Day 305 of the challenge! Another day in 2018, another high end, female led horror movie to keep you up at night. Good luck getting Suspiria out of your head.
Hereditary crushed you with it’s overwhelming dread and familial drama, Halloween shook you with it’s empowering depiction of PTSD, and now Suspiria will haunt you with it grotesquely beautiful body horror. That might sound like an oxymoron, but I think you’ll get it once you experience it.
Suspiria is one of the most visceral movies I’ve ever seen, easily giving Mandy a run for it’s money with it’s assault on your senses. It’s stunning, unapologetic in it’s rawness, and horrifying, all at the same time. There isn’t a single visual detail of this film that doesn’t demand your attention, which works great for the movie because the overlong plot sure won’t keep your attention. There’s plenty of thematic material weaved into Suspiria’s story, but so much of it serves no purpose.
There’s a shoe horned side plot connecting to World War II and The Holocaust, a bleak atmosphere of political violence (Berlin in 1977), and a fiercely aggressive feminist soul, all there to channel the current sociopolitical climate, but none of it is used to enhance the story effectively. It’s all just kind of there as decorative trimmings to an already stuffed film about witchcraft and dancing.
Despite these narrative failings, Suspiria still offers enough thrills and twists to make it worth your while, especially for fans of art-house fare and horror. It’s a perfect example of a standalone remake that still manages to be respectful of what came before it while adding something new.
Sweet dreams!