When it comes to the remake of Dario Argento’s Suspiria remake that’s on its way, writers, fans and filmmakers are going to have their fair share of opinions. Which is why both Leslie Hatton and Jeffery X Martin are weighing with their thoughts on the film’s trailer that dropped this morning.
Leslie Hatton:
It’s no secret that horror fans can be judgemental about remakes of our favorite films. So when Italian director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) announced his remake of 1977’s beloved Dario Argento classic Suspiria, fans were less than thrilled.
And yet… Guadagnino certainly chose a lot of talented people to participate in this project. Say what you will about the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise, Dakota Johnson has star power, so featuring her in the lead role will certainly get bums in seats.
Other big names include Tilda Swinton, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Jessica Harper, who starred in the original film. The score is being provided by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, who certainly knows his way around creepy, atmospheric music.
Early stills from the film looked promising, but now we have a teaser trailer.
Based on this short trailer, Guadagnino’s version of Suspiria definitely looks bleak. The vivid reds, blues, and purples of Argento’s film have been replace with greys, blacks, and browns. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, some of these scenes bring to mind giallo films like What Have You Done to Solange? and The Perfume of the Lady in Black, in addition to neo-giallo movie The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears. Perhaps it’s just the fact that the film is set at a ballet school, but I also caught a whiff of Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan.
No dialogue is spoken in this trailer; all we have to go on are ambiguous, meaningful looks and a slowly building tension. It’s all very effective. It also makes me more interested in seeing the film than I was before.
The film will arrive in theaters November 2.
What do you think of this trailer? Will you be seeing Suspiria when it hits theaters?
Jeffery X Martin:
The teaser trailer for Luca Guadagnino’s remake of Suspiria hit the internet this morning, and if you’re a horror fan, you can expect your social media feeds to blow up with differing opinions about it. Some fans consider the original Dario Argento film from 1977 to be a sacred cow, untouchable, never to be remade or even spoken about in a negative fashion. Other horror buffs are intrigued by what Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) will do with the source material, especially after a scene from the remake, which disturbed some viewers to the point of nausea, was presented at CinemaCon this past April.
The plot, as far as we know, revolves around Suzy Bannion (Dakota Johnson), a new student at a famed ballet school. The artistic director (Tilda Swinton) rules the dancers with an iron fist, and soon strange things begin to happen. Could witchcraft be involved? According to the original plot and one of the promotional posters, you bet it is. Blood, maggots and toe shoes abound!
