Suspiria Review

An inevitable aesthetic change would be the focus of any adaptation or remake of Suspiria. A horror feature so tied to its style that any follow-up or faithful successor would try and one-up that. Modern moviemaking skills and the technical merits that flow through them mean that change must occur on a visual medium, rather than just a tonal quality. What this means for Suspiria is not a change of pace or description of horror, but for the mood it sets and how it looks. Visuals. They are the key that director Luca Guadagnino relies on throughout this remake of the Dario Argento classic. For better or worse, Guadagnino has left his mark on the Italian body horror genre and the rare modern turns Giallo sometimes finds itself experiencing.

Despite the strange utilisation of an act structure, Guadagnino turns Suspiria into his own playground of technical surprises. His utilisation of the uncanny or fearsome moments of silence in the second act is tremendous. Yet it is the build-up to the horrors that are so unnerving, rather than the horrors themselves. Guadagnino is one of many modern filmmakers attempting and sadly succeeding in popularising the red light mentality. Red showcases the fear and horror of a scene that is already terrifying enough without dark and moody lighting. Its subsequent shot into the mainstream, anywhere from Possessor to the recent adaptation of Hellraiser, is an obvious cause for bleak concern.

Still, if it works, it works. What it does here detracts from the horrors but bulk up the earlier moments. Tilda Swinton, as ever, provides more than enough quality on her own to warrant a watch of Suspiria. At times it feels as though it has jumped the boat, a film hoping to navigate its way through a sea of misfires and intense horrors. But Guadagnino, at the core of this piece, adapts Suspiriai well to the modern age. Not thematically, but visually. What can cause fear within an audience, how they react to the new readings this cast brings to the table. Dakota Johnson is expectedly superb, and a nice role for original cast member Jessica Garner is as rewarding as it is important. How much more effective would Suspiria be without its use of those garish red lights? Who knows.

Suspiria is responsible more for the cementing of a new wave of horror stars than it is for anything else. With Mia Goth launching into the likes of X and Pearl some years later, it is somewhat exciting to see newcomers to the field get a taste for horror and stick with it. Guadagnino did so by adapting Bones and All, another piece that may be based on something else but feels completely indifferent to the relative similarities. He is keen to carve his own work, to the point where his originality may as well be the starting point, not the project he so loosely bases his findings and works on. Suspiria has that effect. Beyond the similar storyline and iconography, it feels very loose and free, often to its advantage but sometimes to the detriment of the story unfolding here. Even in the face of disturbing horror, Guadagnino manages to miss out on one shock value to demand more from another.