Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria (2018) is a lot of film. His remake of Dario Argento’s iconic 1970s horror is around two and half hours long (the original clocks in at nearer one hundred minutes). Its run time is densely packed with atmosphere, artistic cinematography and outrageous horror sequences.

The bones of the plot are similar enough to the original. Dancer Susie (Dakota Johnson) moves to Europe to attend a prestigious ballet school. She arrives to find the atmosphere at the school disturbed; a student has gone missing, having left during the night. The coven of witches that run the school are immediately struck by Susie, and have lead instructor Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton) begin preparations for Susie to participate in a ritual.

The thing with this new Suspiria is that there’s so much to it. It gets broken down into sixteen thousand acts (okay, six and an epilogue). It’s a film that sits with you for days afterwards. It does feel long, but it also feels full.

Guadagnino and screenwriter David Kajganich have cannily relocated the dance school to Berlin but retained the 1977 setting of the original. The tumult in Berlin at this time (just twenty-two years after World War II and with the wall dividing Berlin more than a decade from falling) allows the film to draw parallels with the modern political climate. Tense border crossings and a bleak dividing wall both feature. The political references don’t stop there, either, as the film also has the MeToo movement in its blood (particularly in a pair of brutally loaded lines of dialogue).

It gives you material to engage with, then, but as an audio-visual experience, it’s hypnotic. It’s in a series of nightmarish montages that Suspiria (2018) delivers its most effective moments. These bizarre visual collages, set to Thom Yorke’s wonderful tension-winding score, become increasingly intense, eventually reaching a level that can be overwhelming. The film climaxes with a sequence that is visually and aurally spectacular. It’s vulgar and disturbing. The film lands on a visceral level, and it’s in this way that it really feels like it captures some of the spirit of Argento’s original.

Fans of the original Suspria will likely have noted from the promotional marerials that Guadagnino’s remake does not feature the same vibrant colouring. Indeed, this new take uses a more faded palette, with lots of worn-out orange and green. However, it turns out that Guadagnino and cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom have no less of an eye for beautiful photography because goodness me, Suspiria (2018) is a gorgeous film to look at.

Set against the grey German landscapes, the school is a grand looking location, and its large empty halls and mirror-lined studios make a wonderful disorienting backdrop for this treacherous witchcraft horror.

And, in fact, if you stick with the film you will find more vivid colouring awaits.

Then there’s the melodrama, another element of the original that is present in the remake. Moments of melodrama and even some silliness here only add to the disorientating feel Guardagnino achieves.

Suspiria (2018) is a work of precision. Even the performances feel exactly measured. The two central turns are both excellent but notably restrained. Tilda Swinton’s Madame Blanc is a poised matriarch and Dakota Johnson’s Susie overwhelmed and awestruck, while the two share a quiet, compelling chemistry. Elsewhere, the rambunctious coven of witches provides a more anarchic presence and Eva Goth is brilliant as the rebellious, chain-smoking Sara.

While there’s all that and more to praise in Suspiria (2018), the film is pocked with flaws. There’s some unconvincing CGI, a few slow dialogue sequences that pop up when the run time is already past punishing and a couple of interesting ideas that simply don’t work when rendered visually (such as the dance sequence with Susie and Olga). It really is an indulgent film, and we wonder whether a little more restraint in the scripting stage might have been worthwhile.

2018 has been a year of incredible genre movies; The Shape Of Water, A Quiet Place and Hereditary. Suspiria (2018) stands just shy of them. There is so just much to it and of it. At one point, we swear they ran out of Suspiria (1977) to remake and so just started redoing bits of Mother Of Tear. We hope Luca Guadagnino remakes Inferno next and that it’s six and a half hours long.

Suspiria (2018) is ambitious, absurd and brilliant. It is a brave remake and a worthy follow on.

Suspiria is in selected UK cinemas from Friday.

Already experiencing some Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina withdrawal symptoms? Something’s on the horizon to tide you over, as the show’s creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has revealed that a Christmas special is coming to Netflix next month.

Sabrina and friends will be getting into their (likely much spookier) version of the ‘Christmas spirit’ during a one-off episode on 14th December.

Entitled ‘A Midwinter’s Tale’, not much is known about the plot of the episode yet, but (via eonline) we do know that “the holidays are also a time for guests and visitors—both welcome and unwelcome—you never know what might come down the chimney…”

Erk.

Part 2 of Netflix’s critically acclaimed Archie universe series, adapted from the comic of the same name, is set to land sometime in 2019. It’s been filmed back-to-back with part 1, which debuted on the streaming service last month.

