Luca Guadagnio’s reboot of Dario Argento’s classic Suspiria opens with a young dancer in a panic in her doctor’s office speaking of a coven of witches at her dance school. After reading her journal the doctor sets out on a mission to find the girl, but is it too late? Meanwhile a young woman auditions for the school. Her natural talent shines and the witches form a devious plan.
The film is very different than the original in many ways. The bright use of color in the original is replaced with a drab background. The reimaging is far more sexual with references to bestiality, masturbation and the lead character of Susie, played by Dakota Johnson, nearly constantly humping the ground or on the verge of orgasm out of the blue, but it’s not sexy in the least. While Johnson is experienced is sexual characters, she is the star of the Fifty Shades of Grey, after all, the kink feels out of place, odd, and forced. Don’t get me wrong, Johnson was fantastic in the role. I can’t imagine how tough and physically taxing it was for her to play the red-haired dancer.
Let’s talk about the witches in the film. First of all, when you think of witches in a horror film you expect scary, threatening characters. Not in this movie. Most of them are old women that could easily be in a retirement home. They spend half of the movie just exchanging stares and plotting. Even when they are in scenes meant to be disturbing, they are not. Tilda Swinton plays the character of Madame Blanc, a world-renowned, elegant, dance teacher, but the character is not impressive, to say the least. Completely lacking emotion, the teacher is not as imposing or threating as she should have been, but that’s not Swinton’s fault. She plays the character as she was directed to and the way it was written to be.
There is one truly impressive scene when a dancer is killed, twisted and mangled by the power of Susie’s dance. It’s grotesque, gory and incredible. Bravo to the special effects team on this scene. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of these moments in the movie.
All in all, I feel that the reboot is an over-hyped, dull, and an example of why Hollywood should avoid remaking classics altogether. I mean a classic is considered a classic for a reason. If you’re expecting a gory intense horror film, this one is not for you. However, if you’re a fan of modern dance you might enjoy it, they spend half the time in dance class. I have to admit, I wasn’t impressed by the film itself, it sorely lacks the tension and intensity of Argento’s original. While the film features themes of feminism and terror, it mostly it is about a young woman’s realization of her power and her sexual awakening, in my opinion, but unfortunately, I was just too bored to care. With a run time of 152 minutes, nearly an hour longer than the original, it feels like it drags on forever.
I’m going to have to give Suspiria, now out on Blu-ray and DVD, a score of 2 out of 5.
