SUSPIRIA

"A STUNNING MAKEOVER FOR ONE OF THE GREATEST HORROR FILMS EVER MADE." – DAVID EDWARDS, DAILY MIRROR.

Dario Argento's horror classic SUSPIRIA comes to DVD and, for the first time ever, Blu-ray in January 2010 having undergone a brand new high definition transfer courtesy of Nouveaux Pictures and Cine-Excess. Digitally remastered from HD, this brand new presentation has already led critics to claim, "Suspiria has never looked better. It has never sounded as good, either." (John Millar, Film Critic, Sunday Mail) and to hail it as "a stunning makeover for one of the greatest horror films ever made." (David Edwards, Daily Mirror).

Both formats also come with a host of newly commissioned extras including a brand new documentary featuring director Dario Argento and composer Claudio Simonetti and a feature length audio commentary by Argento experts Alan Jones and Kim Newman.


Inspired by Thomas De Quincey's Suspiria de Profundis and co-written by Argento and his long-term partner Daria Nicolodi, SUSPIRIA is Argento's undisputed masterpiece of Grand Guignol horror, hitting new peaks of terror through its stunning photography (courtesy of Luciano Tovoli), eye-popping production design and terrifying atmosphere of dread and death.

Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper) is an American ballet student, traveling to Germany to study at an exclusive dance academy in the Black Forest. After one of the students and her friend are hideously murdered in the first of Argento's breath-catching set-piece killings, Suzy discovers that the academy has a bizarre history and, as the body count rises, she gets involved in a hideous labyrinth of murder, black magic and madness.

Utilising complex lighting systems, intense film processing techniques, wire-guided cameras and multi-layer music recording (highlighting a superb Goblin score), Argento paints a masterpiece of terror on a technically impeccable canvas.


SUSPIRIA (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£15.99) and Blu-ray (£19.99) by Nouveaux Pictures on 18th January 2010. Special Features include: "Fear At 400 Degrees: The Cine-Excess Of Suspiria" documentary featuring director Dario Agento and composer Claudio Simonetti; audio commentary by leading Dario Argento experts Alan Jones and Kim Newman; "Suspiria Perspectives" featuring Claudio Simonetti, Norman J. Warren and Patricia McCormack.

Newly created trailer

Aside from the press release here are my own thoughts....

Suspiria remains one of the most important films, not only in horror, but in modern cinema, having had a massive influence on everything from lighting to the use of moody electronics in suspense film scores. The fever dream plotting, surreal leaps and bizarre set piece kills gave birth to a whole slew of 80s horror pictures. The fake looking blue and red lighting schemes of the Elm Street films owe a debt and would the whispered vocals of the Freddy theme have existed, were it not for Italian prog band Goblin's terrifying Suspiria score, with it's hushed, barely audible murmurings and it's creepy hissing of the word 'Witch'.