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Fantastic Fest 2018: ‘Suspiria’ Is Sensual, Savage Filmmaking-Sorcery

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Suspiria

Argento’s original Suspiria is undoubtedly one of his finest and stylistically gorgeous films to date. A remake announcement ruffled a few feathers of fans who held the original highly on the alter of fandom. But, rest assured that this remake is a masterpiece on its own terms using its own legs.

We are introduced to Susie Bannion (Dakota Johnson) a young student of dance who arrives at a world-renowned Tanz dance company in Germany. Much like Jessica Harper’s Bannion, she arrives with dreams and hopes intact and with hungry eyes. These two versions of Bannion are rarely ever so comparable in any other instance in this film, but it’s was nice that it starts in familiar territory.

Susie takes on the role of the student under the watchful gaze of her instructors, but begins to find more than she bargained for in both Stanz and in herself leading us down a hell of a path filled with well-choreographed dance, intense gore and twists along the way.

Suspiria takes place against conflict and unease of 1977 Berlin, and the soon to be changed face of Europe. A whole lot of connotation is placed on that timespan including the Baader-Mienhof bombings being mentioned in TV chatter, as well as the politics of the dance studio and their rank. A false democracy and power grab are at work in both arenas and it’s a really intelligent ideal to put the narrative inline with.

A ritual featuring an ousted member of the dance studio being bent, broken and violently contorted, is one of the first real reveals of how much more this film is going for the witch thing. It isn’t subtle and this sequence, edited together with a beautiful dance sequence is intensely brutal and sets the precedent of how this film is going to handle the dark magic aspects, and I couldn’t be happier with it.

Whereas Argento’s Suspiria teased the idea of what the films narrative truly was within the surreal, outside of a cringe worthy moment of Udo Kier over exposition, this one doesn’t dance around with the mystery whatsoever. You are fully aware that this is a coven, and even the idea of The Three Mothers is revealed fairly early on. It allows for exploration into other areas of interest that on some volumes are far more interesting.

Dakota Johnson and cast are a terrific ensemble and perfect to move Luca’s dark magic in new and macabre ways, taking a few twists and turns in terms of familiar character direction. A very unexpected detour of direction in particular pushes Mia Goth in new and interesting ways, further setting this version apart from Argento’s film.

Director Luca Guadagnino’s vision is years in the making and absolutely sings its own wonderful song. The film is gorgeous in its own special way, this vision focuses more on muted tones, rather than big gel lit set pieces. Guadangnino isn’t interested in big slasher set pieces either, instead he focuses on emotional resonance and the violent elements of the supernatural.

Thom Yorke’s score worked for me, carrying a grounded, haunting weight to Guadagnino’s dance. Yorke even adds a few vocal tracks into the mix, creating a chilling atmosphere right from the intro. The sounds combine hints of Radiohead with tons of synthesized queues built off of 70’s heady horror.
Suspiria is sensual, savage filmmaking sorcery. It pushes the envelope into new directions and features a finale that finalizes the love that I already felt for this film. It does exactly what a good remake has to do in order to transcend outside its predecessor’s shadow, it takes its own path, dancing and blazing the entire way.

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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