Suspiria (1977)

A young American girl (Jessica Harper) travels to Germany to study at a prestigious ballet school. On the eve of her arrival, one of the students (Eva Axen) is brutally murdered. In the ensuing days, she begins to sense that something is not quite right with the school. Directed by Dario Argento (BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE), this may well be the masterpiece of the giallo genre. Argento wastes no time and the film's first 15 minutes or so are among the most intense in horror cinema. Aided by his cinematographer Luciano Tovoli (Antonioni's THE PASSENGER), the film is shot and lighted in vivid colors and deep shadows. It's the closest a film of its era has looked like the Technicolor films of the 1930s and 1940s. There's also a unique underscore by The Goblins that contributes immeasurably to the unsettling atmosphere. The film eschews "realism" and you feel that you've been thrown smack into someone's nightmare. Nothing makes sense and you feel off kilter throughout the movie. With Joan Bennett, Alida Valli, Udo Keir, Stefania Casini and Barbara Magnolfi.