The Witch Movie Project, Episode 2: Suspiria (1977 & 2018)

Dario Argento's 1977 Suspiria and Luca Guadagnino's 2018 reimagining are not remakes, they are two distinct visions of the same dark premise: a dance academy concealing a coven of witches who harvest human sacrifice to sustain their power. This episode unpacks both films side by side, tracing how a single story transforms across decades of filmmaking.

The 1977 original uses technicolor distortion, the Goblins' unsettling score, and giallo-style cinematography to disorient viewers into Susie Banyan's confusion. Every frame feels like a stage set, every shadow deliberate. The newer film adds layers, political history woven through Berlin's past, the revelation that Susie herself is Mother Suspirium reincarnate, and Tilda Swinton's transformative triple role. Tom Yorke's Radiohead score replaces the Goblins' eerie drones with something equally haunting.

Both films explore the same recurring theme: belonging. Susie doesn't flee the coven, she discovers she was always meant to be there. Like the previous episode's Midsommar, the horror lies not in external threat but in the protagonist's gradual recognition that this dark world is home.

The hosts examine real folklore versus invented mythology, the craft of building suspense through long, unsettling shots, and why Dakota Johnson's years of dance training matter to the film's visceral power.

Subscribe wherever you listen. Watch the full episode at https://youtube.com/@ridethewavemediapodcast