“Suspiria” is one of my favorite horror films, a vibrant and surreal work of art that plays as genuine nightmare. It is the best thing Dario Argento made, and fell right in the middle of his best run of creative work. Seeing a great Technicolor IB print of this vivid and beautiful film in a theater is damn near a religious experience. And in an age when remakes are non-stop and impossible to avoid, it only makes sense someone would finally decide to remake the movie, and after several years and several different filmmakers making their attempts, it looks like it may actually happen.
Luca Guadagnino just attended the Venice Film Festival with the cast of his new film “A Bigger Splash,” and he started talking to the press about his plans for how to remake the movie. He was attached as a producer when it looked like David Gordon Green was going to direct, but that version was evidently very different than what Guadagnino wants to do with it now. One of the things the interview he gave to Empire doesn't mention is why Guadagnino decided now is the moment for his remake, but it has everything to do with “A Bigger Splash” and the experience he had shooting it.
It's been said before that the amount of fun someone has on a set is directly inverse to how much fun the audience will have. Hopefully that's not true, because one of the reasons Guadagnino has set “Suspiria” as his next project is because he wants to reunite with Dakota Johnson, atthias Schoenaerts, Ralph Fiennes and Tilda Swinton, his primary cast from “A Bigger Splash.” They had an amazing experience with one another on this film, and they've decided they want to try to make it an annual experience. “Suspiria” has been brewing for a while, and now it looks like it gives them a perfect opportunity to do something totally different.
Guadagnino's comments sound like he'll be doing his own thing with the material. “The film… was a very indicative moment of growing up for me because I saw it when I was 14. I think it changed me forever. I was obsessed… through my adolescence. [My version] is going to be set in Berlin in 1977. It's going to be about the mother and the concept of motherhood and about the uncompromising force of motherhood. It's going to be about finding your inner voice. The title is very evocative on these grounds.”
I'll be curious to see what roles each of these actors takes in the film, but one thing's for sure… if we've got Tilda Swinton attached, it's already got a chance at being unforgettable.
“A Bigger Splash” will arrive in the US on May 16, 2016.