‘Suspiria’ live soundtrack with Goblin

19 August | Union Chapel, London

How do you write a review of Suspiria in 2014? Dario Argento’s work is a classic of lurid italo-terror, a stone-cold masterpiece and arguably the best horror film of the 20th century. At risk of ruining it for the uninitiated, the basic plot involves the Black Forest, ballet, an (un)dead witch and much stabbing/slicing/ripping; if that combo doesn’t pique your interest, then you’ve a stauncher cerebral constitution than I. Watching the film at the kind of scale afforded by the environs of the cavernous Union Chapel – an aesthetically gorgeous, if laughably inappropriate setting given the heretical content – has the added, monolithic bonus of being accompanied by Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin: the current iteration of the titular founder’s seminal prog band, the original line-up of which wrote Suspiria’s inimitably brilliant score back in 1977.

The film is preceded by a brief Q&A between Simonetti and Fright Fest co-ordinator Paul McEvoy. While not an outrageous raconteur by any stretch of the imagination, Simonetti is charming and humble, and his potted history of the band and their work with Argento is perfunctory but interesting. (It might be added that tonight is the second part of a micro-residency at the Chapel: they were here playing Dawn of the Dead the night before.)

The live score really only consists of two pieces: the seminal, eponymous theme and the woozy acoustic miasma of Sighs (the latter clearly being a great influence on the music for the original Diablo RPG, which, without any irony whatsoever, I can posit as very high praise), which tend to alternate throughout. The former is as powerful as ever, a dread-inducing mix of bazouki-strums, twinkling keys, hollow percussion and dreadful, guttural whispering supplied here by Simonetti himself.

More than any other film I can think of, Suspiria’s atmosphere of creeping dread is afforded as much by the use of repetitious sound and musical motif as it is the striking, technicolour visuals and wince-inducing set pieces (The green eyes! The heart! The skylight! The alsation! The store room inexplicably filled with razor wire! Etc.). Aesthetically, Suspiria is incredible, all blown out primary colours (especially red; LOTS of red), overlit expanses and a gorgeous design within the school itself which flits between the proto-teutonic and vividly art-deco, all of which contribute heavily to the paranoid, nightmarish tone. It’s a wholly enveloping experience, reaching a chaotic apex – Goblin shifting the theme into fist-pumping moog-abuse –before ending abruptly in a mess of fire and destruction, a fat-free multi-sensory treat. As Simonetti gleefully snaps pictures of the rapt audience filling the enclaves, it’s hard not to be blown away by the palpable reverence for the man. A thoroughly brilliant evening all round.

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Words: Thomas Howell

Photography: Cristina Massei