SUSPIRIA (2018)

As soon as this remake of Argento's classic 1977 film was announced there was the usual hue & cry from horror fandom. It was a noise similar to the one made every time a remake of a beloved film is learned of and, to be blunt, I'm damned sick of it. Yes, a large number of remakes suck. No joke. But some of them are very good examples of creative people finding new ways to tell a good tale. Why not hope for the best and discover what the new film might have to offer? Of course, I think I know why. For a lot of self appointed defenders of cinema, The Great Screaming is a public display of their bona fides as real fans. I'm not saying they don't actually feel that remakes are a bad idea. I just think that a very public rending of garments is a way to prove they are to be taken seriously. Their loudly derisive sneers about a movie they have not yet seen are broadcast to enhance their own standing in fandom. "Look at me! I hate something sight unseen. I also hate food I haven't tasted. Aren't I to be admired?" This is pathetic. It's the one thing that I know will eventually cause me to go off on some bloviating idiot in a way that will require me to make a major apology or do hard time. One day I will be screaming 'Grow Up' at some gibbering protector of art while fighting the urge to strangle them with a length of 35mm film from Cronenberg's THE FLY (1986).

But I digress. How was SUSPIRIA (2018)?

Surprisingly brilliant. As a friend said after the credits rolled, "Now that's how to remake a film!" Indeed. The filmmakers have taken the story of a young American woman traveling to Germany in 1977 to attend a dance school that is secretly run by witches and crafted something new and fresh. Smartly avoiding the incredibly colorful visual style of the original, this film strives to look as grim and bleak as Winter in 1970's Berlin actually probably looked. The colors are muted, the sky overcast and the population is constantly reminded of the dark realities of life by steady news reports of the ongoing Red Army Faction terrorist activity in the country. These visuals change the feel of the story immediately from a place of bright beauty with shadows creeping into view from the corners to a dark, pitiless place with harsh details seeping into life from all over. Here, the dance studio could be seen as a retreat from the unpredictable world of sudden violence and ugly reality. This sets the tone for the story brilliantly. We are already worried about the real life horrors that occasionally intrude onto the soundtrack adding an uncertainty to events that would be ordinary in other circumstances.

Also, in this remake, the dance academy actually comes alive. In Argento's film it was just a place to gather a group of young women of a certain age to provide victims for the witches. In this film dancing is an integral part of the witches' lives. Dance is used as part of the casting of spells and as a way of testing the latent powers of the students. This addition to the tale builds a depth into things that allows the final act to become more clearly part of the whole story. Along with the machinations of the witches/teachers as they choose their coven's new leader it paints a complex picture of these women as layered characters with competing visions for their art - both witchcraft and dance. It is fascinating!

The addition that I worried most about was the expansion of the realistic element from the first version. In the original movie we have a couple of 'experts' on the human mind who are replaced here with an elderly Jewish psychiatrist pulled into investigating the academy by the disappearance of one of his clients. This character seemed an odd one to enlarge in the story even as he becomes a stand-in for the audience, exploring the background of the school and it's founders. But by the final act it is clear why he, with his tragic history, is perfectly suited to demonstrate the change in the coven by the end of things.

This new film is fantastic and, while it won't replace the original for me, it is an incredible achievement. I wish that more remakes were given this level of thought and effort by their creative teams. 2018's SUSPIRIA is a great film that stands proudly next to 1977's film as a cleverly conceived variation on it's themes. Well done!