CREDIT: AMAZON STUDIOS
Though Suspiria is a well-crafted film with great makeup artistry and choreography, it is too drawn out and devoid of quick thrills.

After a limited release in Canada, Suspiria (a remake of the iconic original in 1977), has finally been released nation-wide. With much skepticism around this remake, Suspiria ended up being a masterful work of art and kept some of the essence of the original alive. However, with over an hour extra tacked on to this new version (for a total of 152 grueling minutes), Suspiria is definitely not a film for everyone.

Suspiria takes place in 1970s Berlin where a young American dancer auditions for a spot in a world-renowned dance company.

As she quickly vaults for the lead dancer, the girl she replaces has a mental breakdown and begins to accuse the dance company’s directors of witchcraft.

As the story unfolds, the dance company is not all what it seems to be.

The major downfall to this version of Suspiria is the length of the film. The plot is so drawn out and the film has so much filler in it, that it becomes quite difficult to follow along (some scenes are as interesting as watching paint dry).

While there are a few exciting scenes that eventually lead to the grotesque ending, the rest of the film is quite slow and boring. Since the story line of the movie is fairly complex, it’s a film that you have to give your full attention to or else you will become extremely lost (as well as miss some of the film’s artistic nuances).

What saves this film is how visually stunning it is. From the costumes to the set décor, Suspiria doesn’t miss a single, visual detail.

On top of that, the dance routines were choreographed so perfectly that every performance left you with this overwhelming sadness. Without this precise attention to detail, the film would have been a complete flop.

The makeup artistry in this film is also masterfully done. Not only did it allow Tilda Swinton to play three characters (without being able to tell it was her), the wounds and gore were so realistic looking, it helped keep the sense of realism alive in the film.

However, even though the film was well crafted, there wasn’t enough suspense or fear created to keep the momentum of the movie going.

Since they added over an hour to this film, they should have added way more “scary scenes” to keep the audience on their toes. For a horror movie, I found it quite dull and the furthest thing from scary.

Overall, Suspiria is definitely not a movie for everyone. It is long, it is completely drawn out and it definitely will test your patience.

If you are looking for a horror movie with some quick thrills, this is not the movie for you.

If you enjoy dance, appreciate artistic nuances and are open to a challenge, I would definitely give Suspiria a watch at least once (I commend you if you can sit through it more than one time).