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DVD : Inferno |
- Not for Argento newbiesAt its essence, Inferno tells a classic horror movie tale about a haunted house. It's a bit odd, bombards the viewer with random, twisted imagery when least expected, attacks the senses with a kaleidoscope of colors, and overpowers the eardrums with pounding piano accompaniment.
Beginning in what feels like a movie half-finished, a woman is reading a book about Three Mothers (Tenebrarum, Suspiriorum, and Lachrymarum). Written by an architect/alchemist named Varelli, it tells of these three evil entities their resting places. One such place is in New York, and the young lady, Rose, reading/translating the Latin book senses a connection to her surroundings.
Even though I had to watch the introduction twice to understand it, with talks of mothers, keys, cellars, and what-not, the story sets up fairly well. Although, the beginning is a little too packaged for most viewers, myself included, but from all that I have read of Argento, the zip-locked plot is not the important part. The voice-over continuously leading both Rose and the viewer towards the next step is hilarious: "The second key is hidden in the cellar."
What follows is the meat of the story, doom and gloom awaits any who dare delve into the wickedness of not only the Three Mothers story, but also any who snoop around the house - the true star of the movie. Characters die non-connected albeit creative deaths, as the world itself, ostensibly controlled by the Three Mothers, unleashes its fury. Spectacular deaths, amazing in both their gore and their senselessness, it's horror for the sake of horror, with no pretense or worry about an in depth plot or protagonist.
Being an Argento neophyte, I can say one thing without reservation about Inferno: This is absolutely not the right movie to start viewing his work. For all of the movies in his oeuvre, and for all fans passionate fans, jumping straight into Argento's Inferno is a little too hot; there needs to be a period to adjust to the heat. While the lighting, colors, and sets for some of the scenes are way ahead of their time, at times it feels like a movie directed by someone with severe ADHD, jumping from here to there without transition. This movie is directed explicitly for the foreign horror connoisseur, a person with true passion for the legacy of horror. I'm sure it's perfect for the target audience. Granted it's an obviously older movie and can be appreciated as such, it's much too spastic and disconnected, not to mention extremely lacking in character development to actually create a new Argento fan.
Beware the bag o'cats.
Rating:
- The stuff of nightmares.Inferno is probably one of my favorite Dario Argento film and is one of the best films in the three mothers trilogy, the film has an intriguing and frightening story and great atmosphere but there are many flaws in the script and the acting wasn't particularly that good, but then again who watches a Dario Argento flick for the acting?. The film was beautifully shot and had a nice gothic atmosphere that almost seems like a living nightmare and there are some nicely made setpieces which were very memorable, my favorite would have to be the part where Irene Miracle's character is swimming in an underground room filled with water. I'm not going to compare all three films since each one was different, this one was somewhat similar to Susperia but had a couple of difference mainly because of the location and the third film which was the weakest but still watchable was completely different and more modern.
The whole film was visually stunning where the use of color is more prominent with mostly blue, red, and orange hues just like in Susperia and there is some great use of lighting by Argento. Anyway the film is all about witches, ancient alchemy and death and is Dario Argento's follow up to the classic Suspiria which continues the plotline of the Three Mothers, three witches that reside in their own respective gothic buildings specifically designed and built for them. A young woman (Irene Miracle) renting out a room in a multiple-story Gothic mansion in New York City (also head quarters to the witches) becomes obsessed with a book on the sisters and ends up meeting a gruesome demise for her meddling. Her brother (Leigh McCloskey) receives a distressed letter and returns from musicology studies in Rome to investigate, he then encounters a series of grisly murders and coming face to face with the spirit of death itself!.
