MVPs of Horror: 'Suspiria' director Luca Guadagino breaks down horrifying human pretzel dance scene
Suspiria, the new remake of the 1977 cult classic directed by Luca Guadagnino, is the type of slow-burn horror movie that is dividing arthouse fans, as well as moviegoers who are more into mainstream scares (also see Hereditary, It Comes at Night, etc.).
But we can all agree that at least one of the film’s sequences — where, with the help of some serious witch voodoo, Dakota Johnson’s Suzy unwittingly contorts the body of another dancer (Elena Fokina’s Olga) in bone-popping, limb-twisting agony — is pure nightmare fuel.
In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Guadagnino (A Bigger Splash, Call Me by Your Name) explained how he and his team captured the scene — and amazingly used next to no special effects in the process (watch above).
“What I didn’t want, I did not want the contortion happening as an outcome of digital effects, I just couldn’t stand it,” said Guadagnino, who credited Johnson, real-life dancer and first-time actor Fokina, and the film’s choreographer, Damien Jalet, for collaborating on the scene, which quickly alternates between two rooms.
So Guadagnino, Jalet, and Fokina discussed ways that Olga could perform the “pretzel”-esque moves authentically.
“What you see is really like 80 percent Elena,” the director said. “And the rest is some prosthetic makeup. And very little [digital] cancellation.”
Suspiria is now in theaters.
Watch the producers of A Quiet Place talk about why a test audience laughed at the film:
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