Mother of Tears - Dark Publications

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Product Description
Studio: Genius Products Inc Release Date: 09/23/2008 Rating: Ur

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After waiting 28 years for the third feature in Dario Argento's Mother trilogy, die-hard fans (like myself) flocked to theaters to catch Mother of Tears. The anticipatory set-up, for example reconciling in advance that the film will look entirely different, and probably less sexy, than the first two Giallo classics, Suspiria (1977) and Inferno (1980), induced anxieties in viewers that many of us hoped would enhance the film's horror and suspense. So revered are Suspiria and Inferno that one needs an extremely open mind to avoid instantly turning Mother of Tears off, now that it's available on DVD, and chucking the disc out the window, insulted by its comparison to the previous two movies. From scene one, in which a psychotic, villainous monkey stalks Asia Argento, playing protagonist Sarah Mandy, through Rome's Natural History Museum, one realizes this film can only go downhill. Without the colored lights, the stylized 1970s horror aesthetic, or the terrifyingly fetishtistic speed metal/electronica soundtrack pounding during the chase, the mood is simply corny. Regarding the monkey, try to remember that an oddly elegant and intelligent crow ate an eyeball to great effect in Argento's, Terror at the Opera. Argento has always favored animals to represent unwilling witnesses. The plot itself is also typically Argento and does follow-up: After a tainted red tunic is discovered in a cemetery, the third and last witch, Mother Lachrimarum (Moran Atias), is awaken from her catacombs beneath a mansion that she and her two deceased witch consorts, Mater Tenebrarum, the Mother of Darkness/Shadows, and Mater Suspiriorum, the Mother of Sighs, long ago recruited an architect to build. The Mother of Tears has beef with Sarah Mandy, due to Sarah's heritage, and the unholy black witch relentlessly pursues Mandy until Mandy is forced to fight head-on. Mandy's boyfriend, Michael Pierce (Adam James), is not much help, nor is Padre Johannes (Udo Kier), which makes sense; Argento's films are all about empowered female characters, vengeful victims and ruthless criminals alike. Perhaps the flaw here is Argento's casting of his daughter, and her inability to render that illicit sexual tension that the puerile Suzy Banyon (Jessica Harper) once did in the halls of her bewitched boarding school. Even Mother Lachrimarum's young recruits, such as the Gothic and Lolita-style Katerina (Jun Ichikawa), are dumb-looking with their colored contacts and peacock hairstyles. There is only one character, the elder white witch Marta Colussi (Valeria Cavalli), who has the sexual draw to enchant Argento style, but she is short-lived. The CG effects employed throughout, especially in regards to the ghoulish antics happening amongst the Goth witch posse, are just plain bad. Only a few shots of gore really spook, and to be fair, they are lasting images. But the only semi-interesting this about the Mother of Tears DVD is the interview extra with the man himself, who is still master even if he makes a few stinkers. --Trinie Dalton

Customer Reviews: Read 31 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

This Mother made me shed tears alright... tears of joy! September 28, 2008
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

If there is one thing that two seasons of the often underwhelming TV series Masters Of Horror gave us, it was a rejuvinated Dario Argento. The Italian director delivered a pair of entries(Jenifer and Pelts) that stand not only as some of the best from the series, but also some of the best material(and most extreme) that he had done in nearly 10 years(Opera from 1987 being his last great work in my opinion), and showcased that he still had the ability to disturb and entertain. Gone was much of his famous trademarks-- inventive camerawork, use of heavy colored lighting, and artistic quirkiness; which were now replaced with more straightforward and solid pacing and scenes of shocking grue. With Mother Of Tears, Argento uses that same aforementioned formula from his Masters Of Horror episodes, except now stretched into full-length form AND used to complete his 18-years-in-the-making "mothers" trilogy of films(begining in 1977 with Suspiria, and it's sequel Inferno from 1980). The movie follows Sarah(poorly acted by Dario's own daughter Asia Argento), a museum worker who unwittingly unleashes the evil of the Mother of Tears on Rome when she opens an ancient cask... hijinx ensue and feature some of the Italian maestro's most excellent moments of depravity ever, including(but not limited to) stangulation by one's own intestines, baby cannibalism, and impalement(Cannibal Holocaust style!). Throw in some solid atmoshere, brisk pacing, tons of nudity(even some full-frontal for the gents), and a fantasic jump scare towards the middle of the movie(so good I had to watch it twice in a row), and we have a definite winner here(all that was missing was a soundtrack by Goblin). Between the joy of seeing Dario Argento's return from Hacksville(where Tobe Hooper and George Romero unfortunately still reside) and the amount of fun watching this provided, I have no choice but to deliver a rare 5 star rating... not to mention that I feel the film does catch some unnecassarily harsh critism due to Argento being the director; let's face it, if this was some nobody fresh out of film school he'd be heralded as the "next big thing" in horror cinema. Still, this isn't a true return to form for Argento as far as his classic style is concerned... it IS a return for Argento to making a great horror movie though(and that's a start right?)-- ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED!

