1977 – Jessica Harper – Suspiria

Still considered one of the 10 best horror movies of all time and director Dario Argento’s best work ever, Suspiria doesn’t seem to age one bit. The contribution of American cult actress Jessica Harper is part of its appeal, as she played wide-eyed ballet student Suzy Bannion, poor soul trapped in an intimidating and foreign place. Suzy comes from the United States to enroll in a famous dancing academy in Germany, the Tanz Akademie. Upon her arrival, murder and mystery is afoot and the reception is quite cold, from her fellow students as from the officials. Suzy’s suspicions of strange going-ons will soon found reality, as this prestigious house of learning is probably a coven of witches, led by one of the Three Mothers, cruel and powerful diabolical entities! Everyone on your knees and beg forgiveness!

Argento first offered the main lead to Tina Aumont, who couldn’t do it. Then he saw Phantom of the Paradise and the rest is history. Born in 1949 in Chicago, Jessica Harper had only just an handful of previous movie credits before this project, including Phantom of the Paradise and Love and Death. From Brian De Palma to Woody Allen to Dario Argento… quite a spectacular run. But oddly after 1982’s My Favorite Year, Jessica gradually disappeared from high-profile projects to guest-star here and there in quieter roles, mainly on television. Maybe directors didn’t quite know what to do with her, as she was not a sex-symbol but a more modest presence. So on her way to stardom, it seemed she got derailed by her own personality, her own projected aura. But Jessica found a second wind in writing children’s book and music (sometimes performing with her two daughters). She even have an official site, more geared towards her creations towards the young.

Her big round eyes and innocent looks couldn’t be more adequate for this character, who will eventually display inner steel. Looking quite fragile and almost melancholy, Jessica Harper seemed to pop out of a fairy tale, and what better way to play an endangered waif than in the home country of the world’s best known Fairy Tales, Germany? We effortlessly share her feeling of alienation in a strange place, with danger all around. That was the natural acting gift of Jessica at work, creating a sympathetic young character amongst all these annoying, self-possessed or hysterical female dance students.

Suzy Bannion’s last shot in the movie finds her apparently laughing in the rain, finally relieved to escape this insane inferno (wait… isn’t Inferno the more or less sequel/companion to Suspiria? sure is). This is quite a refreshing image after being assaulted by terrifying scenes in the previous 95 minutes. When was the last time that a horror film heroine has come out smiling at the end of her ordeal?

Next: An horror icon who was then-companion of another horror icon, being directed by a legendary horror icon (as she was a new mother of a future horror icon)… in her best performance ever.

I’ve just met the delicious Ellen Ewusie while watching Dario Argento’s second Masters of Horrors contribution, Pelts. I was pleasantly disgusted by the episode, but this is nowhere near Argento’s best work. In fact, I would’ve never even guessed the Maestro’s involvement if I had not seen his name beforehand. Pelts tells the tale of a fur trader played by Meat Loaf who’s obsessed by a beautiful stripper. He soon gets his hands on a precious load of raccoon furs and… well, let’s just say that after an Asian movie dealing with an haunted wig, why not a fur coat becoming haunting material itself?

The episode is actually quite amusing with this unlikely premise but once again with Masters of Horror, the ending falls completely flat and is just an excuse for over-the-top gory effects, without any deep emotional vibes. I expected a more dramatic final contribution from that mystical raccoon tribe, whose presence would’ve have been beneficial for an even eerier atmosphere. A waste of effective material, but extremely well-acted, with a short and appreciated contribution by veteran John Saxon as a crusty hunter.

The highlight of the show remains Ellen Ewusie’s part of manipulative stripper Shana. Not only is she extremely good-looking, but is a very credible actress, playing a cliché role but making it her own nevertheless. I remember seeing her as a devilish temptress (in every sense of the word) in Bones, a couple of years back, only leaving me disappointed that this part was too short. She had a couple of small cameos in 2005 for Devour and Fantastic Four, but Pelts is without a doubt her strongest work to date. Sadly, not much is known about her for now; I deduced that she’s Canadian, based in Vancouver, that she talks Russian (part of her mixed heritage?) and was trained as a dancer. So she was seen in some music videos, commercials (mostly for beer, yes she’s Canadian) and some TV series parts (remember that Masters of Horror is filmed in British-Colombia). I’d like to know more and see more of Ellen Ewusie, don’t you agree?

In 1845, English author Thomas de Quincey wrote Suspiria de Profundis, which contained a segment called Levana and Our Ladies of Sorrow, Levana being the Roman goddess of newborn babies. It’s there that we can meet the Three Mothers: Mater Lachrymarum (Our Lady of Tears), Mater Suspiriorum (Our Lady of Sighs) and Mater Tenebrarum (Our Lady of Darkness) or as de Quincey puts it, the Three Sorrows. These writings inspired a young actress named Daria Nicolodi to write a script for her director husband, Dario Argento. Their collaborative result was 1977’s Suspiria, in my opinion one of the best horror film of all time. The success of that project inspired them for a sequel, 1980’s Inferno. But for many years, the last chapter of the Mothers trilogy was not to be.

At last this year, Argento finally proposed to the world The Third Mother, which reunites him with his past amour Daria in an acting role, alongside their daughter Asia, now an internationally known celebrity in her own right. I think this is the first time that this trio have worked on a project together. My goal here is to identify for you the various comediennes who essayed these sinister roles.

Suspiria - Mater Suspiriorum - uncredited actress
Wow, this starts very well indeed. Let’s meet an unidentified actress rumored to be a ninety-year-old ex-hooker who played the oldest Mother (here called Elena Markos), if we can believe star Jessica Harper’s memory! Lovely. Let’s move on…

Inferno - Mater Tenebrarum - Veronica Lazar
Born in Romania in 1938, Veronica Lazar played the cruelest Mother. She was in no more than 20 movies, but made some very wise choices, like Last Tango in Paris, Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond or Identification of a Woman. She used to be the wife of actor Adolfo Celi, memorably remembered as the villain in Thunderball. Inferno was of course the last film work of legendary Mario Bava, who supervised its fiery finale.

Inferno/The Third Mother - Mater Lachrymarum - Ana Pieroni/Moran Atias
The most beautiful Mother was played in Inferno by Ania Pieroni, who possessed an uncanny, almost supernatural beauty, with amazing pale eyes and generous blond hair. She has also played in another Argento movie, Tenebre, where she meets a very juicy demise. Here she’s a bewitching (in every sense of the word) musical student who suddenly (and too briefly) appears before the story’s hero.

Ania was not the main focus of the movie, however, so for The Third Mother 27 years later, Moran Atias was enrolled for the same role. Born in 1981, in Haifa, Israel, Moran has enjoyed work as a model (starting at the age of 15) and TV presenter. She actually was the hostess of Israel’s version of Deal or No Deal. We’ll soon revisit her for this blog.

The Third Mother had its North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. It’s supposed to be widely released sometimes at the beginning of 2008 and the DVD will be handled by the Weinstein Company, so don’t hold your breath for both, I’m afraid… As always for an Argento project, critics had been divided between a triumph and a disaster, as read in the European press.