Widescreen: Rediscovering creepy cult classics 'Suspiria,' 'Phantom of the Paradise'
A young American woman arrives in Germany to attend an exclusive dance school. She is greeted by a surly cabdriver and a relentless downpour. They come to the blood-red facade of the school and another American bursts from the ominous double doors. She is harried and screaming, and runs through a nearby wooded area without regard for the buckets of rain.
The camera follows her as the film's sound effects and music build to a frightful crescendo. What dark secret could this dance school be hiding?
"WITCH," shouts a voice on the soundtrack.
Ah.
Thanks to the fine people at Talk Film Society (@TalkFilmSoc), I recently learned the 1977 cult-classic horror film "Suspiria" is now available for streaming to Amazon Prime members. Directed by Italian horror icon Dario Argento, "Suspiria" had long been one of those films I always wanted to see but somehow never did, thanks in part to no recent home video releases here in America.
"Suspiria" bursts off the screen in Technicolor - it's one of the last movies to use the old-school film process - and the eerie music by Argento and prog-rockers Goblin makes up for the laughable dialogue spoken by dubbed voices. The shocking, gory murder scene that follows the opening is legendary among fans of the genre.
The film's lead, Jessica Harper, pops up in another cult classic I discovered thanks to a beautiful Blu-ray transfer from Shout Factory. "Phantom of the Paradise," a 1974 rock opera directed by Brian De Palma with songs by Paul Williams, delights with its offbeat humor and pastiche of style and music.
Harper, whom we saw more recently as the murder victim in the climax of Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report," plays a singer who attracts attention from a nerdy songwriter (William Finley) and the eccentric impresario (Williams) who steals his music. The story is a sendup of both "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Faust," which shares a title with the movie's best, most haunting song.
Unlike "Suspiria," "Phantom of the Paradise" is readily available across all digital platforms. Both deserve to be seen on large screens at loud volume, preferably on a dark and stormy night. (Man, this column would have been perfect a week and a half ago ...)
• Sean Stangland is a Daily Herald multiplatform editor. You can follow him on Twitter at @SeanStanglandDH.