Argento, often called the Italian Hitchcock (it’s a misnomer, the only things the two actually share are grandiose misogyny and a liking for sustained sequences) is arguably Italy’s foremost horror director and Suspiria is his finest movie to date. It’s difficult to give a flavour of its unique, surreal, hyper-intense mood by simply describing it. It’s not all that helpful to outline the plot, since there’s very little of it, and what there is doesn’t make much sense.

[…] And then there’s Argento’s masterful use of deep primary colours — the sets are bathed in garish red and green light (he acquired 1950s Technicolor stock to get the effect) giving the whole film a hallucinatory intensity. The score, composed by Argento and performed by his frequent collaborators, rock band Goblin, sounds as though Hell’s demons rented a studio and decided to jam. Screams, wailings, hissing steam and some kind of diabolical digeridoo are punctuated with the occasional distorted shriek of «Witch!». It’s enough to loosen the bowels on its own.

-- Adam Smith, Empire