Contrary to the writer of the new film's, the original Suspiria is so great precisely because it is so narratively and thematically minimal. By treating the material as some long-lost fairy tale, it leaves plenty of space for Argento's maximal style to make his original story feel more like a bold revision of an existing source. As such, the original film comes across as a more daring adaptation than the film that actually adapts the material, which replaces Argento's bold colors and wild scenarios with the drabness of Meaning. Guadagnino throws everything he can at the (Berlin) wall to see what sticks, and it’s almost breathtaking how little does. The attempt to incorporate the East-West divide as a backdrop of coven tension amounts to nothing but mild flavoring, while the laughable stabs at feminism suggest little more than a glance at the cover of House of Psychotic Women. Given how much the original hinges on Goblin's psych-folk nightmare score, it's impressive that Guadagnino's film manages to make a better show of incorporating music, with Yorke's krautrock score meshed with scenes of dance that run from entrancing to horrific. It's a shame, then, that so much of the dancing is kept short, trotted out only for a disturbing showstopper.