It was another great week apart from graduation being moved to December, and my late post; that will bother me well into my 30’s.
This week’s screening of “Susperia” was a little less scary than I thought it was going to be. However, it did not leave anything left unsaid when it came to goriness. Every “throat-slice” or glass stabbing was enough to make you turn away until you were certain the image was no longer there. That being said, the dancing color changes were enough to real me back in every time.
One of the biggest things that puzzled me throughout this entire film was the aspect of setting. Most of the movie was centered in on the dance school / ancient witch whereabouts. However, the setting of each scene always seemed to change. We were never given very many shots that looked the same, and it made the landscape of the film seem much larger than it was. One minute we were in a dance studio looking at the class, the next we were in an attic looking at spoiled meat covered with maggots. to me, this seemed to remind me a lot of “Valerie and her Week of Wonders.” It was as if the film wanted us to remain in the grasps of ever changing scenery within a very small world.
This wasn’t your typical “haunted house” everyone will perish who is tagged as “prying eyes,” but it came close, and I am glad that it ended up being the film that it was. The one question that will stay with me for this movie and for every other movie like it, is “Why didn’t she just leave?” The point where I would have left was the maggots. I would have left whatever items I had brought to that school with me and headed out the front door once I caught wind of an invasion of maggots. this surprised me even more as I began to wonder why a building full of women were more brave to stick it out than I would have been.
The presenters this week were phenomenal. I enjoy learning from my peers a lot, and I am glad that this class is structured like that. I particularly enjoyed Leon Hunt’s reading, and his description of how horror is a great way to tell how good a movie is. I feel that I share his view of better movies actual show less horror and gore as apposed to “bad” movies who load up on the stuff and leave you semi-scarred.
As for the cult movie presentations this week, the road of excellence in film understanding and proving of cult status continues to be paved. “Grease 2” was my favorite movie that was presented this week, but both presenters did awesome! I’ve always loved Grease, and still find the soundtrack to be able to lift any spirit no matter the time. I enjoyed “Grease 2” just as much as the first one because the concepts, cool cars, and leather jackets were still pretty much intact. But I still love the first installation the best.
Cult Movies 
I can agree, graduation being moved was certainly not the highlight of my week either.
I don’t think there has ever been a blog post that I could agree with or relate to more. I personally think the maggots were worse than the death scenes! I wouldn’t have lasted 5 seconds in that academy. I would have bolted out the door the moment I saw the bug. I can’t do maggots. And in my hair?!? Not a chance. I would have shaved my head and if anyone knows me that’s a huge thing. I can’t stand having my hair short. I would have watched their throats cut a dozen more times before I saw bugs landing in hair.
I’m glad you enjoyed my rambling presentation lol. If you ever wanna watch either of them I have Grease 1 and 2 on DVD at the ready. I will look for any excuse to watch them.
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Hey Pat. I was expecting Suspiria to be a lot scarier. Besides the gore, the film was more thriller-murder mystery than horror, in my opinion. What really drew me into the film was that score! The visuals are outstanding in this film, but it is the music that I will remember most in Suspiria. The plot here was also quite strange. Personally, I don’t see the connection between Suspiria and fairytales. Its supernatural, yes, but Valerie’s Week of Wonders was had more fairy-tale elements than Suspiria. Just having witches wasn’t enough for me to make the connection.
I love the pictures you picked for your blog this week! Those are some of the most rememberable shots. Especially the pictures of that red corridor. So cool.
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That was a pretty gross part of the movie. All of those maggots up in the attic that then were just everywhere. For a group of witches, you would think they could do a better job of hiding stuff like that. I think you are being a little over the top when it comes to your late post. If you are still hung up on your first late post, then that is a real issue. I will still be upset that we are graduating in December rather than August. I feel like that is way too late down the road, but I am glad that it is happening and hopefully we can see many of our friends who have retired for the semester.
The setting is wild to me as well, the first hint that you should not be anywhere near this place is the red building. Who paints the place like this, it is just awful? Then she visits the one women’s place and it has that terrible black and white wallpaper. The setting and background colors bothered me almost as much as some of the sounds we could here,
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I would have to agree with you Pat, I would have left immediately if I saw that many maggots. Bugs just creep me out in general though. I also liked how this movie was different compared to horror films you see now today like the always infamous haunted house or ghost haunting them in the house. I mentioned how it was more beautiful than other horror films I had seen due to it’s use of technicolor. I personally also love Grease compared to Grease 2. I remember having my mom play Grease on repeat in our living room (I am pretty sure she has videos of me singing to ‘Hopelessly Devoted to You’ now that I think about it). I am also sorry about your graduation being moved to December, at least it gives you a reason to come visit us again!
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