Suspiria (18)
Directed by Luca Guadagino

PSYCHEDELIC and feminist-driven, Luca Guadagino's homage to Dario Argento's 1977 horror classic Suspiria is not for those of a nervous disposition.

Set in the same year as the latter's film, the action unfolds over six acts and an epilogue in 1970s Berlin, with US dancer Susie Bannion (Dakota Johnson) arriving at a world-renowned dance academy run by Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton) where it transpires that all is not what it seems.

Bannion isn't formally trained but shows the raw potential the school is looking for. The plot thickens when dancers start slowly disappearing.

Guadagino (Call Me By Your Name) opts for a muted colour palette rather than Argento's giallo but, when he shows you the power and magic of dance and the devilish and tortuous pain it can inflict, then the screen explodes into a myriad of bright and vibrant colours, predominantly reds.

At times reminiscent of Darron Aronofsky's Black Swan in terms of the madness and ruthlessness of the discipline of being a dancer, at others it resembles a madcap Ken Russell on speed. Very brutal and graphically violent, it's nevertheless strangely hypnotic and haunting.

Johnson and Swinton, who plays several roles including a grieving male psychotherapist, are phenomenal, though Chloe Grace Moretz is somewhat wasted in the minor role of former principal dancer Patricia who, fearing she is going mad, seeks help from shrink Dr Josef Klemperer (Swinton) at the beginning of the film.

Guadagino takes no prisoners in this surreal supernatural horror which, along the way, explores themes of generational guilt in Germany during the cold war as well as motherhood, what it is to be a woman and the dynamics of a matriarchy.

Completely bonkers, perhaps, but one that leaves its psychological scars even after the ridiculously early 8.30am screening I attended at the London Film Festival.