Suspiria (1977) review

Colorful tedium masquerades for horror in this lame Argento effort - like with Inferno, he's more interested in set design and the technical aspects of constructing a 'scary movie' than actually making one. I'm not sure how much blame is to be placed on Jessica Harper since she isn't given much to do besides stare at the weirdness around her with those Joan Crawford eyes of hers or look pale and out-of-it - the plot more or less throws her in this 'haunted' ballet school and demands that she be shocked by maggots and decaying old women. Argento's strength has never been writing - and yet he co-wrote a rather forceful Sergio Leone picture called Once Upon a Time in the West (although some other guy named Bertolucci may have helped balance things out) - so the rather threadbare 'story' construction here is ineffective.