More as it becomes available…

There’s always something satisfying about watching a master at work – even when the work is killing someone who may or may not deserve their fate. State-sponsored killers and hired assassins are at the heart of some of the best action movies and thrillers, and we’ve picked our favourite scenes.

Leon – The opening action scene

If you’re doing a film about a hitman then you need to move fast and establish what a badass they are. And that’s exactly what Luc Besson does with the first scene in Leon, as Jean Reno’s killer surgically eliminates the bodyguards protecting Frank Senger’s ‘Fatman’. Cleverly, Reno spends most of the sequence hidden, emerging from the shadows only to dangle a noose and hoist up a gun-toting flunky or – out of frame – wipe out three of his mates. Even when the Fatman starts spraying bullets, it’s Leon who’s really in control, a knife emerging from the shadows followed by a face and a threat. Like so many movie hitmen, Leon’s part antihero, part bogeyman; the guy you can’t escape from no matter what you do.

The Day Of The Jackal – De Gaul in the sights

Edward Fox is the merciless, amoral assassin in the first adaptation of Frederick Forsyth’s thriller, letting nothing get between him and a successful contract on French post-war president, Charles De Gaul. Using a custom-made collapsible sniper rifle, the stone-cold killer does his best to do to the French leader’s head what he’s already demonstrated with some melons earlier in the film – and there’s going to be more to clear up than just the pips. 45 years on Fox’s Jackal is still the epitome of the ruthless, highly-organised hitman, even more so than Bruce Willis in the 1997 remake. The final scene hasn’t lost any of its nail-biting tension.

The Killer – The Dragon Boat Hit

It’s hard to look suave with a stick-on moustache and a sniper rifle, but nothing’s beyond Chow Yun Fat in John Woo’s breakout hit, The Killer. His suited assassin, known in the UK version as Jeff, takes on a gangland hit at the launch of Hong Kong’s dragon boat races, going for the shot as the pounding drums get louder. And as if hitting three shots from a boat at long-range isn’t cool enough, Jeff follows with a speedboat escape and an epic gun battle against an army of thugs, then for an encore takes a wounded nipper to the nearest hospital. This killer’s not exactly stealthy, but nobody else slaughters so many in such extravagant slow-mo style.

Nikita – The Final Test

Luc Besson has a thing for assassins, with Leon a sort of spiritual sequel to his earlier film, La Femme Nikita. The tale of a street girl turned master killer – a French My Fair Lady with a sky-high body count – it’s finest moment might be Nikita’s final test, where her mentor takes her to a glitzy restaurant, presents her with a mysterious box, then orders her to use what’s inside to kill a fellow patron before escaping through a window in the gents. What follows is a genius chunk of action cinema, with cold, calculated shooting, quick thinking and some stomach-knotting narrow escapes. Nikita inspired a whole wave of films about female assassins that continues to this day, as we’ll see just below.

The Villainess – The Wedding Day mission

A South-Korean thriller in the Femme Nikita mould, The Villainess is a riot of blood-crazed set-pieces, close combat and bullet ballet violence, anchored by a sensitive performance by Ok-bin Kim in the title role. Like Nikita, Sook-hee is a woman with a double-life, on the one hand a state-sponsored killer, on the other a blushing romantic hoping for a brighter future. The crisis comes when the two sides clash on Sooh-hee’s wedding day when, in full bridal attire, she’s forced to take on one more hit. Sniping through a ventilation fan into a next-door building is no picnic, especially when you’re just minutes away from taking lifelong vows. And if you think married life means a happy ending? Well, there’s a good fifty minutes of bloodshed still to go.

Collateral – The nightclub scene

It doesn’t take long for taxi driver Max (Jamie Foxx) to work out that Tom Cruise’s Vincent might not be his easiest fare ever. Maybe it’s the bullet-ridden corpse that lands on the cab from an upstairs window. Maybe it’s the way Vincent deals with the two muggers who dare to pinch his briefcase. But to see this killer in his prime, you have to wait for the nightclub scene. With Max almost helpless and two cops on his trail, Vincent calmly works his way through the crowded dancefloor, snapping necks, cracking heads, and slaying flunkies, using the ensuing panic to close-in on his target. A masterpiece of editing and sound design, it shows a chillingly believable professional killer at close quarters.

