Ahh yisss, remakes... the boogeyman of film lovers. This boogeyman visited my twitter feed last weekend as it came to my attention that the beloved horror classic Suspiria (1977) has fallen victim to it and will be in theaters rather soon.
Yes, yes. You loved the Suspiria (2018) trailer, I know, I know. Most people did. I am not hating on the Suspiria remake because I disliked the trailer. I actually thought it didn't look too bad, but more on that later. I am hating the new Suspiria movie for very different reasons.
I don't think anyone would argue with me if I would say that the original Suspiria movie is a visual experience, because it is. The set design, the way it was shot, the colors; the entire visual experience per scene is different and really sets the mood of every scene. Many people would, however, argue that it lacks a plot, but I guess it makes up for it being beautifully stylized. The original is art, no doubt about that. So why a remake?
As far as I can tell Luca Guadagnino, the director of the 2018 Suspiria, wanted to re-imagine the story of the horror classic. That's cool, I guess. But for me it comes with so many questions. Almost everyone knows (and Guadagnino knows this too) that the original can't be topped. "If you can't top the original, do something different" is something that someone commented on reddit. That's all fine and well, but that makes no sense. If you can't top the original, why remake it? It is obvious that this is just another pointless remake. Based on the trailer it doesn't look, or feel, like the original at all. And if it is a so-called "homage", or whatever, why call it Suspiria?
As I said before, the original is a visual experience. Whenever someone mentions the original movie I think about bright colors and beautifully stylized sets. When I compare the thoughts and feelings that I get when thinking about Suspiria (1977) with what I saw during the Suspiria (2018) trailer is vastly different, and I would want to argue that it is therefore unfair to call it a remake, or for the movie to even adopt the name of the original.
I don't think anyone would argue with me if I would say that the original Suspiria movie is a visual experience, because it is. The set design, the way it was shot, the colors; the entire visual experience per scene is different and really sets the mood of every scene. Many people would, however, argue that it lacks a plot, but I guess it makes up for it being beautifully stylized. The original is art, no doubt about that. So why a remake?
As far as I can tell Luca Guadagnino, the director of the 2018 Suspiria, wanted to re-imagine the story of the horror classic. That's cool, I guess. But for me it comes with so many questions. Almost everyone knows (and Guadagnino knows this too) that the original can't be topped. "If you can't top the original, do something different" is something that someone commented on reddit. That's all fine and well, but that makes no sense. If you can't top the original, why remake it? It is obvious that this is just another pointless remake. Based on the trailer it doesn't look, or feel, like the original at all. And if it is a so-called "homage", or whatever, why call it Suspiria?
As I said before, the original is a visual experience. Whenever someone mentions the original movie I think about bright colors and beautifully stylized sets. When I compare the thoughts and feelings that I get when thinking about Suspiria (1977) with what I saw during the Suspiria (2018) trailer is vastly different, and I would want to argue that it is therefore unfair to call it a remake, or for the movie to even adopt the name of the original.
What I don't like about most remakes is that they do not capture what the original wanted to do, in this case giving a visual experience, and I am scared it will overshadow the original. Not a lot of people outside of the horror and/or movie enthusiasts club have heard of the original Suspiria, which, I guess, makes it kind of a cult classic. Now that they are remaking it with Hollywood/famous actors, hyping it up like crazy, it has already overshadowed the original in many ways. A lot of casual moviegoers will probably see this in the movie theater being completely unaware of the original. and when they do find out there is an original out there, they wont like it, as it is so vastly different from the remake. And that makes me sad, that these people will never be able to appreciate the original for what it is.
One of the movies that also pissed me off last year, riding on the coattails of an old-school name, is Jumanji. Nothing about the new Jumanji screamed Jumanji. It was a totally stand-alone film that didn't feel like it had anything to do with the original. But let's just piggyback off of the older generations and their nostalgia. We have so many remakes and unoriginal stories. Why can't we make something original, is it that difficult? Why can't we just be inspired and create our own classics?
Jumanji was, I believe, a movie many kids loved from their childhoods. Why can't they just make their own Jumanji, why steal a name and then trying to make it your own?
But enough about Jumanji, this is about Suspiria.
In closing
Based on the trailer Suspiria (2018) doesn't look like a bad movie. I just think it would've been better if it had come up with its own name, instead of relying so heavily on it being a "remake" (these were also the words of a redditor). The trailer looked decent, but had nothing to do with the original Suspiria. It looks like a lot of other horror movies who use muted palettes. Suspiria (1977) was a stunning original movie because it was so different from all other movies; it wasn't scared to throw bright colors in your face, even tho the story itself was very dark. This 2018 adaption should've just used its own name and take pride in the fact that it was heavily inspired by Suspiria (1977). Excited to be disappointed once this hits theaters.
Small note: The only thing that really irked me to no end during the Suspiria (2018) trailer was Dakota Johnson's wig. Girl, what did those stylists do to you lol.
