Film Review: "Suspiria" (2018).

"Tremble tremble!!! The witches are back" with Suspiria (2018). This supernatural horror film directed by Luca Guadagnino, written by David Kajganich, based on the 1977 Italian film directed by Dario Argento. A darkness swirls at the center of a world-renowned dance company, one that will engulf the artistic director, Madame Blanc; an ambitious young dancer, Susie Bannion; and a grieving psychotherapist, Dr. Josef Klemperer. Some will succumb to the nightmare. Others will finally wake up.

In 2008, a remake was first announced after Guadagnino had acquired the option from the original film's writers, Argento and Daria Nicolodi. Guadagnino set up the project for David Gordon Green to direct, with Natalie Portman set to play Suzy Bannion, and Isabelle Huppert as Madame Blanc. But it was canceled due to financing conflicts. In September 2015, at the 72nd Venice Film Festival, Guadagnino was confirmed to direct, with Tilda Swinton and Dakota Johnson confirmed to star in late November. The project was described as a "homage" to the original rather than a direct remake. Kajganich was set to pen the script, setting the film during the German Autumn of 1977 to explore themes of generational guilt in Germany during the Cold War. Additionally, it focuses on themes of motherhood, evil, and the dynamics of matriarchies. By October 2016, Mia Goth, Angela Winkler, Ingrid Caven, Chloë Grace Moretz, as well as original star Jessica Harper had rounded out the cast. In December, four months after finishing work on Call Me by Your Name (2017), Guadagnino began filming. Principal photography began in late October, and was completed in early March 2017. Locations included Varese, Italy and Berlin, Germany, and like the original, the film was shot on 35mm film stock. However, unlike the original, the film uses exaggerated colours, Guadagnino conceived it as "winterish" and bleak, absent of primary colours. The film incorporates stylized dance sequences choreographed by Damien Jalet, which form part of its representation of witchcraft. Kajganich wanted the dance to directly reflect women's movements and emotions, so the inspiration for the choreography came from female dancers Mary Wigman, Pina Bausch, and Sasha Waltz. The film features the debut score from Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, who succeeds fellow band members Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway into film scoring. For the score, Yorke took inspiration from the krautrock created around the time of the film's setting.

The film stars Johnson, Swinton, Goth, Winkler, Caven, Moretz, and Harper. The cast gave tour de force performances, particularly that of Johnson and Swinton. Johnson, like her character, showed stunning physicality. Where as Swinton showed incredible versatility and proved that she's still one of the actresses of her generation working today.

The horror seeps freely in Guadagnino's Suspiria, a bleak, minimalistic horror epic that is just as grandiose and glorious as the original. When you sit down to watch the film, you sit down with normal expectations of being diverted, perhaps even being gripped, but not being undermined. But the film undermines you in powerful and inchoate ways.

Simon says Suspiria (2018) receives:

Also, see my review for Call Me by Your Name.