for making the dog violent and killing the blind pianist. They obviously wanted to get rid of the pianist. Why? I understand why they killed off the others. The other people that died had learned the secret of the witches. But the pianist was blind and they gave no indication that he knew anything, at least as far as I can see. Why make the dog violent?... why fire the pianist and why kill the pianist?-What was Olga's role? She becomes Suzy's roommate and then right after that Suzy goes back to the school and we never see her again. I'm not exactly sure what the point of this storyline was. Why make her leave for such a brief time just to come right back to the school? Was this just to show her stubborness when she decided she didn't want to board at the school?-What was the reason for the bat? It enters and Suzy dispatches it rather easily. Was the bat influenced by witchcraft? If so, what was it's purpose? It obviously wasn't all that dangerous. It couldn't have been sent by the witches to attack Suzy because you see the order given to eliminate her well after that scene. It couldn't have been sent to spy on her or be somebody's 'eyes'. It was too obvious for that.-Was there a purpose for the setting being a ballet school? That seems like a very odd place for a coven of witches to be doing business. Could it be as simple as it's as good a cover as any?-I'm still not sure why they were drugging Suzy. Why have her stay at the school at all if they were concerned with her? Why not let her stay with Olga so she can't figure out anything at the school? Why did they decide to kill her? Were they originally planning on making her a witch? To me, this whole main story line was unclear.*****QUESTIONS ANSWERED*****I watched one of the featurettes and it did explain some of what I wanted to know. The girl running through the forest was supposed to mimic a scene from 'Snow White'. Olga apparently was most likely supposed to be a witch. One of her scenes ended up being not shot but that wouldn't really have changed anything. My confusion is justified as many of the scenes were in fact 'red herrings' or for whatever reason, Argento never finished some of the plot lines he was developing.MY NITPICKS: The purpose of this section is not to 'slam' the movie. It's just to point out that no movie is perfect in my eyes and there are always things that could have been done better. Overall, I think this was a good movie.-Ultimately, what makes this movie so memorable is the very bright colors and lighting.It is something that I did not really like. It was different. I get it... it's part of what makes this movie so memorable. I just didn't like the constant use of it. More specifically the lighting. The painted buildings and rooms are not the issue for me. The colored lighting just seemed out of place a lot of the time. I think it would have been more effective had Argento used it more strategically. For example, I see no reason for the lighting to be all red right at the beginning while she was in the airport. I think a scene like that should have been similar to the scene where Suzy meets the psychiatric doctors at the corporate park. The lighting becomes more effective when you don't see it the whole time. Think of how effective the 'Wizard of Oz' was going from black & white to color.-The blood didn't look very much like blood other than the fact it was red. It just looked like paint, which is what it probably was. One of the problems of such beautiful restorations and watching in such high resolution is that flaws in the special effects are magnified.-The girl who falls into the room with the razorwire doesn't actually get cut up by the razor wire. She did a lot of struggling in it and didn't appear to be cut at all. The only blood on her was from her previous wound. Perhaps it wasn't razor wire? Was it just put there to entangle her like a net? If it was razor wire what was it doing there? Was it intentionally put there? There didn't seem to be any use for it at the ballet school.-I thought the scene where Suzy meets the psychiatrist's was out of place. On the one hand it does take some pressureoff of the tension that is prevalent throughout. But somehow it just doesn't seem to belong in the movie. You go from almost surreal to the real world. I don't like it for just one scene. If going back and forth between realities was part of the movie then it would be OK but in this case it happens just once.-Finally, the final scene. Two things here...1) I didn't like Suzy's reaction at the very end. Her smile was just wrong. Instead of looking like she was relieved, like she should have been, she had a big smile, almost as if somebody just told her a joke... The reaction doesn't seem to be the proper reaction for what she just went through especially since the school was on fire and crumbling and people were dying.2 ) I didn't like how Argento ended the movie. It just didn't seem right. The music with the direct jump to the credits just seemed out of place to me.CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS: I'm giving this release 5 stars. The picture is 4 1/2 to 5 stars. The extra's are 5 stars and the movie... let's call it 4 stars. But overall this is a 5 star release.This is about as good as a release as you can get for this particular movie. If you are a fan, it is worth the upgrade.Recommended for fans of Italian horror and/or 'Giallo' films and obviously Dario Argento fans.Recommended for fans of 70's horror films.Recommended for fans of any good horror movie, anytime, anywhere.

One of my all time favorite Italian films. Superb 4k transfer, color correction makes it all the more vibrant, all to the benefit of one of the best gothic horror stories put to film. I still can't help but feel some scenes were left on the cutting room floor, and I wish they included them in the film. That said, if you have never seen Suspiria or an Argento movie in general, this masterpiece is an absolute must.

Absolutely fantastic Goblin score, and really one of my favorite scores of all time. Suspiria is visually so beautiful, and packed full of wonderfully colorful shots. This one still gets better with every watch, and really have no complaints. Very high recommend to anyone who has yet to see this.I currently own the Blue Underground 2 disc DVD, but I cannot wait for the new Synapse 4K Blu Ray release.

