Suspiria [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

Released

It was an audacious move for Italian director Luca Guadagino to remake cult classic Suspiria, and one which many felt fell short of the original’s startling sensory feast. As Guadagino drastically toned down the bad acid trip fever dream of Dario Argento’s 1977’s film, Radiohead frontman Thom York wisely steered clear of the proggy extremism of Goblin’s OST, itself considered the high-water mark of Italian horror film soundtracks. Instead, York creates a far more minimal backdrop of terror, but one with its own unsettling, mesmeric beauty. The occasional use of loops, drones, vintage synths and tape manipulation here subtlety nods to his forebearers, while the nightmarish trip hop of “Has Ended” would have been worthy of inclusion in any number of late period Radiohead albums.

Chris Catchpole