Trailer Take: Suspiria

Note: This post simultaneously appears on Realweegiemidget Reviews.

“The only thing more terrifying than the last 12 minutes of Suspiria are the first 92.”

– voiceover from Suspiria trailer

I’d like to extend a great big thanks to Gill Jacob for inviting me to do a guest post for her blog Realweegiemidget Reviews. I’m honored to participate, and I hope I don’t adversely affect Ms. Jacob’s readership. In addition to the aforementioned web site, be sure to visit the flipside of Realweegiemidget Reviews, Thoughts All Sorts. Twitter-inclined folks can stay up to date by following Gill and Company at @2ReelQuirkyCats, @Thoughtsallsort, and @realweegiemidge.

I’ve reviewed quite a few movies over the past seven years, but never tackled the previews that advertised them. As an experiment of sorts, I present for your perusal, a look at the trailer for Dario Argento’s mind-blowing horror film, Suspiria.

A movie trailer, at least a good one, is supposed to pique the potential audience’s interest and get them revved up for the movie. This is especially difficult for horror. In three minutes or sometimes significantly less, the trailer needs to capture the viewer’s attention, getting the heart pumping with memorable images or scenes. One thing that sets Suspiria apart is that the opening part of the trailer doesn’t contain a scene from the film.

It’s this opening sequence that took me by surprise as a little kid innocently watching the small TV alone, in my parent’s room (where I cut my teeth on quite a few movies and classic TV shows). The commercial (which turned out to be an abridged version of the trailer, but I’m not splitting hairs), seemed innocuous enough, with a lady, her back turned to the camera, combing her hair and getting spruced up, presumably for a date, “roses are red, violets are blue…” And then – holy crap (I’ll say no more)! Looking back, 40 years later, it all seems quite tame, but as an impressionable nine-year-old, it floored me. For years, I never made the connection with the film. Only that opening portion of the trailer remained embedded in my gray matter.

 

What the heck is Suspiria anyway? I have no idea, but it sure sounds good. The trailer has it all. It hooks you from the first shot, lulling you into a false sense of security, and then pow! Almost immediately, you’re asking, “What’s this movie about, and where’s it taking me?” The initial shock is followed by a pastiche of scenes from the movie, and those glowing, disembodied eyes – Yikes! Well, if this doesn’t get you in the mood to see this, I don’t know what will. The trailer works its magic, promising stylish scares, and the movie delivers the goods.

Need more convincing? Here’s the trailer in all its glory:

Shameless Plug: This trailer review is all fine and dandy, but what did I think of the movie? Well, I’m glad you asked, because I reviewed the film several years back, and you can read it here.  

Just remember: “You can run from Suspiria… You can hide from Suspiria… but you can’t escape Suspiria.”