Original ‘Suspiria’ Director Claims Remake “Did Not Excite Me”

Many horror fans considered last year’s remake of Suspiria to be one of the more effective films of the year, yet director of the original film, Dario Argento, wasn’t nearly as impressed. The filmmaker boldly claimed that the endeavor, while having an impressive set design, offered little else of interest.

“I saw the remake of Suspiria at the cinema. It did not excite me, it betrayed the spirit of the original film: there is little fear, there is no music,” Argento shared with Radio Rai 1’s Un Giorno da Pecora [H/T Indie for Bunnies]. “The film has not satisfied me so much, it’s like that, a refined film, like [director Luca] Guadagnino, who is a fine person.”

The film did indeed have music, composed by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, but Argento’s comments likely reflect that he felt the score wasn’t as impactful as the work done by Goblin on the original 1977 movie.

Argento didn’t claim the film was an entire failure, as he noted the director “makes beautiful tables, beautiful curtains, beautiful dishes, all beautiful.”

In the film, young American dancer Susie Bannion (Dakota Johnson) arrives in 1970s Berlin to audition for the world-renowned Helena Markos Dance Company, stunning the troupe’s famed choreographer, Madame Blanc Tilda Swinton), with her raw talent. When she vaults to the role of lead dancer, Olga, the previous lead, breaks down and accuses the company’s female directors of being witches. As rehearsals intensify for the final performance of the company’s signature piece, Susie and Madame Blanc grow strangely close, suggesting that Susie’s purpose in the company goes beyond merely dancing. Meanwhile, an inquisitive psychotherapist trying to uncover the company’s dark secrets enlists the help of another dancer, who probes the depths of the studio’s hidden underground chambers, where horrific discoveries await.

Interestingly, Guadagnino had previously revealed that his main goal wasn’t to merely repackage a familiar film, but aimed to bring to life the indefinable feeling he had when he first watched the original. While some fans may have appreciated this approach, it could be where he went wrong, in the eyes of Argento.

“Every movie I make is a step inside my teenage dreams, and Suspiria is the most remarkably precise teenage megalomaniac dream I could have had,” the filmmaker told The Guardian. “I saw the poster when I was 11 and then I saw the film when I was 14, and it hit me hard. I immediately started to dream about making my own version of it. So in a way it makes me smile when I hear people say, ‘How dare you remakeSuspiria. Typical commerce-driven mentality.’ I was just a boy who had seen a movie that made him what he became. So that’s how I am approaching it: a homage to the incredible, powerful emotion I felt when I saw it.”

Suspiria is out now on Digital HD and hits Blu-ray and DVD on January 29th.

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