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So, here we are. Suspiria 2018 is a remake of the all-time great Dario Argento 1977 film. The Argento one is one of our mutual favorites. It’s definitely in our Top 15 Horror Films of All Time, if we were to make such a list (to get a sense of our sensibilities, the other entries would include Maniac, Martyrs, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, to cite a few).
So, we faced this one with some trepidation, some anticipation, but mostly that time-honored sensation felt by many a gore-hound: PLEASE, for the love of all things holy, don’t F this up!
Luca Gadagnino is apparently also a great lover of the Argento film. And you can tell. He does a loving tribute, but does so in a way that’s so different from the original that it can operate as its own entity.
Apart from the American student, the German locale, the ballet school, and the coven therein, there is not too much tying this 2018 Suspiria to the original one.
On this episode of the Really Awful Movies Podcast, we do a deep dive comparing the two. On the show, we talk about:
- Expectations we have of art
- Audience and critical reception of the film, in the likes of New Yorker, etc
- German politics and German post-war guilt, the Lufthansa airlines hijacking
- The cities of Berlin and Munich in film
- Scene settings and sense of place and real vs unreal in horror films
- Internecine coven politics
- The wonderful actress Tilda Swinton, and her portrayal(s) in Suspiria
- Radiohead and Thom Yorke, the impact of the original film’s score vs the 2018 version
- How this remake was handled verses David Gordon Green’s 2018 Halloween
- Moral agency through the character of the psychiatrist
- Body horror and color palettes used in horror films
And much, much more (including some Goblin whistling!)
Check it out, and please subscribe and leave a comment on iTunes.
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