Luca Guadagnino has come a long way from Call Me By Your Name. His newest project, a remake of 1977's witch-horror movie Suspiria, recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival to...somewhat mixed reviews.
Reviewers say that while the movie is stylish and Guadagnino's directorial eye is strong, the thematic additions he layered onto the original's more straightforward horror plot worked for some people and turned others off.
Here's what other reviewers had to say about Suspiria.
It's not scary, but the spooky tone is well done
“Suspiria” has the virtues, but also the limits, of a lavishly cerebral high-end horror film. It holds your attention, and creeps you out at times, but it’s not scary, and it’s not really — dare I say it? — fun.
Light on jolts and “holy shit” moments, the film prefers to make your skin crawl through the dull terror of memory, the red stain of guilt, and the sickening historical truth that the members of a coven (or the people of a country) are more likely to absolve each other of their collective sins than hold themselves accountable.
Suspiria is a gorgeous, hideous, uncompromising film, and while it seeks to do many things, settling our minds about the brutality of the past and human nature is not one of them.
It's brainier than the original, which may not be a good thing
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter:
Guadagnino has made an ambitious homage, but it doesn’t really benefit from its more intellectualized gaze, instead draining the stomach-churning thrills of great horror.
There are smart moments of fear and subliminal shivers of disquiet, the dance sequences are good and of course Guadagnino could never be anything other than an intelligent film-maker. But this is a weirdly passionless film.
It's on the long side, and some say...kinda boring
So what does Guadagnino’s version convey? Boredom, mostly, with confusion and a dollop of disappointment and irritation.
I’m racking my brain to find another example of an instance in which a director used his complete artistic freedom for the purpose of flaunting his absolute lack of artistic conviction. And I’m not coming up with much.
But this new Suspiria is bland, grisly, boring and silly. There is nothing poetic or erotic about it.
