Suspiria
Suspiria is a 1977 film from Italy, directed by Dario Argento, running 94 minutes. reelscum files it under giallo.
- Year
- 1977 · 1970s films
- Country
- Italy
- Runtime
- 94 min
- Director
- Dario Argento
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026
- Obscurity
- canon (10/100)
- Also known as
- Dario Argento's Suspiria
- Banned in
- UK
Defined in the glossary: Giallo
Listed under Section 3 as liable to seizure, one of the most celebrated films to appear on any video nasty list.
Barely a giallo and barely a plot. Possibly the most beautiful horror film ever shot.
Argento more or less abandons plot here and replaces it with colour. An American ballet student arrives at a German dance academy in a rainstorm shot like the end of the world, and from there the film runs on nightmare logic: primary-red lighting, a Goblin score that never lets up, and set-piece deaths staged as though the camera has a grudge.
It was one of the last films printed in three-strip Technicolor, which is why the reds look like nothing shot since. See it on the biggest screen you can and turn the sound up past comfortable.
Do not expect the mystery to add up. That was never the assignment.
Trailer
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Where to watch
Legal options in USA
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Written about
- The giallo, 1963 to 1976
A line of yellow paperbacks, a killer in black gloves, and Mario Bava building the American slasher a decade before Hollywood cashed the cheque.
On these lists
- Gateway drugs for horror normies
For the friend who liked Hereditary and thinks that is the deep end. Nothing here will make them leave the room.
Filed alongside
Deep Red
Argento's best. Goblin's score does half the work and knows it.
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Argento's debut, and the film that made the giallo an export.
Tenebrae
Argento's coldest and cleverest. That crane shot earns its reputation.
Phenomena
Insect telepathy, a Swiss boarding school, and a straight-razor chimpanzee. Argento off the leash.
A Bay of Blood
Bava invents the slasher a decade early. Friday the 13th copied two kills outright.
Inferno
Argento's sequel to Suspiria. Even less plot, even more colour. A building that is alive.
Blood and Black Lace
The template, and still the best-looking film on this list.
The Cat o' Nine Tails
Argento's least favourite of his own films. He is roughly right.
Four Flies on Grey Velvet
Argento's third. Unavailable for decades, and worth the wait for the last shot.
Opera
Needles taped under the eyes so she cannot look away. Argento's last truly great film.
Don't Torture a Duckling
Fulci's best film and his angriest. A giallo about mob justice in a village.
What Have You Done to Solange?
Unusually sad for a giallo, and much better for it.