Suspiria is the Strangest and Most Terrifying Depiction of Witches

Suspiria came out back in 2018, and I still regret not watching this movie in theaters. I was in college at the time, and this movie was in theaters during just one week, and I did not go, because I was too busy with schoolwork. To this day, I wish that I had gone to watch the film in theaters, because it became one of my favorite horror films ever made. 

Suspiria follows the story of a young woman named Suzy Bannion, who moves from American to Berlin to follow her dreams of becoming a dancer. The dance school is still open during a tough time, during a war, but despite this awful outcome, the women running the school are determined to stay open. We learn that the women running the school are witches, and they are using the girls who apply at the school for their own gain, to one day meet a powerful witch, known as the Mother. 

The witches become interested in Suzy, when they realize she has a lot more power in the art of dance than they thought, and they consider using her for the future ritual. Madame Blanc, one of the teachers in the school, takes a huge liking to Suzy, developing a bond with her over time, becoming very attached too her as she prepares her for the ritual. 

Several women begin to go missing, such as Patricia in the beginning of the film, who opens up to her therapist, named Josef Klemperer, who starts to suspect that something is deeply wrong with the dance school. Olga, another woman that was a friend of Patricia’s, accused the women of being witches, before running away. She is instantly targeted by the witches, and is taken away to be used for the ritual. Sara begins to start her own investigation when she runs into Josef, and she becomes determined to figure out what is happening in the school. 

Once she finds heavy evidence of what is going on, she attempts to tell Suzy, but she is unaware of what the witches want with her, not wanting to believe that her friend is trying to warn her. 

The witches are preparing the women for a dance, called Volk, that would trigger Suzy for the future ritual. 

This dance would be performed in front of a crowd of people, and one of these people would be Josef, attending the event. While Suzy and the other women are preparing for the dance, Sara wanders away, searching for Patricia. She finds her hidden in another part of the school, with other women who have been tortured for who knows how long. Sara runs away in fear, and while she is wandering in the dark, the witches put a spell on Sara, causing her to break one of her legs. They then hypnotize her, and seal up her wound with magic, so that she can dance through her pain during Volk. 

Suzy notices her friend’s odd behavior, including Josef, and before the dance can reach it’s climax, Sara collapses, feeling the pain within her leg. While the women are taking Sara away to get ‘treated,’ Suzy’s eyes are revealed to now be black, meaning that the ritual of the dance has worked. 

The witches then discuss about getting a witness for the future ritual, and they decide to choose Josef, since he had gotten himself involved with searching for the missing women. Madame Blanc starts to have doubts about using Suzy for the ritual, even though she is more than willing to give in to the ritual. Blanc starts to notice that Suzy’s behavior is way too strange, because she seems very calm despite the outcome that is awaiting her. 

Josef is captured by the witches, tricking him into believing that his wife, has returned from the war, because she had been captured, and never returned home. They use their magic to bring him to the school, to have him become their witness for the ritual. 

The ritual begins, and the witches learn that they have found their Mother, but in the most unlikely way. 

Suzy attends the ritual, now fully ready to give in. The other women in the school are under a spell, performing a dance for the witches, as they literally tear open Sara, Patricia, and Olga, using their insides for their ritual, while they are still alive…these witches were way too damn evil. 

Madame Blanc informs the other witches that something is not right here, pleading with Markos, another powerful witch that was in the same league as Blanc. More than half of the witches had a huge respect for Markos, but the other half respected Blanc more, creating a tough divide between them. Markos gets pissed off at Blanc, believing that she herself is the Mother, and she attacks Blanc, injuring her. Markos confronts Suzy, telling her to give in to her, so that the ritual could be completed. 

Suzy then reveals a dark truth, that she is actually the Mother they have been looking for. 

She summons a demon like figure, that murders Markos, including the other witches who wanted to serve her. Suzy then mercy kills Patricia, Sara, and Olga, ending their pain for good. Once the ritual is over, Josef is sent back home in a shocked state, and the witches begin to clean up the mess. They dispose of the dead bodies, wipe the events of last night from the minds of the students, and Suzy begins her own journey as a Mother for the witches. Blanc is shockingly still alive from her heavy injury, and her fate is left unknown as one of the witches is happy to see her alive. 

Suzy stops by Josef’s place, informing him of what had happened to his wife. She had died when she was captured, in cold temperatures, but she was not alone, and her last thought of was of Josef. He cries over her death, and Suzy decides to give him mercy, by erasing his mind of his wife, including the other women who were killed by the witches. 

The film then cuts to modern times, and the camera pans over to the old house of Josef, that had contained a drawn heart with both of Josef and his wife’s first initials, hinting that hopefully they are now reunited. 

The film ends with Suzy staring at something, as she leaves to go lead the school as their Mother. 

Suspiria is definitely a special kind of horror film. While the film is pretty much straightforward in the story it’s trying to tell, the mystery of what the Mother is supposed to represent, and the reason why it chose Suzy was such a fascinating concept within the story. 

I do think the original Suspiria is a masterpiece, but the remake to the film is on a whole other league, exposing the audience to a story that seems very other worldly, leaving us both terrified and curious. 

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn