check Bloody Disgusting for a ass-load of great images from the film.
looks to be Argento's best film in a long time. a nasty, violent, sexy Giallo, complete with his ultra-gorgeous offspring Asia in the mix. and it's rated NC-17. this coupled w/ Midnight Meat Train has me excited to be a horror fan again.
review from BloodyDisgusting.com
By: MIke Pereira
In the year in which the “threequel" has ruled the cinemas, the one that horror fans have been desperately waiting for has finally arrived. Dario Argento’s venture into the occult began with masterpiece, “Suspiria” (1977), later to be followed by the flawed but still captivating, “Inferno” (1980). Oh yes, after a massive 27-yearlong wait, Argento has finally completed his “Three Mothers” trilogy with “Mother Of Tears: The Third Mother”. The real frightening question is if it would deliver on everyone’s extremely high expectations. Well…
This final chapter focuses on art student, Sarah Mandy (Asia Argento) who unwittingly releases the demonic power of the most powerful witch (Mother Of Tears to all you non-Argento aficionados). Before you know it, violence, mass suicides and chaos erupts all over Rome, not to mention, psychopathic witches. Like the old story goes, the protagonist must use her untapped psychic powers to stop the “Mother Of Tears” reign of evil before it’s too late.
The screenplay written by Argento himself and Jase Anderson and Adam Gierasch (writers of Tobe Hopper’s underrated, Toolbox Murders) has all of the elements a good final act should contain. The epic storyline moves along in a brisk pace with satisfying tie-ins to the previous films. The exposition is of course, quite silly but is given a conviction with just the right amount of wink at the audience without making the viewer cringe in his or her seat.
Goblin’s Claudio Simonetti has cooked up another killer score. His creepy and intense music goes perfectly hand-in-hand with Argento’s powerful imagery. It goes back to the feel of Goblin’s score in “Suspiria” without ever completely referencing to it. The epic chorus chants create an immediate, punchy effect. Plus, the “oh-so-cool” end credits metal tune perfectly caps the film.
“The Mother Of Tears” is a rousingly insane movie-going experience that could only be concocted by a genius such as Dario Argento. The shockingly graphic and inventive death scenes are vintage Argento and can be proudly put aside his previous works’ finer set-pieces. No character is spared anything less than a gloriously spectacular finish and thank heavens for that! Sexuality in Argento’s extreme violence has never been more perverse and beautifully executed. The climax of “The Mother Of Tears” take these classic Argento ingredients and smashes them together in a terribly unsubtle and spectacular orgasm of sights and sounds. It’s safe to say that the MPAA won’t let this baby nowhere near the vicinity of our “sensitive” and “inhibited” North American eyes.
The film borders on the absurd and camp without ever tripping over that fine line. It’s the type of material that could go horribly disastrous at every turn but doesn’t because of Dario Argento’s sure-hand confidence in his bold vision. His juggling of opposite emotions, black humor and horror is masterful. It’s a delicate and dangerous feat that has turned many potential great horror films to a debacle in an instant (“Dead Silence”). There is one ingenious moment where Argento distracts the viewer with a…well, very distracting image only to hit us with the best scare in ages. (I think I can call it that since the packed audiences pretty much jumped in unison). You have to applaud any movie that has a chase scene between a protagonist and a monkey and still keep the viewers in their seats. That is the sheer brilliance of “The Mother Of Tears”. It relishes in absurdly twisted ideas and images without ever pulling back in shame. A distinctly non-North American way of making movies.
The film is not without its faults. While for the most part, she is solid, Asia Argento’s performance is awkward when conveying vulnerability and emotion. It’s not that she hasn’t displayed these traits effectively in the past because she has (“The Stendhal Syndrome” and her own directorial gigs, “Scarlet Diva” and “The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things”). But her dear old dad’s female protagonists tend to be stereotypically frail, a trait that Asia’s performance never quite convincingly displays. She is too strong of a screen personality to make the viewer buy into it. Plus, on few shots, the CGI effects are a little distracting especially with the Dino De Laurentiis-like final shot. Also, while it is great to see Daria Nicolodi back in an Argento film, her character and the ghostly CGI effect which she is sadly trapped in, overstays its welcome in a “Jar Jar Binks” sort of way.
Aside from those minor nitpicks, “The Mother Of Tears” is a very satisfying finale to the “Three Mothers” trilogy. Sure, it’s no “Suspiria” and frankly, nothing ever will be. If you can get over that fact, you will find yourself entertained by Argento’s delightfully deranged and energetic epic. It’s got brutal violence! Nudity! Lesbian sexuality! Lots of lesbians! Yes, it’s politically-incorrect. What more do you want in an Argento movie?!
Did I forget to mention it has a pretty freaky monkey?
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