Suspiria 2018 vs. Suspiria 1977: An Attempt to Remake Magic

It finally came. The long-awaited remake to the 1977 Italian giallo horror film from the mind of Dario Argento, Suspiria. In 2018, director Luca Guadagnino brought to the big screen the Tanz Dance Academy of Germany once more and the terrifying myth of the Three Mothers. After directing the Oscar-nominated Call me by your Name and turning down the Halloween remake, Guadagnino took it upon himself to recreate a horror classic.

This blog post will attempt to parse out the similarities and the differences between the two films, as well as any remarkable qualities either film resonated. I will preface this blog post with my mental state and bias toward the remake. Before even viewing a second, I was hesitant this film would reach the level of the original or even amuse my senses. The original is a horror cult classic and one of my personal all-time favorite horror movies. Although, the addition of Dakota Johnson as the lead, Chole Grace-Mortez as a supporting role, Tilda Swinton comprising three separate roles in the film, a cameo from Jessica Harper, and a score from Thom Yorke piqued my interest.

I still had to go see the movie. Before I begin any analysis, I will WARN THE READER. THIS REVIEW WILL INCLUDE SPOILERS. Toward the end of my analysis, I will discuss the different narrative styles of the film and the ending. Without further ado, I will begin my dissection of the Suspiria films.

Visual Color

The easiest element to discuss right out of the gate is the visual style. Argento’s film was a vibrant, visual display of madness. During certain scenes, the film was tinted to particular colors, the scenery was angled with beautiful architecture, and the bright visuals only intensified the deaths. The imagery elicited fantastical elements; it made the viewer believe they were in a surrealistic nightmare, yet at the same time the narrative was almost fairy tale-esque.

Guadagnino’s film is much more muted. The colors are not vibrant, but instead more earth tones. The hallways are dark and ominous, but they do not conjure the same visual allure as the original. The dreariness of the German landscape and the rainy days only add to the bleak palette. This was a striking difference, but I knew this was the tone Guadagnino would be utilizing for his film. It was surprising and to the credit of Guadagnino it does not ruin the film, but it does not match the quality of the original. It reminded me of the color scheme used throughout many modern witch films including Witch.

Who Did it Better: Argento (1977)

Soundtrack

The progressive rock band of the 70s Goblin produced the original soundtrack. They worked very close with Argento during the making of the film to perfect the score. The relationship between Argento and Goblin had already been established with their work on Deep Red. I own the vinyl to both Deep Red and Suspiria. On a quiet day, I find myself picking out these records, laying the needle down, and enjoying the eerie tunes of Goblin.

Witch…. Witch…Witch…The echoing voices throughout the academy developed by Goblin are unsettling and their primal noises dance down your spine.

With the 2018 Suspiria, Guadagnino brought along Radiohead legend Thom Yorke. Yorke took a different approach to the film. He decided to focus on the melancholy features of the production. A heavy dose of synth was used to balance the melancholy struggle of the protagonist with the eeriness of the academy. The main song of the film Suspirium was played during the opening credits, the climax, and the end credits. The song itself is a beautiful track from Yorke and one I might expect on a solo album, but it didn’t seem to fit in this remake. It was genuinely not a Suspiria track for this reviewer, but it does highlight his focus on the melancholy aspects of the film.

On the other hand, Yorke created many songs for the film specifically meant for dance sequences. In a latter section I will tackle the issue of dance between the two films, but Yorke composed a track titled, Volk. This song accompanies a dance from the academy dancers at a crucial point in the film. Volk is both ominous and enticing. It really is spell-like and leaves the listener in a trance. This soundtrack is nothing like Goblin’s, but it is authentically Suspiria.

Who Did It Better: Tie

Dance

If you are aware of the film Suspiria, you will know the main plot of the film occurs in a dance academy in Germany. The protagonist is an American dancer who moves to Germany to perform in the famed European academy. In the original – despite the location of a dance academy – very little actual dance occurs. During many of the dance scenes, Suzy is weak or hurt and must seek rest. The actual dance plays little relevance to the film.

In the new film, dance is a vital aspect to the film. Many beautifully choreographed sequences show the whole dance class performing for people, practicing their moves, or contorting their bodies to enact century old rituals.

You heard correct. In the 2018 Suspiria, dance is the central force which brings forth the witches’ powers and inflicts their violence on enemies. A disenfranchised dancer by the name of Olga – in a stomach-turning display of body horror- has her body mangled and twisted in parallel to a dance sequence being performed.

Who Did It Better: Guadagnino (2018)

Violence

It wouldn’t be a fair review of the original Suspiria if I did not discuss the violence in the films. The 1977 version we all have seen and come to love is a truncated version of the movie Argento wished to release. He had to trim down several scenes of body mangling to pass the censors. Not to mention, the stylized manner he displayed these brutal deaths only added to the supernatural element to the film. In Argento’s film, the characters are drenched in blood and their deaths are choreographed in spectacular fashion. One of the most icon deaths in horror history occurs at the beginning of Suspiria (1977) when a dancer’s heart is stabbed, her head smashed through stained glass, her body hung from the ceiling, and a shard of stain glass is planted in her friend’s head.

