Inferno (1980)

A visual work of art plus incredible music score.

A woman stumbles on a diary written by an alchemist telling a tale about The Three Mothers. They happen to be three evil witches with incredible power. She unknowingly unleashes their evil.

First of all, I will go through this review without making any comparisons to Suspiria. Simply because that can effect my overall judgment of this film. Dario Argento is without a doubt an excellent director with a vision. There are very few films that I can think of with an atmosphere so imaginative yet so eerie that it has burned an image in my mind forever. The lighting and the set ups are done so well I can feel the evil. This is also supported by a very well orchestrated music score. That continues to get better as it goes along. Together they form a masterpiece of style.

Although a very good film concerning style Inferno does lack substance. Character development and plot are very shaky. I will admit that I didn't care about any of the characters. As a result the death scenes(even though brutal at times) lacked all emotional effect. I just found myself thinking,"wow, sucks to go out like that". Now excluding what is already given to you in the base narrative. Inferno is very lacking on plot. There seems to be a number of things happening just for the sake of it. There are murders happening in which they appear to be without a motive. I kind of feel this is done intentionally to leave it up to the viewer(I do have my thoughts though). But this is not exactly my kind of storytelling. I need a reason to care if the characters die. I need more plot development. And Inferno didn't provide this in a way that completely satisfied me.

I really wish that a 3.5 rating was available. I don't quite feel a 4 and definitly not a solid 3 because I liked the film. I enjoyed the outstanding atmosphere, excellent music score, and gore. Like all Argento films Inferno is not for everyone. It's pretty slow paced and aimed towards a more patient audience. If you're into that fast paced stuff with lots of cheap scares. This may not be for you.



August 18, 2008

Visually stunning Argento film!

In the city of New York, a woman named Sarah discovers a book called "The Three Mothers" which describes about an architech named Varelli whom build a trio of tombs for the Three Mothers whom are three very evil witches that were meant to be buried. She accidently unleashes unspeakable evil, her boyfriend whom just came back from Rome he finds out that Sarah is dead and must solve the mystery of these bizarre killings and weird happenings.

Very dark and bloody yet complex supernatural horror thriller shocker from Italy's greatest horror maestero Dario Argento is one of the better films of his carreer. Sure the plot is full of holes and can be a tad confusing, but the film does offer some visually stunning atmosphere and some gory murders like decapictations and bloody stabbings. It's suppose to be part of the "Three Mothers" trilogy which started with "Suspiria" as this movie is suppose to be a sequel to and finished recently with "Mother of Tears: The Third Mother" as this is worth a look for fans of the genre and Dario Argento.

This DVD which is a re-issue of the Anchor Bay release contains a very good transfer and excellent sound with some good extras like a subtitled interview with Dario Argento, trailer, Still Gallery and talent bios.

Also recommended: "Suspiria", "Tenebre", "Deep Red", "Demons 1 & 2", "Cemetery Man", "House (1986)", "Inside", "House By The Cemetery", "City of the Living Dead", "The Beyond", "Halloween (1978)", "Perfect Blue", "Stephen King's IT", "Making Contact (a.k.a. Joey)", "The New York Ripper", "Stir of Echoes", "The Orphanage", "Opera", "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage", "The Church", "Pet Semetary", "A Nightmare on Elm Street", "The Shining", "Cat O'Nine Tails", "Phenomena", "Stage Fright", "Phantasm", "The Changeling", "In The Mouth of Madness", "Re-Animator" and "Silent Hill". June 18, 2008

Argento at his worst

After making his two masterpieces, "Deep Red" and "Suspiria", it seemed inevitable that Dario Argento's next film would disappoint. However, "Inferno" is not just disappointing, it is downright bad.

The second film in the "Three Mothers" trilogy (the first being "Suspiria" and the third being the recently released "The Mother of Tears") is about a young woman who thinks that her New York apartment building happens to house one of three witches, the Mother of Darkness. That's it. The plot really doesn't progress much beyond that. I'd like to say that much investigation and suspense follows, but it doesn't. Sure there's a string of gory murders and the young woman's brother shows up in New York, but these scenes are all rather random and don't really form a coherent storyline.

