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Oliver Onions Weeps Over MOTHER OF TEARS At The Alamo!
Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.
I am desperate to see this.
I don’t care. I know what this review says, but I don’t care. Until I’ve seen it myself, it’s like Schrodinger’s Cat... there’s still a chance it’s great, the perfect resolution to this long-open-ended trilogy. And I am determined to maintain the most sunshiny outlook on this one. I’ve waited too long to see it.
Having said that, check out what this guy, who attended a screening at the Alamo, had to say about it:
Hi there Harry-
Long time reader, first time reviewer. Thanks to the always awesome Alamo Drafthouse and Fangoria's "Weekend of Horrors," I just arrived home from seeing Dario Argento's "The Mother of Tears." I will spare the history lesson as anyone who reads this knows probably already knows of its significance. I am a huge Italian cinema and have a massive boner for early Argento, and to say I was excited when the credits started to roll is one big ole understatement. I was fucking giddy. Those credits had me more excited than the total mediocrity that was "Cloverblowme." And then the movie started.
The action starts impressively quick. A weird, ancient goth box and decayed body are found by a priest buried together in church ruins. The wise old priest knows this goth box is bad news, and has a stroke just after sending off the goth box to a friend Michael, the director at a museum in Rome, for safe keeping. Michael is not there when goth box arrives, but a nosy assistant and his girlfriend/fellow employee Sarah (Asia Argento) open the box to investigate. A little spilled blood causes the resurrection of some weird dudes and a screaming monkey, who quickly mutilate the nosy assistant in an enjoyable, extended bloodbath. Sarah escapes, but is questioned by the police who believe she may be responsible for the murder, as well as the bizarre acts of violence that begin to erupt throughout Rome. A detective begins following her in hopes of solving the mystery of these acts, and thus begins the movie's descent into awful CGI, fluorescent eye shadow, and especially bad dubbing.
The middle of the film hits a lull as goth lesbians flock to Rome as the resurrected Mother of Tears gathers her strength. Sarah goes on the run, and is chased through several scenes by the goth lesbs with many friends and acquaintances dispatched. In the final act, Sarah fights the Mother in her decaying home, the Detective gets stabbed in the man tit, and the film ends bizarrely in an inane green screen moment.
As much as I wanted to and almost expected to like this film despite Argento's recent track record of weakness, it just doesn't compare to "Inferno" or "Suspiria", or even the "Stendhal Syndrome." While there are small, surface allusions to the other two entries in the trilogy, it didn't seem like this chapter was continuing or concluding anything. The only film I really can compare it to is "Land of the Dead," if only for the same sense of disappointment and random cringe-worthy factor. While I think the "Mother of Tears" is better than "Land of the Dead," it pains me to say it's still not that good, and definitely belongs in Argento's more recent body of flawed work than the glory days of the '70s and '80s. Recommended if you're a forgiving fan and all-around Dario love like me, but ratchet those expectations down a bit kids. It's better than "The Card Player," if that is consolation to anyone.
If you use this, please credit me as Oliver Onions.
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But this still looks like an After Dark Horrorfest piece of crap. Then again I never liked Argento in the first place.
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..doing the soundtrack? I want to hear 'The Goth/Lesbian' theme..
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Jan 22, 2008 7:27:31 AM CST
"The middle of the film hits a lull as goth lesbians flock to Ro
by tonagan
How could that be considered a lull?
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But i´m not sure of Mater Lacrimarum. I´m a huge spanish bullfight ring.
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I can't wait to see this at a cinema as I have only had the chance to watch the screener doing the rounds on Torrents. This movie is closer in tone to Opera and Phenomena than it is to Suspiria and Inferno.
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We're probably as bigger fans of Argento as reviwer Oliver Onions (great pseudonym, BTW!) ans we honestly wondered if Argento was capable of delivering the goods as far as the conclusion of the Three Mothers trilogy is concerned. Sadly, it looks as though our fears were justified...
