A LETTERED SOUL: REFLECTIONS ON LITERATURE, CINEMA AND CULTURE .

THE 'HORROR' OF IT ALL : on SUSPIRIA and THE SIXTH SENSE

These are my writings on two works that fall under the horror masthead. In essence, they convey a lot more than just a conventional descriptor .

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SUSPIRIA (2018)

This cinematic work is a retread of the 1970s original spearheaded by director / writer Dario Argento. There is no one logical reasoning for its commissioning other than to inject fresh new life into its underground ethos and refine it with modern accomplishments of technique and a deeper probing of the subterranean psychological fireworks. The cast, including the original's lead Jessica Harper in a cameo, comes up aces to justify its absurd, then dominant, ominous and ultimately beguiling presence. If a work of art that alludes to real time tensions stays in the mind after the first view then consider it a minor miracle in today's times.

SUSPIRIA does that, with its potent mix of dance forms as expiating personal demons and the chamber pieces of its claustrophobic setting in an institute, positing the irony of no way out within the pursuit of artistic freedom.This almost tribal, primal energy permeates the act of dance here . Body horror. Grotesque. Phantasmagoria. These words underline the narrative.
Then there's Germany as a pivotal backdrop. The aesthetic of the body under seige / mind control is particularly potent given the Nazi era backlog of the setting. Juxtapositions with a hijacking incident and local dissident groups getting highlighted on television and radio are there too. All this unfolds circa the late 70s in the script, skewing it closer to the original film's timeline.