Recorded intro by Julia Ducournau before all shows!
"A film which immediately felt like home, like a cultural and emotional kinship. Weird thing to say about a work that operates the uncanny in such a discomforting way. Yet it is a work that exudes poetry (a free adaptation of Thomas de Quincey's Mater trilogy) with the seriousness of a teenage heart. it breaks with the satirical codes of the giallo to create a punk, literal and timeless gesture. The opening alone is a masterclass in directing. It is forever modern.” - Julia Ducournau
Made 40 years ago, Dario Argento’s gripping horror remains an impressive classic in which his stylized flourishes of the genre began to develop. When American dancer Suzy (Jessica Harper) enrolls at a prestigious ballet academy in Germany, she and her roommate (Stefania Casini) are caught in sinister web of murderous witchcraft on campus. This shocking cult favorite is scored by the Italian prog-rock band Goblin, a recurring musical collaborator of Argento’s.
Screening as part of Julia Ducournau: Carte Blanche, Ducornau’s latest, ALPHA, opens Friday, March 27.
Previously screened in Waverly Midnights: School Sucks, our 2024 series Panic Attacks: The Films of Dario Argento, the Winter 2022-2023 series "Waverly Midnights: Late-Night Favorites",and the Winter 2020 series "Waverly Midnights: Late-Night Favorites."