The Man with the Golden Gun – Introducing Scaramanga

Francisco Scaramanga is the world’s greatest assassin – a killer of such prodigious talent that he hires other killers to attack him just to stay in shape. In the opening sequence of the movie his fiendish pint-sized henchman, Nick Nack, lures a mob killer to Scaramanga’s island paradise secret base. The killer has the gun and Scaramanga’s unarmed, his own golden weapon out of reach on a podium in his dodgy disco suite. But just when you think the dude with the supernumerary nipple’s out of luck, he flicks a switch and turns the tables, sliding acrobatically to grab the gun and popping the gangster in the dome. Scaramanga instantly throws down a claim for being one of James Bond’s greatest villains.

John Wick – The nightclub Gun Fu

Sometimes you can be the silent assassin, sometimes you have to go loud. Iosef Tarasov, heir to a Russian crime syndicate, thinks he’s safe in one of daddy’s nightclubs, but when you’ve killed legendary hitman John Wick’s dog and nicked his car, nothing on Earth will protect you. Wick infiltrates the club, does some wet work in its wetrooms then slaughters an army of goons in the club’s bars and lobbies in a spectacular demonstration of Gun Fu. So what if the hit itself isn’t entirely successful – these red-shirted goons are going to pay for what they did, in style.

The Bourne Identity – The pen is mightier…

As an amnesiac, ex-Assassin, Jason Bourne spends more time killing his ex-colleagues than taking down targets – and they come thick and fast throughout the four films. This early encounter sets the pace, as Bourne fends off a submachine gun-wielding killer bursting through his apartment window in a brutal hand-to-hand fight where a pen is used to wince-inducing purpose. Shot naturally with handheld cameras and cut fast, this is one of the most influential action scenes of the last two decades, though the fight with Jarda from The Bourne Supremacy is a masterpiece, too.

The Gunman – One Shot, Two Kills

The Gunman is a curio, directed by Taken director Pierre Morel and starring method actor Sean Penn in what you’d normally expect to be a Liam Neeson role. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have a share of cracking scenes, like the opener where ex-Special Forces shooter, Jim Terrier, takes out a minister and his bodyguard with a single long-range snipe. It’s a tense sequence with a brutal climax, and one that the rest of the movie never quite matches.

Mechanic: Resurrection – The Tower Pool Scene

Adrian Cook, a corporate bigwig with a history of sex trafficking, seems untouchable, living 58 stories up in an impregnable apartment in a downtown Sydney high-rise, constantly surrounded by bodyguards. Not to Jason Statham’s super hit-man, Arthur Bishop. Cook swims daily in a glass pool jutting out from the side of the skyscraper, and we watch as Bishop gains access to an apartment just downstairs, dangles precariously beneath the pool and finds a rather dramatic way to empty it while his target’s swimming. Only Statham can make such nerve-wracking heights and calculated daring look this easy – and this is a classic assassination scene.

Hitman: Blood Money – Curtains Down

Every Hitman game has its share of great kills, but there’s a reason why 2006’s Hitman: Blood Money is such a huge fan favourite. Who can forget the ‘A New Life’ mission where donuts, a clown suit and a rigged barbecue could all be used to kill off a mob-boss-turned-snitch, or ‘You Better Watch Out’ with its all-glass hot-tubs and tempting ledges? Topping them all, though, is ‘Curtains Down’, where you can take out a deeply creepy opera singer and his American diplomat chum. The problem? It all has to happen during a live performance of the opera, Tosca. Will Agent 47 swap the prop pistol for a real pistol, causing an ‘accidental’ shooting, or go for a bomb in the lighting and a falling chandelier? The lavish Opera House setting and tasty use of split-screen only add to the violent drama.

Hitman 2 is released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 13. Pre-order it here.

“I don’t belong here!”

In what will be nine long years after Toy Story 3 offered up a scene so traumatic that we temporarily blacked out in an attempt to desperately suppress feelings from our childhoods that we’d hoped were long buried with Artax in that muddy swamp, a fourth instalment in Disney/Pixar’s incredible Toy Story franchise is about to arrive.

Summer 2019 will finally bring us a new adventure with Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Rex, Mr. Potato Head, Mrs. Potato Head and …someone new! Someone brought to life with the kind of creativity and imagination that its creator is known for – little Bonnie has taken a plastic fork and some pipe cleaners, and made Forky! He is really not into it. And we already love him.

See his first appearance in the teaser trailer for the film below…

Here’s a brand new synopsis for Toy Story 4 from Disney/Pixar, too:

Woody has always been confident about his place in the world and that his priority is taking care of his kid, whether that’s Andy or Bonnie. But when Bonnie adds a reluctant new toy called “Forky” to her room, a road trip adventure alongside old and new friends will show Woody how big the world can be for a toy.

And a poster…

More as we get it.

Toy Story 4 is set to be released on 21st June, 2019.