Inferno is often misunderstood by Argento fans who either complain about the bad acting or think it's confusing but in my honest opinion I thought it was a very satisfying and suitable follow up to Suspiria and was quite entertaining too. There are a few things to note while watching Inferno and that is Mario Bava's influence on the film which is obviously more prominent than is actually recognised and the awesome musical score done by Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, the music was just absolutely wonderful and set the right mood for the film which was dark and creepy. The death scenes and gore were pretty good but I would say that they were tame compared to Dario's other films, in one particular scene which I thought was a bit hilarious and absurd has a guy who's trying to drown a bunch of cats in a bag near by the lake then all of a sudden stumbles and falls in the lake only to by butchered by a maniac hot dog vendor and then eaten by a bunch of rats, this scene in particular did not make any sense but was pretty cool to watch. I have the old Anchor Bay edition and the disc is simply gorgeous with a great widescreen print that has never looked better and the dolby surround audio sounded fantastic on my system (Keith Emerson's soundtrack rocks and is very clear!).
The extras however are minimal but definitely worth it and contains a short but fascinating background documentary/interview segment (that really should be longer) and the usual trailer, bios etc. while not as packaged as the Deep Red disc it's still a must have for any self respecting fan of Dario's work, Inferno was a fantastic horror film that has tons of style, some good and gruesome death scenes and dark atmosphere that will please all you fans of Argento's work, but if you're new to Argento's work make sure you see Suspiria before viewing this sequel or you may just get a bit confused.
Rating:
- Beautifully shot but poorly scripted Beautifully shot but poorly scripted second installment in Dario's tale of the three sisters with Goblinesque soundtrack by Keith Emerson.A journey into a surreal Hitchcockian, dreamscape of labyrinthian architecture, corridors, rooms, cellars, staircases, secret passages, dungeons, submerged rooms and alchemical mysteries, all flavoured with Dario's atypical gruesome murder scenes.
Rating:
- "Inferno" Is A Roller Coaster Ride Through Hell - The Nightmarish Sequel To "Suspiria"Like millions of other Dario Argento fans, I am eagerly awaiting the American release of "The Mother of Tears." In the meantime, I decided to review the first two films in the Three Mothers Trilogy. The first film, "Suspiria," was based on Mater Suspiriorum, the Mother of Sighs. The second film, "Inferno," is based on Mater Tenebrarum, the Mother of Shadows.
In the prologue of "Inferno," viewers are introduced to the novel The Three Mothers. However, they soon learn that it is not a work of fiction. The Three Mothers (actually they are sisters) are witches. An architect, E. Varelli, built each one a gothic mansion in different parts of the world. Death and destruction have always surrounded these mansions.
A young poet, Rose Elliot (Irene Miracle of "Midnight Express" and "Puppet Master") lives in New York. She buys The Three Mothers and suspects that the apartment building in which she lives belongs to the Mother of Shadows. Disturbed by the book's contents, she mails a letter to her brother Mark (Leigh McCloskey of "Dallas" fame). Soon people around them begin dying in gruesome manners, murdered by an unseen assailant.
There are many similarities between "Suspiria" and "Inferno." First, and foremost, is the fact that they were both directed by the Italian Hitchcock, Dario Argento. Both have gorgeous, elaborate sets that are filmed in a dreamlike palette of primary colors of reds and blues. In "Suspiria," the house was a ballet school with students as victims. The house of "Inferno" is an apartment building and its wealthy tenants are victimized. Both have gruesome death sequences involving animals. In "Suspiria," a blind man is attacked and killed by his seeing eye dog. Rats and cats attack tenants of "Inferno." Both films have great musical scores to accentuate the violence. The endings are fiery.
Furthermore, Alida Valli, who starred in "Suspiria," returns for another evil role. Daria Nicolodi who co-wrote the script for "Suspiria" has a supporting role as well. She was the long-time girlfriend of Dario Argento and also starred in his giallo mega hit "Deep Red." She starred in other films of his as well such as "Phenomena," "Tenebre," and "Opera."
Unfortunately, "Inferno" never enjoyed the same success as "Suspiria." This is partly due to its ending which seemed contrived. It was very difficult to understand. However, sometimes dreams, or nightmares, can be difficult to comprehend. If we approach "Inferno" as a nightmare, then anything is possible.
It will be very interesting to view "The Mother of Tears" for the first time and look for similarities between it and the first two installments of the Three Mothers Trilogy. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy the visual roller coaster ride from Hell that is "Inferno."
Rating:
- 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 a very good 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.
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