MovieChat Forums > Suspiria (1977) Discussion > Just got back from a 35mm screening. Som...

Just got back from a 35mm screening. Some thoughts...

posted 9 years ago by lupitag-11852
9 replies | jump to latest

The movie was deafening. I had always heard it was supposed to be loud, but hearing it in your living room (especially if you own the U.S. DVDs) does nothing to prepare you for just how loud it is in theaters. Forget action movies with tons of helicopters and explosions--this was the loudest movie I have ever sat through. The rainy cab ride in the beginning was so loud, it was hurting my ears. I can completely understand the effect the music was supposed to have on the audience in 1977 now, as it overwhelms you in the theater. The sound mix on the European releases is closer to how it sounds in theaters, but forget the U.S. DVDs, as they use the Anchor Bay remix and seriously tone down the volume. You have not heard Suspiria if that is all you have to reference.

Speaking of the soundtrack, the U.S. DVDs also have many more edits, such as a creepy howling starting up just before Pat's murder which is not present on the U.S. DVDs but is present on the European releases. One hopes when Synapse eventually releases their Blu-ray that it has the correct soundtrack, meaning it needs to be LOUD and have all of the original sound effects.

One thing Anchor Bay did get right was the colors (Blue Underground did, too, by default, as they used the same master for their release). The U.S. DVDs are the closest to the theatrical presentation as far as colors go. Don't even get me started on the European Blu-rays from various countries. I have seen several and own one, and the colors are so far off, one has to wonder who was ultimately responsible for how those turned out and how they got so far off base.

Speaking of the colors, they aren't as wild as the film's reputation leads one to believe. Many scenes have quite normal lighting and the primary colors only really have a big effect in certain scenes, such as Sarah's chase/death scene. The film is beautiful, obviously, but Dario's thematic sequel Inferno wins the nod as the more wild of the two, color-wise. In terms of crazy lighting, that film (especially on the cinematographer-approved German release) blows Suspiria out of the water.

The cut I saw was the U.S. release print, so the murders were edited for violence and the scene where Ms. Tanner confronts the pianist about the dog attacking Albert is missing, which honestly made the film more effective in a way as it led one to believe the witches were killing just for the sake of it because they're evil. When Sarah tells Suzy about the weird happenings that Pat had been writing down and when Olga and her friends mention there might be a hex on the place, it rings even more sinister in light of Daniel's seemingly senseless death in this cut. It's the only edit I actually agree with, as obviously the truncated violence was not a plus.

If you ever get the chance to see this in theaters, do it!

[–] guigui-paul 9 years ago

Thanks for your review!
What was the audio mix at your screening? the original Stereo tracks?

"One thing Anchor Bay did get right was the colors (Blue Underground did, too, by default, as they used the same master for their release). The U.S. DVDs are the closest to the theatrical presentation as far as colors go. Don't even get me started on the European Blu-rays from various countries. I have seen several and own one, and the colors are so far off, one has to wonder who was ultimately responsible for how those turned out and how they got so far off base."

I've seen SUSPIRIA once in theaters, in 2007, it was the new HD print for the re-release made by Wild Side and Luciano Tovoli (the director of cinematography) and i didn't like too much the new print, it was too oversaturated in some scenes...of course the film has always been very vivid looking but here the new colours felt "too much".

"Speaking of the colors, they aren't as wild as the film's reputation leads one to believe. Many scenes have quite normal lighting and the primary colors only really have a big effect in certain scenes, such as Sarah's chase/death scene. The film is beautiful, obviously, but Dario's thematic sequel Inferno wins the nod as the more wild of the two, color-wise. In terms of crazy lighting, that film (especially on the cinematographer-approved German release) blows Suspiria out of the water"

I always thought that SUSPIRIA had the most vivid, agressive colours (Technicolor style) and that INFERNO had a softer visual look, more subtle in some ways...i haven't seen both films at 35mm theaterical screenings, unfortunately.

[–] lupitag-11852 9 years ago

The print I saw was an original American theatrical print from 1977 (distributed by AIP), so the soundtrack would have been the same as whatever those were released with (I haven't researched if the theatrical release was mono or stereo). It was beat-up in many places, but more than watchable. When we were leaving the theater, all people kept talking about was how loud it was. There is a moment in the opening where rain water is gushing through a culvert and it sounded like you were standing next to a waterfall--it actually hurt my ears. The "WITCH!" that is screamed when the cab is passing through the forest is also deafening and there is no mistaking what it says. If anyone in the audience didn't realize the film was about witches before then, they certainly knew after that.

As for the Wild Side transfer, I actually own it on Blu-ray and it was one of the ones I was referencing when I said the colors were way off. It almost looks to me as if they severely over-saturated the image so that skin tones became pinkish, primaries bled, and whites were washed-out. I know Tovoli was supposed to have approved the transfer, but from what I have read online, something went wrong during the mastering process. I've heard references to something called gamma, but I have no idea what any of that technical jargon means so I will leave that for the professionals. Regardless, from what I have READ, Tovoli signed off on a transfer and then something happened beyond his control that led to it being severely botched in his absence. If I take my Wild Side disc and turn the brightness, contrast, and colors way down, the result is similar to how the movie looked on my Anchor Bay disc, which leads me to believe it was the labs in Rome or whoever assisted him in making this transfer that botched it horribly. The theatrical print I saw was pretty much identical to the Anchor Bay DVD release, which Tovoli also supervised, so as of right now, the only release matching the look of the theatrical distribution is that one (at least until Synapse's comes along, I imagine).

