Suspiria, Luca Guadagnino, Amazon Studios, 2018 **SPOILER WARNING** In a bold cinematic move, Italian director Luca Guadagnino embraced the opportunity to retell a cult horror classic for his 6th feature film. Suspiria (2018) is Luca’s adaptation of Dario Argento’s – father of renowned actress Asia Argento – 1977 film of the same name, which is based on a famous essay, Suspiria de profundis, and is actually the first installment of a trilogy (Inferno 1980 and The Mother of Tears 2007). Suspiria was quite the shift from Luca’s previous film, Call Me By Your Name (2017), in that there is such a dark, twisted tone to it all. The film is broken up into six narrative acts and an epilogue, which serve as guides for the narrative; this was personally helpful since the images shown can be overwhelming at times. Compared to the technicolor extravaganza that was the original, Luca’s vision is situated in a cold, rainy Berlin in the late 70’s on the brink of political collapse. In the midst of the tense climate, American sweetheart Susie Bannion (Dakota Johnson) arrives in Berlin to form part of the prestigious Tanz Dance academy led by an intimidating dance director, Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton). However, Susie’s admission to the academy is suspicious given that (1) she has never had formal dance instruction and (2) her arrival coincides with the eerie disappearance of another dance student, Patricia (Chloe Moretz). Side note: while the events unfold at the academy, there’s also an investigation being pushed by Patricia’s psychologist, Dr. Klemperer, in relation to her “delusional” claims that witches operate the dance company. Anyway, Susie’s talent does not go unnoticed and she soon takes the spotlight as the companies star in their upcoming project, Volk (German for people), of course only after the previous dancer Olga accuses the administration of being witches to which they – the admins – respond by brutally disfiguring her. On top of that, Susie befriends her classmate Sara (Mia Goth) and is adopted by Blanc as her protégé. She’s come a long way from her farm back in Ohio. Finally, the night has arrived and it’s time for the company to perform Volk except, to Susie’s surprise, Sara is nowhere to be found. The show must go on and Susie delivers a beautiful performance at the center of the geometric ritual. After this almost climactic event, the film, especially Susie’s role, takes a different path than the one it had opted for prior to the dance. The film checks in at this point with old Dr. Klemperer, who by the way was the guest of honor at Volk. He is tricked and kidnapped by the witches who drag him to the mutterhaus (literally nut house in German) and have him again as a guest of honor at their dark Sabbath. At this point, Susie – who can now telepathically communicate with Madame Blanc (hint hint) – enters the mutterhaus to discover a dark Sabbath unfolding.  What happens next is unfathomably twisted and if I could sum it up in a word it would be red. And then after the cathartic fantasy ends, the narrative ties up some loose ends and good triumphs, sort of. Bonus: there’s an ambiguous post credit scene that I recommend y’all watch. I’m not going to hide it. I’m actually very proud I had the opportunity to see this film four times at the theater. I even posted a picture of my film compadre and myself on Instagram because I just had to share the excitement. I’ve been told I’m pretty generous with my opinions and ratings – I am, I’m a sucker for film – however, this film really is the piece de resistance of aesthetic horror. Although just a few days ago, Argento commented that the remake betrayed the spirit of the original, I feel that both films are very good in their own ways; of course with Luca’s being the best. In order for me to assess a film, I have to see it at least twice, the first time for the emotions and the second time for the technical aspects. The first time I saw Suspiria it was an overwhelmingly, cathartic experience where I lost track of time and the ability to talk; the film lasts two and a half hours by the way. The second time around I had a general idea of what was going on in the narrative, however, there were artistic details that I was discovering left and right. The film’s strength comes from the amount of craftwork put into it; the small details that make up the larger scenes are what gives the film that extra touch in my opinion. The third and fourth time I saw Suspiria it was more out of personal pleasure rather than for critical purposes. Also, I did not see anything wrong with the film as is. Even if there were a few mistakes, I’d consider them a product of authentic human craftsmanship; not everything has to be perfect. Additionally, Thom Yorke outdid himself with the soundtrack on this film. I’m not a big Radiohead fan but because of Yorke’s work with this film, I’m open to checking them out now. Although some people didn’t like how his vocals tainted the film's mood – since most original soundtracks are just instrumental – I don’t think they interfered that much. The track for the main performance, also titled Volk, and Unmade are the best two tracks in my opinion despite the fact that Suspirium was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Suspiria by Luca Guadagnino is now available on Blu-Ray and DVD. Grade: A+