As with all Dario Argento films, the acting is atrocious. However, because "Inferno" lacks the coherance of "Deep Red" and the stylish beauty of "Suspiria", this is all the more apparent. At times I felt like I was watching a bad t.v. movie, not a film by one of the greatest horror directors of all time. Apparently, 20th Century Fox shelved this film for five years, before releasing it straight-to-video. I'm not surprised. This is, by far, the worst of all of the Dario Argento films that I have seen to date.
March 23, 2008

Argento's Inferno ignites the screen.

Italian film director, producer and screenwriter Dario Argento is best known for his work in the "giallo" horror film genre, which is a assimilation of the horror, fantastique, and erotic film genres first created by director Mario Bava. Argento not only acknowledges Bava as an influence, but also recognizes Riccardo Freda, Sergio Leone, Alfred Hitchcock, Michelangelo Antonioni, Ingmar Bergman, and Federico Fellini as influences for his films. Argento collaborated with George Romero on the 1978 zombie cult classic, Dawn of the Dead.

His violent, highly-artistic supernatural thriller, Inferno (1980) is the second film in a trilogy about "The Three Mothers," three ancient witches residing in three different modern cities (Rome, Freiburg, and New York). Suspiria is the first film in the trilogy, and the third movie (The Mother of Tears) was released in 2007. (I have read the title "Suspiria" and the concept for the trilogy was drawn from Thomas De Quincey's sequel to his Confessions of an English Opium Eater, Suspira De Profundis.) Inferno tells the story of a young man's investigation into his missing sister, Rose Elliot (Irene Miracle), a poet living alone in a New York City apartment building that was also the residence of an ancient witch. After discovering an old book called The Three Mothers, Rose is brutally murdered. Soon others are also murdered when her brother Mark (Leigh McCloskey) arrives in New York from Rome asking questions about his sister's disappearance. Argento collaborated with his his mentor, Mario Bava, on the film's optical effects, matte paintings, and camera shots. Although Argento frequently called Inferno one of the least favorite of his films (possibly because he was suffering from acute hepatitis during production), it is a definitive horror film with surreal imagery that will ignite your TV screen.

G. Merritt February 14, 2008

Classic Argento Horror from the early 1980's

INFERNO is the sequel to Dario's other Horror movie classic SUSPIRIA, which was filmed a few years before this film. Both movies are similar in theme and atmosphere and both movies are about witches. Dispite INFERNO is considered the sequel to SUSPIRIA, they have little to do with one another in terms of plot and story line.

The actual movie itself is about an apartment building in New York, that seems to be haunted by the ghost of an old witch. It sounds like a simple enough plot, yet Dario keeps the viewer attention through random death scenes and unseen killers, stabbing beautiful women to death. All of which, seems to have nothing to do with the actual plot of an apartment building being haunted by an evil witch.

Sometimes I find Argento's work a little hard to follow (with the exception of his DEMONS films considering the subject matter is pretty much cut and dry) but that isn't really a problem, considering his movies are filmed so beautifully. INFERNO is no exception, with scenes of bright colors adding a creepy sense of atmosphere to every moment. Even if you have no idea whats going on, it's just interesting to watch things unfold.

Gore wise, INFERNO isn't anywhere near the buckets of blood that was SUSPIRIA. Not to worry, INFERNO doesn't need it. The death scenes are pretty much brutal stabbings and other strange ways for people to meet their fate. They're not sloppy with gore but they do send a chill up the viewer's spine! Haunting scenes of horrifying stabbings, pulled together with bright retro coloring. INFERNO is "classic Horror" in every sense of the phrase.

Argento fans and passing viewers alike will find much to enjoy with the movie INFERNO. Even if you haven't seen SUSPIRIA or any of his other movies, this film works well on a well rounded level. It's sure to please any Horror fan looking to watch a good "old school" Horror film.

Stop reading my review and just buy the movie already! You won't be dissapointed. January 21, 2008

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