Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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24 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Shameful, 4 May 2008
Let me make this clear, I am not just a fan of the supposed "classic" Argento. Yeas I love "Suspiria" and especially "Profondo Rosso", but I also have a lot of time for the likes of "Trauma", "Nonhosonno", "Stendhal Syndrome", "Opera" and "Phenomena" (though I can also see and acknowledge the flaws in his work). "The Card Player" was sadly a tired, bloodless (in every way) giallo most of the time (again lumbered with bad dubbing in places - the Argento curse) but even it had the odd stylish setpiece. "Jenifer", his entry in the first season of "Masters of Horror" was, I felt, quite a return to form - dreamlike, stylish and downright nasty.
I had read mixed reviews for "The Mother of Tears". Many early reviews were downright hostile. Not unusual for Argento, I thought. And even a flawed Argento is still interesting. And then I saw a few positive fan reviews so I decided to give it a chance.
What a mistake-a to make-a.
This is dire, a mess of a film with nothing going for it. I didn't expect it to have the same stylistic look as "Suspiria" or "Inferno", the first two in the "Three Mothers Trilogy", but this film looks like it was written and directed by a ten year old kid. It's badly made in nearly every way and JUST NOT SCARY. The first two films were more atmosphere than plot (which is fine, it suits the nightmarish aspects of the films), but this one does have more plot. The problem is it's so hackneyed and basic, yet still clumsy and badly told. The special effects are terrible too - yes the gore is back but so what? It's laughable and badly made. And as for those witches! They were the most embarrassing panto villains ever.
There is no excuse. No redeeming factor. If anyone else had directed this travesty it would have been forgotten. Argento has a lot to prove from here-on in...
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16 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
you might hate this film but..., 21 April 2008
then again you might love it for it's an Argento movie and with it comes the usual controversy! Since the 70's Argento's very personal and unique view of the thriller / horror genre has divided not only horror movie fans but his own fans to, even the critic and fan Alan Jones has voiced his dissatisfaction with Mother of Tears. From my 5 stars rating you can tell that I feel somewhat differently about it. I have followed Argento's work for years and have nothing but the highest regard for him. Even his weakest films have moments of genius that set him apart from the rest. Firstly Mother of Tears has many elements that make an Argento film, ravishing photography, an eye for the bizarre and obscure details, brutal violence and gore and all presented in a dream like and magical world. In his earlier films Suspiria and Inferno this world is more or less confined to the houses of the witches but in Mother of Tears it extends to the whole city of Rome bringing with it sporadic violence and chaos. It's a brave move and the lowish budget doesn't quite pull it off and this would be my main criticism. The violence shown in these scenes is nothing more extreme than a night out in Manchester (I guess there must be a witch house here in Salford!) and a taxi driver doesn't bat an eyelid as he drives past a guy with a gun and other attacks. It's all quite strange and uninvolving.
Fans might be upset that the 'set piece murders' that made his early movies so popular are absent on this occasion but throughout there is a fabulous atmosphere of dread. To really enjoy this film you have succumb to its weird dream like state.
OK, if the horror you like has numbers after it (SAW 1 2 3 4) you probably wont like it, but if you fancy something like Tarkovsky with gore then give it a try (but please watch Suspiria and Inferno first).
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Long wait for very little!, 7 Jun 2008
Being an Argento fan since a very young age and having forgiven him for some turkeys along the way (Phantom of the Opera, Trauma) I was looking forward to a top entry to finish the longest awaited ending to a horror trilogy for a long time! All the classic trademark Argento touches are there from the first aerial camera shots and the superb lighting but the sum of the parts don't make up the whole. The murders are typically gruesome but a series of contrived set pieces that end up with a shocker of an ending is unforgiveable. I know Argento is traditionally known for naff endings, his ending for the otherwise superb Inferno is a class example but this one is devoid of any thought at all! A reasonably tidy build up is ruined as an all powerful witch is done in by Asia Argento casually tossing her red dress into a fire and that's pretty much it. No suspense, no menace, no horror, just a quick grab of a dress and that's the end of it - shocking! A ten year old could have done better! Asia Argento, an actress I have a lot of time for, overacts pretty badly in this one and, unless you're a die-hard Argentophile I fail to see how this might grab you. Anyone brought up on the crap horror films of the 90s and 00s will fail to see any of the subtler points of Argento's horror but it has also left the biggest of fans like me pretty cold. A disappointing end to a trilogy which includes, for any of its faults, two of the best horror films ever.
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