By JASON COMERFORD

The sum total of Dario Argento’s directorial style is perfectly crystallized in a single early sequence in his 1977 classic Suspiria: a rain-drenched young woman (Eva Axén) to whom we’ve just barely been introduced is menaced by unseen forces in the night, before meeting an untimely and spectacularly vicious end. Along with striking production design from Giuseppe Bassan and sumptuous Technicolor photography from Luciano Tovoli, Argento’s lovingly stylized murder setpieces are amplified by the score contributed by the Italian progressive-rock group Goblin, whose members at the time included Claudio Simonetti, Massimo Morante, Fabio Pignatelli and Agostino Marangolo.

Argento’s work, at its best, combines feverish color schemes, fairy-tale storytelling and the elusive, intangible logic of a half-remembered dream, and in Goblin, he found the musical voice to match his imagination. As Axén senses a presence outside her bedroom window, “Sighs” rises on the soundtrack to menace her (and us), beginning with scraping, eerie vocal effects over a steady harpsichord rhythm, with a snakelike bass-guitar figure eventually emerging to curl and strike. The pained vocals and twisted instrumentation rise to a wordless, jangling cacophony, the cue building steadily towards a sudden and violent attack.

Goblin’s tenure was short-lived; the lineup rotated several times during the late 70s and eventually the members went on to pursue their own projects, sometimes working with each other and sometimes not. But at their creative peak, they helped define a unique and unforgettable sonic approach that has yet to be replicated.

CAUTION: Be forewarned, the below clip is a graphic and violent scene from Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA featuring the Goblin score cue "Sighs."

Director Dario Argento