Guadagnino does not shy away from violence in his movie, but he does rely less on blood. As aforementioned, the deaths in the 2018 version deal more with body horror and striking imagery. The characters are not bathing in blood, but horribly mangled and mentally tortured. Guadagnino’s Suspiria does have an excellent couple of sequences when they send nightmares to Suzy. The imagery in those rapid edits were deeply unsettling.

Who Did It Better: Argento (1977)

Politics of the Coven and War Guilt

Any good horror movie will relate its subject matter to a real-world struggle or movement. Horror movies are a vessel to challenge the status quo and address our social fears. The original film lightly touched on elements of Nazi Germany and its lingering presence in the nation. More specially, Argento focused on vision: Don’t go looking for answers or you will be punished. This was a metaphor used for Nazis, but also for any fascist/authoritarian leadership (the coven).

Guadagnino similarly set his movie in 1977 Germany and touched many of these similar themes. Although, Guadagnino’s film is a tad more feminist with twist. The original movie has a clear and simple hierarchy. All the witches in the coven follow Helena Markos, the academy’s supposedly deceased director, from who the entire coven draws their power. We do not see Helena Markos until the end of the film and even then, she is invisible for much of the time. The new film has Helena Markos similarly dead, in the basement, and she is awaiting a new vessel.

However, Markos is challenged by her former protégé, Madame Blanc. This is the role played by Tilda Swinton. Blanc now is a mentor to Suzy and is trying to cultivate her into one of the coven. Blanc consistently attempts to be the leader of the coven but is voted down by other members of the coven. As a result, two separate factions arise: the Blacnites and Markosites.

Guadagnino chose to set his version in the year of the original film's release to overtly tap into themes of feminism and political upheaval, often around a period of the Cold War dubbed the German Autumn, which saw a large number of political crises occur related to Germany at home and abroad.

The new film makes a point regarding the consistency of feminine power through these times, as the coven seeks to survive as it has always done through huge socio-economic upheaval.

Meanwhile, Guadagnino attempted to grapple the theme of war guilt for post WWII Germany. Are the citizens of Germany permissive or supportive of the Nazi regime? How can we move past this division? The character Guadagnino used to personify this idea was Dr. Josef Klemperer (also played by Swinton). He is investigating the dance academy while concurrently grieving his long-missing wife Anke (played in a cameo by Jessica Harper). She tried to flee Nazi forces during the war and he feels he did not do enough to help. At the end, he learns Anke did die in a concentration camp. He is devastated, but a spell banishes his memories and as such, his guilt.

Who Did It Better: Argento (1977) * Guadagnino’s version was much better at depicting the internal struggles of the coven, but much of the war guilt narrative and politics of the coven became muddled in this 2-and-a-half-hour film.

The Ending/ Mother Suspiriorum / Life and Death

If you do not want too much spoiled, you can skip this section. I discuss the ending of the films in this section and any twists involved. Okay…Here we go…

Firstly, a major difference between the 1977 version and the 2018 film is the concept of Mother Suspiriorum. In Argento’s film, Helena Markos is Mother Suspiriorum. She is worshiped as such by the coven. Argento went on to create two more films to complete the Three Mothers trilogy: Mother Tenebrarum (Mother of Darkness) in the film Inferno and Mother Lachrymarum (Mother of Tears) in Mother of Tears.

In Guadagnino’s film, Marko’s claims to be Mother Suspirorum and in the crypt of the dance academy she awaits Suzy to use her body as a vessel to live forever. Yet, a twist ensues! Suzy is the real entity. She is Mother Suspirorum and has returned to the school to reclaim her coven. She then sets lose on the members of the coven who did not stand with Madam Blanc.

In the original, Suzy is not a witch at all and purely a victim of witchcraft. She flees the academy after she kills Helena Markos and the academy burns to the ground in Gothic fashion. This established Suzy as the final girl and the typical archetype of the horror genre. In the new film, Suzy is literally the wicked witch of them all. She secretly empowers and embodies the same darkness as all the witches.

In the 2018 version, the film has a better balance of living and dead characters at the end. Although we learn Suzy is the grand high witch, she does show some compassion for innocence. She kills all who support Marcos or the false Queen, but she is a forgiving Mother. The film examines grief through the death of Suzy’s mother and Klemperer learning about his wife. Thus, the 2018 version shows how magic could be a positive light.

As a final thought, a downside to this film compared to the original was the secretive nature of the coven. In the original, Suzy and the audience did not know the academy was a witch coven. Almost from the onset, the audience is aware the academy is full of witches and it is only Suzy in the dark.

Who Did It Better: Argento (1977)

From the tally, you can see Argento’s original is the superior film. Guadagnino’s film had many redeeming qualities, but it lacked the fairy tale, innocent fun of the original. As I watched the new version, I couldn’t help thinking this would have made a good modern witch movie. It did not need to be a remake to a horror classic. Guadagnino tried to brew a wicked witch remake film, but produced a lukewarm replication.