As a follow-up to the sensual gay coming-of-age story “Call Me by Your Name,” Luca Guadagnino’s “Suspiria” — a bloody and relatively cold reimagining of Dario Argento’s 1977 horror movie, about a ballet school operated by a coven of witches — couldn’t be more different, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less personal. In fact, as the director told Variety, “I don’t know what I can do to be more connected to my roots as a filmmaker than going back to that film.”

What does the original “Suspiria” mean to you?

I saw the original movie when I was almost 14, but I had seen the poster when I was 11. Those two experiences marked me in my imagery very, very strongly, and I started to nurture a sense of obsession for the realm of this film.

Your version is equally inspired by German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Why is that?...