Details

Release year: 1977

Storyline

An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.

Top credits

Directors

Dario Argento

Writers

Cast

Jessica Harper — Suzy Bannion
Stefania Casini — Sara
Flavio Bucci — Daniel
Miguel Bosé — Mark

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Did you know

• Director Dario Argento's original idea was that the ballet school would accommodate young girls no older than 12 years. However, the studio and producer Salvatore Argento (his father) denied his request because a film this violent involving children would almost certainly be banned. Dario raised the age limit of the girls to 20 years but did not rewrite the script, hence the naiveté of the characters and the occasionally childlike dialogue. He also put all the doorknobs at about the same height as the actress' heads so they would have to raise their arms in order to open the doors, just like children.

• Director Dario Argento had cinematographer Luciano Tovoli watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to have him model the color scheme of that film for this one.

• The woman playing Helena Markos was not credited. According to Jessica Harper, she was a 90-year-old former prostitute who director Dario Argento found on the streets of Rome, Italy.