Amazing restoration by Synapse, having Tovoli's guidance makes this the definitive version. I believe the contents of the 2-disc are the same as the limited steelcase version, except it's missing the soundtrack CD. I own a DVD lmited edition of the movie and it's night and day between them.

In 1977, Dario Argento decided to broaden his horizons, and delve into the supernatural of witchcraft. He decided to do the greatest trilogy in film history (two great movies (Susperia and Inferno), and the final not so great (yes, you guest it The Mother of Tears)) calling it ‘The Three Mothers Trilogy’ blending Horror and Suspense plus Art Deco along the way. When American Actress Jessica Harper’s protagonist character ‘Susan Bannion’ see a beautiful big red gothic house that represents her dance academy then her spellbinding adventure really has just begun.Both Jessica Harper, along with Stefania Casini, Barbara Magnolfi, Alida Valli, and a cameo appearance by German actor Udo Keir all shine in this fantastic 1977 cult classic, but all acting credits should go to American actress Joan Bennett as this was her final movie before retiring. And what a movie go out on.And with the 1970s Italian Prog Rockers Goblin performing was a magical music score was a stoke of genius blending a blend of gothic electronica and subliminal messaging in the opening credits.Please get this in either DVD or Blu Ray Format as it’s a million time better than the lousy, boring and dull 2018 remake which is an insult to Dario Argento’s 1977 supernatural masterpiece.

Suspiria is one film that gets better with every repeat viewing. It's truly a dream caught on camera, but like a lot of Italian Horror films (including the work of Lucio Fulci) it may take your average viewer (and even some hardened Horror fanatics) a coupling of viewings to get one's head around. But once your heads in, it's in and Argento has it by a noose. Prog Rock(ers), Goblin providing the excellent score.

Quite simply magnificent. The most beautiful horror film ever, and if I were to be totally honest, a ten star film.Stunning sets, stunning lighting, stunning set pieces, stunning score.Put simply, anyone who doesn't like this must be visually impaired.

I won't go into details about Suspiria because if you are here already, you know the drill. The image the popping colours the sound. It's certainly blown my mind and if you have the equipment and love this movie, it really is a no brainer.

Looks fantastic. I don’t know how they cleaned it up so much but the visuals are even more stunning than I remember. Audio has had a great overhaul too.

Being an avid horror fan I had been waiting to watch Suspiria for some time.I bought the Blu Ray for a great price and eagerly awaited its delivery. I had heard many different stories about the film and many glowing reviews. People were shocked that I had not seen this gem of a film. A classic I had been told.It finally came and I was not disappointed. I was thoroughly enthralled by the story and the astounding visuals. For some reason I just could not look away and I was strangely unsettled at moments in the film that I would not have expected.There was fantastic direction and a great script but what really just blew me away was the colour and the visuals. I was captivated by them. The picture was fantastic, for a film as old as this, it looked great. It could have been shot yesterday and my HDTV was loving every minute of it.Coming from a first time viewer I would tell everyone to watch Suspiria, especially on Blu Ray. I am very glad I saw this for the first time with the fantastic quality on the Blu Ray rather than a DVD.Fans of the film will no doubt appreciate the Blu Ray and new comers like myself will love the film and the Blu Ray8/10

If you are a fan of SUSPIRIA or Argento in general, this is the release you must not let go OOP on you.

Sadly, for me, this didn't quite live up to the mark. Delivery was good, and the quality of the disc and cover fine, but it was advertised as having a booklet with it being the 40th anniversary edition. As a collector, it's the small things that mean a lot to me and I'm afraid it did not have the booklet.

Excellent work by Dario Argento written by Daria Nicolodi who also wrote Inferno (you all forget about her!). One of best horror films made, cinematography and soundtrack..👌

Nice picture quality, with English audio. Italian disc, comes with 4k Blu-ray only, no HD 1080p Blu-ray included like most 4k discs

On watching this new edition I suddenly realised that the dodgy video copy I'd previously come across really hadn't done it justice, and make no mistake this is a earnest attempt to deliver a nightmarish vision to the cinema, rich in colour and darkness, caricature, lambent imagery ...and just a little bit of nonsense. This is a tale of witchcraft, coming of age, beauty and ugliness, and is in many ways is a very female fairy-tale to boot, in which men play little or no part. As a film, while not perfection (sometimes it does sudder under the weight of its own portentiousness), it stands head-and-shoulders above much horror cinema of its vintage, and also has a truely great film-score, and I heartily recommend it to anyone who wants a little substance to their shadows.Also, in comment on the DVD contents, there are a number of documentaries on this edition which I found both interesting and informative

Arrived very quickly, great quality discs and the DVD box and booklet. Bought it as a gift for a friend and watched it with them, it's not my favourite film but I have enjoyed it the three times I've watched it. Great seller, would definitely use them again.

Great movie, great service

ok

This was the first Argento film I have seen and I was blown away. The colour can seem a little weird at times but the plot of wonderful and sublime. As I fan of Fulci and other It Italian horror directors I knew what to expect. I would highly recommend this film.