Editorials
Why It’s Okay that the ‘Suspiria’ Remake Won’t Be Colorful
Horror fans were enraged last week when it was announced that Luca Guadagnino’s remake of Dario Argento’s classic giallo film Suspiria would be lacking the signature color palette that the original film is known for. Predictably, fans of the original were none too pleased with this news, with people in our own comments section spouting out barbs ranging from the satirical (“Suspiria Remake Will Not Be GOOD Like Argento’s Original”) to the intellectual (“sounds retarded”). What people don’t seem to understand is that the remake’s lack of the original’s color palette is actually a good thing and I’m here to tell you why.
Before delving into this, it should be noted that I am not Suspiria‘s biggest fan, but I will try to maintain an unbiased opinion on the matter of Guadagnino’s remake. If you think that completely invalidates my opinion, feel free to stop reading now. I won’t be offended.
Are they gone? Great, let’s get to it. The original Suspiria has two things going for it: its colorful visual style and Goblin’s stellar score. The film is a prime example of style over substance, which is why it has never really resonated with me as a viewer. Take away Argento’s artistry and Goblin’s music and what do you have? A boring movie with a nonsensical plot about a girl wandering the halls of a ballet school. That may sound like a reductive summary of what many consider to be one of the greatest horror movies ever made, but I stand by it.
This is why Guadagnino’s decision to change the visual style of the film is so important (and wise). When you strip Suspiria of the colors and the haunting score, you’re left with a flimsy narrative and an unsatisfying movie. Guadagnino is now forced to make the plot of Suspiria engaging since he will seemingly not be relying on flashy visuals.
To recap the Indiewire interview, Guadagnino’s exact words about his remake were:
It’s a film about guilt and motherhood. It has no primary colors in its color palette, unlike the original. It will be cold, evil and really dark.
Why try to replicate what is arguably (in some people’s eyes) perfect? After all, what is the purpose of a remake? The better question might be: what should the purpose of a remake be? All too often people complain that remakes are “destroying their childhood” or “tarnishing the original.” Those criticisms of a remake don’t hold much weight. The original still exists. It’s not being changed in any way. The worst that comes from a remake is that a younger generation now associates the name of a film to its remake as opposed to the original. A remake should try to adapt a story in a different way. A remake should not merely try to replicate the original. Be honest, do you really want to see Argento’s Suspiria filmed through the eyes of another director? No, you don’t. You should want to see Guadagnino’s Suspiria (if you want to see it at all, that is).
Completely changing the style of Suspiria is the smartest move that Guadagnino could make. If he tried to replicate Argento’s style there would be no point. At best it would be a serviceable copycat a la Gus Van Sant’s Psycho. At worst it would be a shameless and uninspired retread. People are going to complain about the film no matter what, but Guadagnino’s best chance at succeeding is to just do his own thing. People hate change so no one wants to see one of their favorite films change, but then they also don’t want to see it replicated shot-for-shot. Remakes can’t win. It’s a Catch-22. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Remakes are going to be made no matter what. It’s just a fact. I’ve never really understood the hatred for them, as many remakes have turned out surprisingly well. Remakes such as The Thing, The Fly, Sorority Row (yes, I said it), The Hills Have Eyes and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre have all managed to stand apart from the films they were based on. They may not have always surpassed the original, but they were good films in their own right. Suspiria has a chance at being a good movie (just look at that cast!), and Guadagnino’s words should inspire hope rather than anger. What do I know though? I’m just the poor schlub who really dislikes the original.
My question to you, dear reader, is what do you think the purpose of a remake should be? Since this remake of Suspiria is inevitable, what do you want to see in the film? What version of this film would actually make you happy? Of course no opinion can be made until the final product is released. A valid fear is that this could turn out like the Martyrs remake (a film that I was lukewarm on but was still able to appreciate the diversions from the source material), where it is unceremoniously dumped on Blu-Ray with no promotion whatsoever.
Suspiria, which was written by David Kajganich (Blood Creek), stars Chloe Grace Moretz (Carrie, Let Me In), Tilda Swinton (Only Lovers Left Alive, Snowpiercer) and Dakota Johnson (50 Shades of Grey) and is currently in post-production. Production on the film took place primarily in Varese, Italy from September through December, before moving to and wrapping in Berlin in early February. Amazon already has acquired international distribution rights to the movie, and they recently courted buyers at the European Film Market.
I first heard about The Mandela Catalogue through a couple of nephews who were obsessed with the ARG’s sinister mythology. It was only after watching Wendigoon’s in-depth analysis of the series that I realized just how deep this rabbit hole goes.
In fact, I’d already been exposed to the nightmarish visuals of Alex Kister’s YouTube creation for years at that point without even realizing that it was the origin of several viral “cursed images” and spooky memes that had leaked into the wider internet – with this viral element actually being a part of the Catalogue’s overarching narrative.
Flash-forward to 2026 and the unprecedented success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms has led to Hollywood betting on horrific internet properties with existing fanbases, which means that Kister’s unique hybrid of both religious and analog horror is finally headed to the big screen with a script written by Kister himself alongside Tyler Clifton.
