Isabelle Fuhrman Takes Center Stage in the ‘SUSPIRIA’ Remake

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched Dario Argento‘s hallucinatory foray into ballet, murder, and witches.  Suspiria’s first 15 minutes alone, set to the nerve-racking music of Goblin, is one of the most intense and beautiful scenes staged in a horror film.  I use the word staged because not only does the film center around a prominent European ballet school, but its over the top brightly-colored visuals and “Grand Guignol” style make the film a classic in the world of Italian splatter films.  David Gordon Green, who recently has been known for his stoner comedies first made a name for himself with more dark and gritty coming-of-age films like George Washington and the underrated Undertow. Next up for the director is the much talked about remake of Suspiria.  The writer and director has talked at great length over the years about bringing this adaptation to the big screen.  For a while there actress Natalie Portman was to slip on the ballet shoes yet again – after winning an Oscar for Black Swan – to play the lead Suzy Banyon.  After her departure from the project, news regarding the film seemed to all but cease.  Now, a new name is thrown into the mix and is officially confirmed through sources to Variety.  Isabelle Fuhrman, who creeped out horror fans as the “young girl” in Orphan and who portrayed a merciless killer in The Hunger Games will play the lead in the upcoming remake.

You would think given my love of Argento’s film and my disdain for the reasons behind most remakes that I would absolutely hate reading this news yet alone writing about it.  However, I find myself more intrigued by this remake than anything else.  Aside from the fact that I think David Gordon Green could bring something quite interesting to this project, I absolutely love the announcement of Fuhrman in the lead.  There are two reasons why I love her portraying the American dance student.  One: she made what should have been an absolutely ridiculous premise very memorable in Orphan and helped make the film one of the most interesting major studio films to come out in the past few years (keep in mind I said interesting, not necessarily good). Second: Fuhrman is at the young age of 15 which makes her much younger than when Jessica Harper played her in the original.  This could be construed as an attempt to garner the attention of a teen audience.  Yet, I think the main reason for the young age of the casting has to do with Argento’s original concept of the film to begin with.  Argento has revealed in interviews that his intent was to have the girls in the dance school much younger than what was in the final product.  That is why the dialogue in some of the scenes comes off as more juvenile and catty between some of the girls.  The producers were scared of backlash if the film showed several young girls get killed on screen.  So as a result, girls in their twenties were cast instead.  To compensate for their age, Argento augmented the sets to make the girls appear much younger and shorter in the film.  Some of these decisions include having much higher ceilings and raising the handles/knobs to the doors the girls were going in and out of to make them appear more like the pre-pubescent girls that Argento originally envisioned for the film.  Isabella Fuhrman’s casting seems like a genuine nod to the Italian director’s vision.

There is not a specific release date set for the film yet and no other cast members have been announced either.  Since Suspiria is such a loved and popular property in the horror genre, I’m very curious to see how fans will react to this.  Let us know your thoughts.  Leave your comments below.

SUSPIRIA is a horror film centered on Suzie, a bright and ambitious American student who travels to Europe to attend a world renowned school. After a fellow student is brutally murdered and several other cruel and strange homicides disrupt the once quiet life on campus, Suzie realizes that the academy may be a front for a more menacing organization.