‘Suspiria’: New Behind-the-Scenes Featurette Explores the Film’s Most Disturbing Sequences

WARNING: The above video contains spoilers for Suspiria

This year’s Suspiria remake delivered audiences some of the most disturbing imagery that the horror genre had to offer thanks in large part to its gruesome finale full of practical effects. To celebrate the film’s accomplishments, Amazon Studios has released the above featurette which chronicles how those sequences were pulled off. Check out the video to learn how the complicated shots were pulled off.

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.

It should come as no surprise that the film offered viewers such an intense and gruesome experience, as director Luca Guadagnino admitted to wanting to deliver viewers a one-of-a-kind film.

“I hope that the movie comes across as a relentless experience that’s going to go deep into your skin all the way down into your spine,” the director shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “I want the movie to perform as the most disturbing experience you can have. The movie is about being immersed in a world of turmoil and uncompromising darkness.”

The remake of Dario Argento’s 1977 film amped up the gore immensely, with the original film focusing on mood and tone to unsettle its audiences. Due to the iconic look of that film, Guadagnino didn’t even attempt to emulate it.

“I think Suspiria by me is extremely rich in colors, except that we went for a different take,” the director detailed. “Dario Argento and, let’s face it, Luciano Tovoli, his wonderful D.P., they decided to go for an extremely expressionistic way of decoding horror, which started from the work of Mario Bava. The way in which they made those colors — not just simple gels in front of lights, they were using velvet and they were really sculpting the light — [that] has influenced filmmakers for so long. I think everything that could have been said through that style has been said.”

Stay tuned for details on the home video release of Suspiria.

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