While this news shouldn’t be too surprising if you’ve been keeping up with the ongoing success of The Mandela Catalogue (both myself and Wendigoon having previously predicted that the series would inevitably make the jump to theaters one day), plenty of horror fans are likely confused as to why so many folks are excited for what appears to be a Hollywood adaptation of a series of creepy .jpeg images under a VHS filter.
With that in mind, today I’d like to invite fellow readers to accompany me as I explore the origins of Alex Kister’s viral hit and attempt to explain exactly why we should all be excited about the Mandela Catalogue adaptation!
From High School Writing Project to Internet Horror Phenomenon
The first seeds of The Mandela Catalogue were sown when Kister was still in high school and developed a writing project subverting religious tropes in a world where biblical history had been altered by demonic forces. A little while later, Kister came across an analog horror contest on Reddit and decided to adapt his ideas into a standalone video where he would edit a religious kids’ cartoon –The Beginner’s Bible: The Nativity, to be specific- into something far creepier. This is how the iconic Overthrone video was born, with this viral short film taking on a life of its own as fans demanded more eerie content from Kister.
Though the video was originally meant to be a one-and-done sort of affair, with Kister actually regretting some of its primitive visuals and considering the editing amateurish and “YouTube-Poop-like” when compared to his current standards, fan reaction and free time during the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged the (then) seventeen-year-old filmmaker to continue producing content set in this same world. The Mandela Catalogue name was inspired by the Mandela Effect conspiracy theory, as the series would slowly begin to explore the subtle horror of alternate histories.
Inspired by existential dread brought on by extended periods of quarantine as well as a personal crisis of faith, Kister continued to expand his alternate timeline where the rise of Christianity had been prevented by what was presumably the Devil disguised as the Archangel Gabriel. This alternate course of fictional events led to the existence of certain paranormal anomalies that had come to be accepted as “normal” by the 1990s, which is why most of the series’ supernatural horror is presented in such a matter-of-fact manner.
Most of this background information and religious lore is delivered by increasingly cryptic broadcasts and in-universe PSAs, as well as the occasional found footage video, that often have to be decoded by clever viewers. Of course, it’s the consistently disturbing imagery that made the series so popular – much of which was originally created by Kister on a smartphone!
The Alternates: Horror’s Most Unsettling Modern Monsters
The show’s early episodes mostly take place within the fictional Mandela County in Wisconsin and depict life in a world where demonic entities are capable of using media to enter our reality. This process usually involves scaring victims into killing themselves and then repurposing their bodies as horrific doppelgangers referred to as “Alternates”. This terrifying phenomenon has become so common that local police already have specialized procedures in place to deal with the issue, though this usually consists of simply ignoring calls for help so as to avoid spreading so-called “Metaphysical Awareness Disorder” any further.
Over time, Kister would expand this mythology and incorporate different kinds of Alternates into the mix, though the story never stopped deconstructing religious concepts. The series’ second volume exponentially increased both video quality and the overall narrative scope as we began to follow the lives of characters who had already grown up in this dystopian hellscape where the government is forced to prohibit religion, television, and even mirrors in the hopes of mitigating the damage done by the ongoing invasion of otherworldly entities.
The really interesting part comes into play when you realize exactly how the Alternates make use of scary media in order to spread their demonic influence, with the analog horror of it all being a diegetic part of the story and something of a memetic trap orchestrated by the false Gabriel.
I particularly appreciate how some characters begin to suspect that there’s something wrong with their version of reality and that things weren’t meant to play out this way, especially when Mark utters the haunting line “who have I been praying to all this time?” That’s why I think The Mandela Catalogue is an effective piece of religious horror even if you don’t subscribe to the Christian worldview, as the mere idea of a world where evil has already won is a universally terrifying concept in and of itself. Not only that, but the series’ uncanny analog imagery alone is already worth the price of admission, as you’ve likely already noticed by looking at the pictures accompanying this article.
Why The Feature Adaptation Could Be Horror’s Next Big Success
It’s actually been a whole year since Kister first announced that he had been working on a feature-length screenplay for a Mandela Catalogue movie since 2022, with his proposed story following an ensemble of high-school graduates who uncover a supernatural conspiracy after the mysterious disappearance of a fellow student. This premise sounds similar to narrative elements present in the series’ second volume, but I’m pretty sure that Kister is going to go the Kane Parsons route and make the movie more of a spin-off than a re-imagining of its source material.
While notable Hollywood producers like Aaron B. Koontz, Scott Stuber, and Steven Spielberg himself are backing the upcoming project, I feel like there’s no one better to adapt this deeply personal exploration of faith and the dark side of communication than the person who first came up with it. That’s why I can’t wait to see Kister’s work on the big screen, as I have a feeling that this young filmmaker is the next one on the list about to make cinematic history – especially since this is clearly a passion project that has been in the works for years at this point!
That being said, there’s always a chance that the film could end up unleashing a fresh wave of Alternate incursions, but I guess that’s just a risk we’ll have to take.
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