Some will call arthouse horror remake Suspiria a bit suspect — it’s not sublime, but it is superior
A lot of people are going to hate Suspiria — a witchy gorefest that harks back to the Hammer classic of the 1970s — but what's so bad about style over substance?
DO you remember mother! - the film from last year that I gave five stars, but virtually the rest of the world hated?
Well, forgive me , but I may be about to slip down a one-man wormhole again, because this is another divisive film which will undoubtedly be derided as an arthouse mess.
It has many faults, but I couldn’t help but really enjoy it.
The original ‘Susperia’ is thought of as a Hammer classic. Released in 1977, Dario Argento’s style over substance horror was lauded - raising the question as to why Luca Guadagnino has bothered - well I was quite pleased he did.
Set in the year the original was released, Suspiria is a relatively simple story with the kitchen sink thrown at it - if the kitchen sink was full of blood and innards.
Dakota Johnson plays Susie Bannion, a talented dancer who arrives at a Berlin Dance Academy to be trained by the famous Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton), unaware it is a front for a coven of witches.
The film walks a tightrope between arthouse, old school and modern cinema, lulling you in with classic horror tropes but throwing you off-guard with quick cuts and disjointed angles.
To say this is gross and shocking and horrific in places is understating it - it is stomach churning and shockingly brutal.
It is easily 45 minutes too long and is laughably up it’s own backside for a healthy amount of the rest, but Johnson and Swinton are brilliant and anything with Thom Yorke’s involvement wins for me.
Grotesque and problematic, but gets the thumbs up.
Suspiria 153mins (18)
★★★☆☆