Suspira

Ah, Italian horror films. They're gory, atmospheric, daring, dated, and cheap. It's hard not to at least get a little bit of a kick out of these old school classics. Probably the best of the bunch is "Suspira", which was the first horror film on my Halloween movie list.

Suspira's plot doesn't make a lotta sense, the dialouge is crap, and the characters are woefully underdeveloped. Again, pretty standard for an Italian horror film. What makes Suspira so hypnotizing is how damn beautiful the film is. The colors are just so bright and vibrant. Bright Yellows, deep dark blues, lush greens, and burning reds populate the pallette of this film's visuals. On top of that, the sets are among the most amazingly bizarre ever constructed. Hell, a simple hotel room ends up looking like a M.C. Eisher painting. The handful of murders that take place over the course of the film are equally intricate. The spiraling moments of twisting brutality are almost ballet-like in their precision. But what really gives the film its kick is the soundtrack, a claustrophobic barrage of noises that unrelentingly pound the audience. Hell, it's almost scarier to listen to the film than watch.

Suspira, highly recommended Halloween viewing, but make sure you score it on DVD, and that your TV has good speakers.