PIC of the Week – Suspiria
Article series by Ray Schillaci
Sure, there are people that will squawk at my PIC of the week without considering Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and Darren Aronofsky’s divisive horror/drama mother! But, although a technical marvel, I found little to care about with Nolan’s latest, and Aronofsky’s new entry was nowhere near as captivating or interesting as his Black Swan. Which leads me to Synapse Films’ Blu release of Dario Argento’s SUSPIRIA, not just an iconic piece of Italian horror, it is a quintessential masterwork of the genre. It’s also the first time this Giallo gore fest has ever been available on Blu.
Now, let me explain. I am not a gorehound. If a movie uses the effects wisely to maximize the impact, I’m all for it. But, without style and an interesting story, all the blood and organ exposing is not going to win me over. That being said, I will place Argento’s SUSPIRIA right up there with other modern day horror classics: Carpenter’s Halloween, Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes and A Nightmare on Elm Street, Raimi’s The Evil Dead, and Romero’s original Night of the Living Dead…but with a far meaner edge. New viewer be warned.
Not only is Argento’s film a tour de force of sights and sounds, his tale of a coven of witches hiding within a ballet academy is downright chilling. Finally, someone like Synapse Films took it upon themselves to give us a magnificent Blu of this horror show. But, they just didn’t slap this product together. They went all out with a gorgeous steelbook, housing a 3-disc set (CD soundtrack, Blu of the movie, and Blu with special features), and included original artwork by Malleus, Van Orton Design, Juan José Saldarriaga & Chris MacGibbon. The art alone is worth having for any Giallo and Argento fan.
That first famous horrifying twelve minutes may just be more impactful now than it has ever been with the NEW 4.0 English soundtrack presented in high-resolution DTS-HD MA 96 kHz/24-bit audio that is available for the first time with newly-translated removable English SDH subtitles. Synapse Films have not forgotten the purists out there and also provides the Italian 5.1 surround mix, with removable English subtitle translation (for those fluent in Italian). Also, the new 4K restoration of the original uncut, uncensored 35mm Italian camera negative exclusively done by Synapse Films captures all of DOP Luciano Tovoli’s luscious colors the way he intended it to be. It helps that Tovoli supervised and approved the work.
Special features include:
¥ Two audio commentaries by authors and Argento scholars, Derek Botelho, David Del Valle & Troy Howarth
¥ Do You Know Anything About Witches? – 30 minute SUSPIRIA visual essay
¥ Suzy in Nazi Germany – Featurette on the German locations from SUSPIRIA
¥ A Sigh from the Depths: 40 Years of SUSPIRIA – All new anniversary retrospective on the making of the film and its influence on cinema
¥ “International Classics” English “Breathing Letters” opening credit sequence from the U.S. release
¥ Alternate All-English opening and closing credits sequences, playable via seamless branching. Exclusive CD remaster of Goblin’s SUSPIRIA motion picture soundtrack, containing additional tracks not included on the original 1977 soundtrack release
¥ Special Collector Edition Booklet containing an American Cinematographer interview with Luciano Tovoli, liner notes by Derek Botelho and restoration notes by Vincent Pereira & Don May, Jr. Cover artwork by Matthew Therrien Illustration
And so much, much more! Now, the cost. Originally, $49.99 from Synapse Films, which is practically a deal with this limited edition of 6000. The bad news – it’s no longer available from Synapse Film website. Within days of it’s release, the chance to order SUSPIRIA for that price was gone. To my knowledge, this special edition can no longer be ordered from the company. And, it is no longer available at Best Buy either at $59.99. The best price can be found at Amazon for a whopping… $89.94, and they are out of stock, but will have them back in stock December 24th. I guess this is an argument for pre-orders.
