Dario Argento’s place in the Horror pantheon is well established. His films, like Lynch’s and Jodorowsky’s, could only have been made by him, and a remake of one of his greatest films seems as unlikely a prospect as Twin Peaks as told by Robert Zemeckis.
However, that’s the path we find ourselves on today, with director Luca Guadagnino about to enter production on a remake of Argento’s Suspiria.
Casting for the film has already begun with both Tilda Swinton and Dakota Johnson reuniting with Guadagnino following their roles in A Bigger Splash, and (H)it-girl Chloe Moretz set to play the film’s lead.
Certainly the wide-eyed Moretz has all the innocence needed for the part. In the film a new inductee to a European ballet school uncovers some sinister goings-on when a series of murders happens around her.
Argento himself had this to say in 2008, when David Gordon Green was about to launch into production of the proposed remake,
Back when he was doing the press rounds for his lacklustre fantasy comedy Your Highness, Green gave the following quote about his approach to the film.
“Our Suspiria doesn’t follow the trend of the traditional horror movies of late, so it’s a leap of faith, financially.”
The few remaining horror purists who were not thus far up in arms joined the gathered ranks of the furious. The ‘traditional’ horror movie genre he was talking about in 2011 may have been the low-budget found footage quagmire, on which huge profits for low outlay became an expectation rather than a bonus. The film never went much further, despite rumblings that Orphan’s Isabelle Fuhrman was up for the lead.
Fast forward to 2016 and we find the horror genre in a much better place. It Follows, The Guest and this year’s Neon Demon have shown that Horror is one of the few genre movements to be trying new things, or at least moving beyond its confines. So, perhaps paradoxically, this may be the best time for a new Suspiria?
Time will tell, but the lead trio of Moretz, Swinton and Johnson have the requisite star power and should provide something interesting for Luca Guadagnino and his new film.
Source: Variety
