Claudio Simonetti's Goblin - Suspiria 45th Anniversary Tour

I'm pretty excited about this one! Claudio Simonetti's Goblin has announced a full U.S. tour in support of the 45th anniversary of Dario Argento's Suspiria!

Simonetti's Goblin will be performing the iconic score live during a showing of Dario Argento's Italian horror masterpiece, then followed up by another set of Goblin's horror soundtrack classics. This one is a no-brainer for me.

I had a chance to see Goblin fronted by original guitarist Massimo Morante (RIP) back in 2013 and it was an absolutely amazing experience! They will be playing Cleveland four days after Halloween, which will provide a nice respite from my post-holiday blues. 

Don't sleep on this one. If they are playing in your area, I would definitely go check this one out!!

Suspiria (2018) Poster & Trailer

I am the first to admit that I'm against remakes. Especially horror films. Never even come close to the original, ultimately serving only to tarnish the original's reputation, uninspired, cheap cash grab, Hollywood is out of new ideas, and on and on and on.

And I was filled with complete dread (and dare say outrage) upon hearing the latest title to be remade: Dario Argento's 1977 masterpiece, Suspiria.

How could you do that!? WHY would you do that!? How can you compete with Goblin's original, iconic score!? And on and on and on.

And then a strange thing happened. I started seeing the first clips of the new film, and I wasn't mortified by what I saw. I specifically remember thinking, "that actually doesn't look half bad."

Of course Argento's signature bold swatches of vibrant color were absent, but this new version had its own muted, highly sophisticated look and feel. Every shot looked meticulously planned and stylistically shot, giving an unexpected sense of maturity (similar to the look and "slow burn" feel of Hereditary or The VVitch). And yes, you could even relate what was going on to Argento's original "ballet school for witches" storyline.

And on top of that, the official film poster was released today. And I absolutely love it:

Poster image courtesy of Bloody Disgusting.

The title typography is striking, especially when it's framed in by the bold, stark blood splatters and monotone eyes. It really relates to what I have seen in the trailer. This poster is so far ahead of most other film posters that are churned out anymore.

At this point, I'm almost rooting for this film to be the one remake that does it right. I'm hoping that Luca Guadagnino can take the classic original and do something truly interesting with it. He has an amazing cast to work with (I'm looking at you, Tilda Swinton), and I just hope that the story is as interesting and focused as the film's cinematography.

Suspiria hits theaters on November 2 and I think I'm going to be in line to see this one. Check the trailer below and let me know what you think!

Goblin - "Profondo Rosso"

An incredible film. An incredible score. Goblin's soundtrack to Dario Argento's 1975 film, Profondo Rosso (Deep Red).

Goblin, Live in Cleveland 12-5-13

Goblin 2013 Tour Poster by Ghoulish Gary Pullin. Available here.

Last night I got the chance to see Goblin, the Italian prog band whose synth-fueled soundtrack scores to such horror classics as Suspiria, Tenebre, Dawn of The Dead and Deep Red made them famous.

It's hard to believe, but this is part of their first U.S. tour in their nearly 40 years of existence, and when the dates were announced and Cleveland was on the list, I grabbed a ticket and my camera...

The Beachland Ballroom was full and Goblin sounded great as they played a set that spanned their entire existence, finishing with the well-known horror film scores with accompanying video clips on the big screen behind them.

If you get the chance, go and see Goblin on their current tour and take in a piece of horror film history...