The last we saw from Luca Guadagnino was a bright, sunshine-filled love story. This fall, however, he’s trading in the feelings of desire for those of horror and suspense for “Suspiria.”
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Guadagnino’s next film doesn’t seem to be so much of a remake of the Dario Argento’s 1977 “Suspiria” original, but rather an extension of that film. However, the central premise seems to be similar to the original, a hopeful young American dancer (Dakota Johnson) travels to Germany to learn ballet at a prestigious local school, only to slowly uncover a dark history of witchcraft and death.
The one big difference between the two films is that in the original, the plot is mostly focused on the dancing lessons, there is not a grand dance moment; whereas Guadagnino has included one. “We felt that dance needed to be part of the process of witchcraft. That performance builds towards the greater ritual that is at the core of the film,” the director said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
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Costume designer Giulia Piersanti revealed, “We hand-knotted each costume in red bondage rope in our atelier, to give it a feeling of dripping blood.” And if that isn’t creepy enough, when it comes to the choreography, Johnson stated, “We were moving on the points of a pentagram, as though the dance were casting a spell.” All of which adds a disturbing twist to some horror elements.
Starring alongside Johnson in “Suspiria” is Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth, Lutz Ebersdorf, Jessica Harper and Chloë Grace Moretz. The film is 152 minutes, nearly a full hour longer than the 98-minute original. Thom Yorke of Radiohead wrote the music for the film.
“Suspiria” will be released in the U.S. by Amazon Studios on November 2, 2018, but it will premiere first at the Venice Film Festival which kicks off soon, Wednesday, August 29. If you’re one of those crazy “Suspiria” super fans, you can keep an eye on our site on September 1 which is the day the film actually premieres at the Lido. Our review will be up sometime that day.