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... the only thing I was unsure of was how disappointed I was by the film. It's definitely a let-down and not at all a worthy conclusion to the trilogy- but my main problem was that the film was just really boring- there was so much dialog (not Argento's strong point) and while the set-piece scenes were okay they just felt random and were nowhere near as good as those in Tenebre or Suspiria (Argento's two best films in my opinion).
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me really enjoy Argento to the fullest, and this one is no exception. Is it up to snuff with his best? No. Argento will never - ever - be able to recapture the bottled lightning that was his career from 69-87, but he's produced several flawed masterpieces since then and I wouldn't hesitate to count Mother of Tears among their ranks. His best since the criminally underrated Stendhal Syndrome. There's so much less you have to forgive in order to enjoy it than in say, The Card Player, which had two exquisite set pieces mired in mediocrity. While it may not make use of the same color schemes, Mother of Tears fits in nicely with it's predecessors but doesn't aim to be a direct stylistic continuation of Suspiria and Inferno. There are elements like the monkey, the cab ride and the finale that do fit the old molds and for me the Argento magic is still there, but the three decades since Inferno have changed him and this movie reflects that. It doesn't time travel back to classic Argento. Claudio Simonetti's score is very well done but is in no way as innovative or challenging as his work with Goblin on Deep Red and Suspiria. And that's fairly indicative of the entire affair - it's up to snuff, a solid effort I find myself building a solid affinity for in Argento's body of work, but it lacks the balls out zany punch of the man in his prime. Over time I think people might soften to it, but I guess the fact that people would have to reconcile expectations and reevaluate first impressions is too much for some fans who want their brains blown out in audio visual ecstasy within the first few frames and will accept nothing less. People only lukewarm to Argento though won't find much value, but there is an ubiquitous Asia nude scene.
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...it really is pretty disappointing. I got to see it in September at TIFF with Argento in attendance and aside from the wonderfulness attached with that, the movie is basically the Argento standard high-camp gore-fest but it doesn't live up to greatness of Suspiria nor the enjoyable lameness of Inferno. Asia Argento plays a mentally challenged woman charged with the task of killing the final of the Three Mothers. Asia puts in a scenary-chewing performance rivaled only by the pesky M.O.T. sidekick, a constantly shrieking monkey. Good fun for a midnight show, but ultimately forgettable.
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And I enjoyed both of his Masters of Horror episodes, so I am holding out a bit of hope for this.
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how he lists things that are always in argento films that make them enjoyable. EVERYONE SPEAKS DIFFERENT DIALECTS AND ENGLISH IS DUBBED IN FOR THOSE NOT SPEAKING IT. it adds to the fun. my guess is people just THINK they like argento because theyve seen a few of his popular movies that are a staple to the horror genre. if he made this exactly like inferno and suspiria, it would be a joke to most people. because believe it or not, some people find those films to be dated art projects(myself NOT included). when will people understand filmakers dont make movies to fulfill one specific persons wet dream.
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As both directors work got progressively worse with each release. Hoping one day they will each redeem themselves with a great solid film.
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Is one of his best work along with of course, Suspiria, which is still so scary after all these years and knowing whats going to happen!
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and I've got to disagree and say that there are more than just scant surface allusions to the first two movies connecting the stories. And if "stabbed in the man tit" is as far as some people are willing to take what is pretty clearly a reference to Christ being stabbed on the cross (I'm not sure how that exactly fits in, but I'm sure Alan Jones will tell us eventually) then what hope is there for this flick to be taken seriously? Because there ARE circles where Argento's movies are held up under weighty critical analysis as more than just strings of colorful exploitation set pieces. And am I the only one who dug Land of the Dead as a cool live action EC comic? It's the least of the Dead series, sure, but it's still a solid effort.
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When the heck is someone going to turn the Beckoning Fair One into a movie... ?
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Does anybody know? Italy, USA, UK, Germany, ...?
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