History Film / Suspiria1977

* AdvertisedExtra: Also seen with BillingDisplacement. [[spoiler: Despite Creator/UdoKier having a very small role in the film, a number of foreign posters and covers for the film inexplicably bill him higher than the film itself actually does. One poster bills him right behind Harper and Casini, as if he's the male lead, while another bills him fifth, behind Harper, Casini, Bennett, and Valli, again as though he's the male lead.]]

* BillingDisplacement: Creator/UdoKier [[spoiler: is visible in one long scene, and briefly heard over the telephone for another, and that's the extend of his appearance. However, some of the foreign posters and covers for the film bill him as highly as third, and in the position of the male lead, despite virtually every other male character of note in the film having more screen time than Kier's character. Other covers bill Alida Valli right after Harper, and Stefania Casini isn't billed on the cover at all, despite being billed as the second female lead in the film itself. Still others bill Joan Bennett right after Jessica Harper, and don't bill anyone else at all on the cover.]]

->''"The only thing more terrifying than the last 12 minutes of'' Suspiria ''are the first 80."''

-->-- '''{{Tagline}}'''

* HollywoodDarkness: in this film, if a scene is lit with yellow or red, the characters can seen. If it's lit with blue or green, the audience is to assume that they're in pitch blackness. This is why [[spoiler:Sara accidentally jumps face-first into a giant pile of barbed wire that is clearly visible to the viewer]].

* AlphaBitch: Olga is the richest student at the academy and brags about how Suzy must rent a room from her. Then when Suzy gets sick, she moves all her things out of the apartment and into the school.

* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: In spite of taking place at a ballet studio, the film features almost no dancing, obviously because the two main actresses aren't ballet dancers. Suzy has only been at the school a day before she gets sick and has to be bedridden for a while - during which the plot unfolds, giving her very little time to dance.

* AbortedArc: Olga (Suzy's would-be roommate) is set up as a supporting character, but she drops out of the plot by the midway mark. It could be said that the same happens to Mark (Suzy's would-be lover), [[spoiler:if it wasn't for the revelation that he is a member of the coven too, which expectedly kinds of takes this arc to another direction]]. According to Olga's actress, there was a scene showing Olga performing with the Bolshoi when the students are in town, and she believes [[spoiler:the girl is a witch in training]].

* AbortedArc: Olga (Suzy's would-be roommate) is set up as a supporting character, but she drops out of the plot by the midway mark. It could be said that the same happens to Mark (Suzy's would-be lover), [[spoiler: if it wasn't for the revelation that he is a member of the coven too, which expectedly kinds of takes this arc to another direction.]] According to Olga's actress, there was a scene showing Olga performing with the Bolshoi when the students are in town, and she believes [[spoiler: the girl is a witch in training]].
* AllThereInTheManual: The significance of hangings, throat-slittings, the Directoress' distinctive snoring, and [[spoiler: the coven's deaths by asphyxiation]] only make sense if you know that the Directoress is [[spoiler: the Mother of Sighs.]] This is important in the inspiration and the sequels, but makes less sense here. Even the film's title is drawn from the word "suspire", which means to take a deep breath or a sigh.

* BigBad: [[spoiler: Helena Markos ]] Mater Suspiriorum, the Mother of Sighs.

* BookcasePassage: [[spoiler: Helena Markos, the Directoress and Mother of Sighs]] is in a hidden room that can be accessed by turning the [[spoiler: blue iris]] on the wall in Madame Blanc's office.

* CreepyChild: Albert, the nephew of Miss Tanner. It doesn't help that he's dressed in very outdated children's clothes. [[spoiler: He's also a member of the coven.]]
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: The deaths of Pat, her friend, and [[spoiler: Sara]] are examples.

** [[spoiler: Sara falls into a pit of razor wire and has her throat slashed as she's made it out]].
* CurbStompBattle: The final confrontation with the BigBad is...surprisingly easy. [[spoiler: A flash of lightning reveals Helena Markos's invisibility just long enough for Suzy to know where to stab]].

* DeathOfAChild: [[spoiler: Albert is killed along with the rest of the coven once Helena Markos dies]].

* DingDongTheWitchIsDead: Once the BigBad is killed, the threat is neutralized because the other members of the [[spoiler: coven]] are powerless without the leader and die.

* EmpathicEnvironment: The storm at the end mirrors [[spoiler: the destruction of the school]].

* ExactEavesDropping: Suzy sneaks into the coven's inner sanctum at the exact right moment to overhear that [[spoiler: they're beginning a ritual which will kill her]].

* EyeScream: [[spoiler: Sara's corpse has ''giant pins stuck in its eyes''.]]

* {{Fainting}}: Suzy faints during ballet practice supposedly because of anemia. [[spoiler: It's actually because of an enchantment a witch put on her.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: During Suzy's drive to the Tans Academy, the soundtrack calls out "WITCH!" several times.
* {{Gorn}}: During Pat's murder, [[spoiler: the killer stabs so deeply you can actually see her heart being punctured, but that's only the beginning]]. The Magnum release is the only American release with every frame of footage (even the recent DVD releases are missing anywhere from a few frames to a few seconds of footage), and the R-rated cut is only available in a pan-and-scan release, while the uncut version is available in both pan-and-scan and letterboxed releases.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Surprisingly, when [[spoiler: Sara's]] throat is being slashed, we barely see the knife slicing and then we get a closeup of her eyes. Surprising, considered [[{{Gorn}} what we saw during Pat's murder]].