I have a cinematographer-approved Blu-ray of Inferno and, to me, the colors in it are simply much more pronounced, as in neon, dream-like, and almost "painted" into the film. Suspiria has it's wild-looking shots, yes, but my understanding is that by the time Inferno came along, Argento was experimenting with new color gels with an affinity for roses and deep blues. There is scarcely any shot in Inferno that, when paused, doesn't have some strange lighting effect going on, whether it's a pink light highlighting someone's hair, or the exaggerated colors of the apartment building's walls. There seems to always be some form of unnatural light source, even when Kazanian is meeting his death from the rats when he is simply outside near a pond. Suspiria has great use of color, but I guess my point is that it isn't present in such abundance as it is in Inferno. Inferno hardly has any scene where there isn't some use of rose, pink, purples, and blues, even if the effect ranges from subtle to in-your-face (Roses's death).

[–] guigui-paul 9 years ago

"The theatrical print I saw was pretty much identical to the Anchor Bay DVD release, which Tovoli also supervised, so as of right now, the only release matching the look of the theatrical distribution is that one (at least until Synapse's comes along, I imagine)."

I watched again on this Anchor Bay dvd (AB also did a fine work for another Dario Argento's masterpiece: OPERA) SUSPIRIA this week and the visuals are pretty good in my opinion, i prefer watch this dvd than the weird Wild Side release...crossed fingers for the new SUSPIRIA Blu Ray release this year!!

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[–] Centralline92 9 years ago

Glad you posted this. I, too, saw a 35mm print of Suspiria on the big screen at the National Film Theatre in London a short while before the Anchor Bay DVD special edition became available. That's obviously some time ago now, but I have never seen another post that agreed with most of my thoughts on the theatrical experience compared to the home versions.

I agree that Anchor Bay got the look of the film almost totally correct in terms of the image and I remember being quite impressed with how they had transferred the film back then in terms of authenticity. I agree with you on how the colours in the theatrical print looked. They were muted compared to home releases, but still quite rich in certain scenes. Just not as much. One shot that comes to mind was Sara fleeing down a red bathed corridor. That was very deep red and looked fantastic. But I realised that it was a blood red filter over the camera rather than a light source of some kind.

However, like you say, the soundtrack was another matter entirely. It was an extremely loud and very immersive experience in the theatre, that, so far, I have never heard reproduced at home in quite the same way. I don't know what kind of home sound system you would need to reproduce it authentically. But, I agree, you haven't heard Suspiria until you've heard it theatrically with the correct and original sound mix. It was an original UK release print of the film that I saw and (with 4 track magnetic sound, according to the pamphlet we were issued with), as with the original US print you saw, was censored quite blatantly when it came to the violence. Suspiria really needs to be uncut to have its full impact. But the scene between Miss Tanner and Daniel in the dance hall was indeed present in this print I saw. So that cut must have been done on US prints only.

But, overall, it was a great experience. I currently own the UK release of Suspiria on Blu-ray and whilst the look of the film is totally and blatantly wrong in most scenes, the soundtrack mix is strong and loud and I think, authentic, in terms of the sound effects and volume I can remember from the theatrical version. I just don't currently have the sound system at home to make it sound just as loud as it was in the theatre.

[–] sjconstable 9 years ago

A print from 1977 isn't going to look the same as it did then, it will have faded. The Synapse remaster will be more vivid to replicate the look of the Technicolor prints, but not all blown-out and with weird colours like the current Blu-rays.

The 'cinematographer-approved' Blu-ray of Inferno is deficient in the rose colour gel, the Blue Underground Blu-ray is the one you want. I've owned the Arrow, Koch, and Blue Underground Blu-rays and it's amazing how much atmosphere is missing from the first two.

[–] GorchBrother 8 years ago

For whatever they are worth, the caps of Inferno show the Blue Underground to have a lot of noise that doesn't seem worth the barely noticeable increase in detail.

It seems to be heading towards a more saturated colour than either the Koch or the Arrow, but not that much more IMO. And it seems to be at the expense of more even contrast.

The Arrow also seems to be less cropped than the other two.

"Who can't use the Force now?! I can still use the Force!" - Yarael Poof

[–] svalinanikola 8 years ago

I wish I can check this movie out in theaters, it would be amazing!

[–] mizhub 8 years ago

I saw this during its initial release, and I can verify the OP's statement. It WAS loud. The theater was packed, and I guess being an 'older' type of horror movie that wouldn't get the same audience reaction as today, there was a lot of screaming going on. But still, the soundtrack was louder than the screams.

[–] phillindholm 8 years ago

I too saw ''Suspiria'' back in 1977 (this month, in fact) and it was in '''Pulsating Stereophonic Sound''. Some theater had stereo prints, others didn't. LOVE the film!.