Jessica Harper as Susy Banyon
A young American dancer travels to Europe to join a famous ballet school. As she arrives, the camera turns to another young woman, who appears to be fleeing from the school. She returns to her apartment where she is gruesomely murdered by a hideous creature. Meanwhile, the young American is trying to settle in at the ballet school, but hears strange noises and is troubled by bizarre occurrences. She eventually discovers that the school is merely a front for a much more sinister organization. Director Dario Argento introduces some of the same characters, motifs, and ideas he works with in later films, notably Creepers. Argento can create striking images, and he tosses in Hitchcock quotes from such odd sources as North by Northwest and The Birds.
Biography for Jessica Harper
Date of birth
10 October 1949
Chicago, Illinois, USA
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Trivia
Produced the musical albums for children "Inside Out" and "Rhythm In My Shoes" and also performs on the albums with her daughters Nora and Elizabeth.
Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia: Talented, attractive actress who has appeared in a number of highly unusual roles. After studying voice and modern dance at Sarah Lawrence College, she debuted on Broadway in "Hair" and later scored her first major film role in Brian De Palma's rock opera Phantom of the Paradise (1974), as the singer Phoenix. Harper appeared in Love and Death (1975), Inserts (1976), and the horror films Suspiria (1977) and The Evictors (1979) before achieving acclaim in a number of diverse performances, as one of Woody Allen's girlfriends in Stardust Memories (1980), Janet in Shock Treatment Steve Martin's repressed wife in Pennies From Heaven (both 1981), and the object of Mark Linn-Baker's affections in My Favorite Year (1982). Harper has since been featured only in a few barely released films like The Imagemaker (1986), The Blue Iguana (1988), and Big Man on Campus (1990), and turned up for a season on "It's Garry Shandling's Show" (1989-90) as Garry's girlfriend.
Minority Report (2002) .... Anne Lively
Dario Argento: An Eye for Horror (2000) (TV) (interviewee) .... Herself
On the Edge of Innocence (1997) (TV)
Boys (1996) .... Mrs. John Baker
Safe (1995) .... Joyce
Mr. Wonderful (1993) .... Funny Face
Big Man on Campus (1989) .... Dr. Fisk
... aka Hunchback Hairball of L.A., The (1989) (UK)
Blue Iguana, The (1988) .... Cora
"It's Garry Shandling's Show" (1986) TV Series .... Phoebe Bass (series 4)
Imagemaker, The (1986) .... Cynthia
Once Again (1986)
Mondo dell'orrore di Dario Argento, Il (1985) .... Herself/Suzy Banyon
... aka Dario Argento's World of Horror (1985)
When Dreams Come True (1985) (TV) .... Annie
My Favorite Year (1982) .... K. C. Downing
Shock Treatment (1981) .... Janet Majors
Pennies from Heaven (1981) .... Joan
To Woody Allen from Europe with Love (1980) .... Herself
Stardust Memories (1980) .... Daisy
"Little Women" (1979) TV Series .... Jo March
Evictors, The (1979) .... Ruth Watkins
"Studs Lonigan" (1979) (mini) TV Series .... Loretta Lonigan
"Aspen" (1977) (mini) TV Series .... Kit Kendrick
... aka "Innocent and the Damned, The" (1979) (mini) (USA: rerun title)
Suspiria (1977) .... Susy Banyon
... aka Dario Argento's Suspiria (1977) (USA: promotional title)
... aka Suspiria - In den Krallen des B�sen (1977) (West Germany: poster title)
Love and Death (1975) .... Natasha
Inserts (1975) .... Cathy Cake
Phantom of the Paradise (1974) .... Phoenix
... aka Phantom (1974)
... aka Phantom of the Fillmore (1974)
Taking Off (1971) (uncredited) .... Herself
