London Film Festival 2018 Review

In a film landscape that has countless remakes across every year, it would have been quite easy for someone to have remade Dario Argento’s seminal horror classic for a new generation as so many have been. Many classics of the genre have been given a new sheen but Suspiria 2018 is nothing like those that have come before: more “cover” version than a remake, like a classic book retold (which Suspiria was initially), Luca Guadagnino’s new re-telling perhaps looks like a stripped-down version of the material given the lack of neon flamboyance that made the original such a classic, but beneath the surface lurks just as much terror, shocks and indeed beauty to be put in the same league as its cousin.

Leading this one is Dakota Johnson’s Susie, a young American who has travelled across Europe from Ohio after finally landing an audition for the highly prestigious Markos Dance Academy, directed by Madame Blanc (Swinton). She’s a raw, untrained talent that appears to the be the performer the academy has been waiting for – in more ways than one – and is swiftly enrolled. She takes the academy by storm and forms a friendship with Sara (Mia Goth), a fellow student who is recovering from the sudden disappearance of former student Patricia (Chloe Grace Moretz) and is still searching for answers. Clues may lie within reach thanks to Dr. Josef Klemperer (Lutz Ebersdorf), who was told by Patricia before her disappearance that she believed the Academy to be under the rule of a coven of powerful witches.

Taking an eraser to Argento’s mesmeric colour cornucopia from 1977, Guadagnino’s new take on the material isn’t as straight a remake as you may be thinking – this isn’t a Poltergeist or a Carrie where everything you loved about the original has been eradicated so we’re left pulling out hair out as to why such a thing has happened, this is an entirely different beast that lures us in with the promise of more of the same but with things the likes of which we may never have seen before. Operating with a watered down palette, Guadagnino is all about the atmosphere, the unease of being away from the familiar, utilising a clinical, almost no-frills surrounding that immediately lures you into its spell before its murky underbelly strikes like a viper. Everything is diluted but no less disturbing or uneasy than the adaptation it takes its inspiration from, Suspiria is a slow, measured horror than digs deep into the psychological, sowing its seeds into your brain with some of the most visceral sequences of the year before it explodes into something that’s both horrific and beautiful all at once.

Johnson goes all-in as Susie here; fully embodying the fish-out-of-water beginnings before things take many twists and turns, it’s easily the best thing the actress has done in her still fledgeling career. Indeed, had this been under the tutelage of another filmmaker her energetic and quite dazzling display may not have had the same pull to it but under Guadagnino’s assured direction, Johnson goes beyond any expectations you may have had pre-release. Swinton, meanwhile, always been a chameleon with an innate ability to disappear behind the facade she is creating, here she takes it one step further, toying us with a game of “Spot The Tilda” as she inhabits three (maybe more) very different characters, all of which showcase her immeasurable talents. It’s hard to pick a favourite amongst them – truth be told, they are all magnificent.

While it may lack the shocks and jump scares that most horror audiences crave, Suspiria is a different beast entirely: an eerie, uncomfortable but undeniably mesmeric experience, it’s a film that demands your attention (which will be tested) and should you stay the course through its bleak, monochrome-soaked narrative, there lies a spellbinding film that really has to be seen to be believed.