Something's Wrong - Suzy

"Where?"

"Escher Strassa."

"What?"

"Escher Strassa."

"What?"

With the rain falling relentlessy, in a foreign country with a language barrier to tackle, an ominous feeling instantly sets in. Suzy, an American, has travelled far to Germany at the invitation of a prestigious ballet academy. Yet her driver barely understands where she wishes to go and upon eventual arrival at her destination, she is shooed away by a house keeper, though not before having a strange encounter with a distressed student fleeing the building, into the wet, deep, dark woods.

Suzy has no choice but to get back in her taxi and find refuge elsewhere for now. Eventually, she'll be welcomed into the academy, following the violent, mysterious death of the frantic woman chased out of the building that night Suzy arrived.

What exactly is going on? Suzy finds herself having to fit in to a new abode with new, intimidating people, mostly young women and fellow ballet dancers. It's no easy feat, not just in the competitive sense, but because a lot of these women are certainly peculiar characters and further strange goings ons keep occurring.

Suspiria presents a spine tingling approach to the concept of witchcraft at its zenith. Using colourful aesthetics, not usually associated with the gothic, along with the immediate use of Goblin's iconic soundtrack, we're lured into the eeriness of not just Dario Argento's vision, but Italian giallo horror. This of course would be considered the height of the film wave, with experimental filmmaking techniques and narratives. We're not explicitly told what exactly is going on in that academy until the film's climax, but whatever supernatural forces are at play, they're frightening, perhaps no less because they are unseen. When fellow dancer Sara flees in terror from a malevolent stalker, there is no shadow, no armed figure, or a killer's point of view of pursuit, just Sara's terrified reactions and desperation to get away.

Lighting is key in this movie, with a kaleidoscope of bright colours juxtaposed with the darkness, all contributing to the impression imposed on the audience from the offset that something is indeed very wrong.

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