* HollywoodDarkness: in this film, if a scene is lit with yellow or red, the characters can seen. If it's lit with blue or green, the audience is to assume that they're in pitch blackness. This is why [[spoiler: Sara accidentally jumps face-first into a giant pile of barbed wire that is clearly visible to the viewer]].

* HumanoidAbomination:[[spoiler: The BigBad is barely recognisable as a human being thanks to her being "the Black Queen."]]
* {{Invisibility}}: One of the special abilities of the Mother of Sighs, [[spoiler: Helena Markos]]. She tries to trick the protagonist with this ability, [[spoiler: but it doesn't work]].

* MusicalSpoiler: In this case, ''literally'', as the Goblin score will sometimes have a loud whispered ''[[spoiler: WITCH!]]''. Nothing in the film indicates the presence of [[spoiler: witches]] til late in the film.

* NoOntologicalInertia: When Suzy [[spoiler: kills the Mother of Sighs]], the reanimated corpse pursuing her instantly disappears and soon after that the entire school burns down. This is explained by the eradication of the black magic present there [[spoiler:which was accumulated and structured in the form of a coven by Helena Markos]].

* ScarsAreForever: After Suzy kills [[spoiler: Helena Markos, the Directoress]] she becomes visible and you can see her burn scars from the fire that nearly killed her.

* SlashedThroat: [[spoiler: Sara]] has her throat slashed with a straight razor while trapped in a room full of razor wire.

* TrashTheSet: The Academy's [[spoiler: self-imploding]].

* VaderBreath: While sleeping in the dance studio due to the school being fumigated for maggots, Sara knows that Helena Markos, the founder of the dance school and [[spoiler: The Mother of Sighs]], is in the room with them because of her loud, wheezy breathing.

* WickedWitch: [[spoiler: Helena Markos]], the Big Bad, she's ancient, she cackles, and curses people.

* DangerouslyGarishEnvironment: This movie and its successor ''Film/{{Inferno}}'' run on this trope. Both films feature exterior and interior shots illuminated with colorful lights which lends to a dream fever like atmosphere. Pat's RasputinianDeath is perhaps one of the most iconic examples.

Probably the most famous of Argento's films, ''Suspiria'' is widely known for its dazzlingly surreal visuals, evocative soundtrack by ProgressiveRock band Music/{{Goblin}}, and shocking gore. It's the first installment of Argento's ThematicSeries "The Three Mothers," which also includes ''Film/{{Inferno}}'' (1980) and ''Film/MotherOfTears'' (2007).

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Not that all three films aren't extremely weird, but the fact that most of the actual lore is established in ''{{Film/Inferno}}'' makes ''Suspiria'' a bit of an oddball Three Mothers-wise. Mater Suspiriorum / Helena Markos is never named by her proper title throughout the film, and indeed is the only one of the Mothers referred to by a given name (and also by the title "Black Queen" given to her by Frank Mandel and Prof. Milius, never used again in the series). Nor, in this film, is there any suggestion she was part of a larger cult, other than her own coven of subordinates.

''Suspiria'' is a classic 1977 horror film directed by Creator/DarioArgento, written by Argento and his frequent collaborator/lover Daria Nicolodi. The film stars Creator/JessicaHarper, Stefania Casini, Creator/AlidaValli, Creator/UdoKier, and Creator/JoanBennett in her final role.

->''"The only thing more terrifying than the last 12 minutes of'' Suspiria ''are the first 92."''

* ExactEavesDropping: Suzy sneaks into the coven's inner sanctum at the exact right moment to overheard that [[spoiler: they're beginning a ritual which will kill her]].

* CreepyChild: Albert, the nephew of Miss Tanner. It doesn't help that he's dressed in very outdated children's clothes. [[spoiler: He's also a member of the coven]]

* NoEnding: In a strange way. The movie just has [[spoiler:Suzy stabbing Markos]] and the story just basically ''stops'', CreditsRoll.

''Suspiria'' is a classic 1977 horror film directed by Creator/DarioArgento, written by Argento and his frequent collaborator/lover Daria Nicolodi. The film stars Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Alida Valli, Creator/UdoKier, and Joan Bennett in her final role.

* NoEnding: In a strange way. The movie just has [[spoiler:Suzy stabbing Markos]] and the film just basically ''stops'', RollCredits.

* AbortedArc: Olga (Suzy's would-be roommate) is set up as a supporting character, but she drops out of the plot by the midway mark. It could be said that the same happens to Mark (Suzy's would-be lover), [[spoiler: if it wasn't for the revelation that he is a member of the coven too, which expectedly kinds of takes this arc to another direction.]]

* CurbStompBattle: The final confrontation with the BigBad is...surprisingly easy.

* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: In spite of taking place at a ballet studio, the film features almost no dancing, obviously because the two main actresses aren't ballet dancers.

''Suspiria'' is a classic 1977 horror film directed by Creator/DarioArgento, written by Argento and his frequent collaborator/lover Daria Nicolodi. The film stars Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Alida Valli and Joan Bennett in her final role.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler:Miss Tanner]] is furious about Daniel's dog attacking [[spoiler:Albert. This may have had a hand in his death at the teeth of said dog.]]

* ExpansionPackPast: The story is heavily fleshed out in the sequels, such as the background for the school, [[spoiler: Helena Markos]] and the reason for her current state.

Creator/LucaGuadagnino directed a loose [[Film/Suspiria2018 remake]] that was released in 2018, starring Creator/DakotaJohnson and Creator/TildaSwinton, and scored by [[Music/Radiohead Thom Yorke]].