Suspiria

Dario Argento brings a grace to the dirty business of murder, and a dream logic to terror, in his horror films, which can be puzzling to American audiences. This stylish, surreal Grand Guignol weirdness was his only U.S. hit. Jessica Harper is an American ballet dancer in a creepy European dance academy run by Joan Bennet and Alida Valli. The story has something to do with witchcraft and a coven in the sinister school, but then plot was never Argento's strength. The 1977 picture's fame, the first of his "Three Mothers" trilogy, comes from bravura set pieces of lovingly choreographed violence and Argento's lyrical cinematography and vivid, full-blooded imagery. Among the supplements of this newly remastered DVD, taken from the original, uncut negative, is the 52-minute documentary "Suspiria 25th Anniversary." Blue Underground has also released Argento's early minor classic "Cat O' Nine Tails" (1971), starring James Franciscus as a reporter and Karl Malden as a blind puzzle-maker following a trail of clues left by a brutal killer, as well as "Opera" (1987) and a two-disc special edition of "The Stendhal Syndrome" (1996), a visually impressive but at times distasteful thriller starring his daughter, Asia Argento. Also check out the Anchor Bay re-releases of the Argento produced "Demons" (1985) and "Demons 2" (1986), easily the best films directed by Mario Bava's son, Lamberto. They combine the stylish beauty of Argento's films with the relentless gore-driven frenzy of the zombie film.