5 out of 5 stars

An inspired return to form from Dario! June 30, 2008
11 out of 20 found this review helpful

After the last few Argento films, I must say I went into Mother of Tears with low expectations. I left the theater, however, exhilarated and pleasantly surprised. This film is imbued with the best qualities of an Argento film: visual beauty, inventive direction, incredible soundtrack, and a wicked sense of humor. Oh, and violence. Lots of violence.

It shares with it's predecessors (Suspiria and Inferno), a few flaws: dodgy acting, lousy dubbing, questionable special effects, and a rather abrupt ending. But these are shortcomings (qualities?) that haunt every Argento film, but somehow only end up adding to the unique experience. The script of Mother of Tears is a bit more linear and thought-out than usual for Dario, and there's not a dull moment in the film.

For a serving of Italo horror at it's baroque, bloody best, I say buy Mother of Tears: it's a new horror classic, Argento updated for our times, yet still holding on to the traits that made us love him in the first place. There are many who won't take to this potent brew, but that's to be expected. Don't miss out.

4 out of 5 stars

Not Suspiria, but a lot of fun. September 10, 2008
11 out of 14 found this review helpful

There seems to be alot of mixed reviews for Dario Argento's Mother Of Tears, the latest conclusion to the trilogy of the three mothers which began with Susperia and followed up with Inferno. It's the type of film that you either love or hate, while the film wasn't exactly perfect I still thought it was quite enjoyable and very entertaining. The main reason why some people were complaining was because of the acting was horrible, I also agree with this but then again Argento's films are known for their bad acting so I'm already used to that and the storyline was incoherent and there were a couple of weak characters but what really makes this film great was the stylish cinematography and over the top death and gore scenes which were just amazing, there was some stuff in here that was truly shocking even for me and I didn't even expect that.
Dario Argento still knows how to create an artistic death scene, he definitely has not lost his touch. I honestly thought it was way better than most of his recent stuff. And to think that some Argento fans were disappointed by this, the film was great but it did have a few flaws but all these flaws aside I have to admit that it was his best film in years. Anyway the film was about a mysterious urn, which is dug up during an excavation. The urn is then sent to Rome Italy for study where an archeologist named Sarah (Asia Argento) gets her hands on the mysterious object and proceeds to study it alongside her friend Giselle. However when Giselle is brutally murdered before Sarah can even start the background check on the artifact, she begins to realize that something sinister lurks within the urn and it has it's sights set specifically on her. Terror and chaos is unleashed upon Rome and Sarah who is very skeptical of the occult discovers that she has some exceptional powers. After witnessing a grizzly murder, the ominous kidnapping of a friend's son and a group of witches that seem intent on killing her, she goes on a quest to find the cause behind the madness and discover the extent of her powers. The plot might sound cheesy but its not, the film had a very weird and dark atmosphere and it had a couple of creepy and horrific scenes that are guaranteed to satisfy any hardcore Argento fan. Theres this one scene that starts off at the beggining of the film where Gisele who is Sarah's friend gets disembowled then gets strangled by her own intestines while being stabbed repeatedly in the mouth and stomach and its all shown in graphic detail, that basically shows how gory this film is. There is also a short but amusing cameo from Udo Kier as a priest who helps out Sarah.
Mother Of Tears definitely feels and looks like an Argento film. It has the Italian setting, the use of some Italian dialogue and alot of bloody moments. Then there's also the strange, creepy and weird moments which Argento is famous for adding into his brand of horror films. The story of the movie is intriguing and very eerie, as it follows the third witch of the "Mother" series The Mother Of Tears, a witch who thrives and derives her powers from the pain, suffering, and death of others. Along with the power to drive people to murder, suicide, and madness she also has many followers, including a group of witches. As you'll see in the film most of these witches have really bad hair and makeup and some of their acting was way over the top and laughable. Anyway the film was definitely worth while and was nicely shot with some great atmosphere and locations and plenty of memorable scenes in it making this one of Dario Argento's best although Asia's acting could have been alot better, I highly recommend this to Italian horror fans check it out.

3 out of 5 stars

La Terza Madre June 22, 2008
10 out of 16 found this review helpful

LA TERZA MADRE (or MOTHER OF TEARS) is the third and final film in Dario Argento's Three Mothers trilogy. Dario's daughter Asia Argento stars in the film as Sarah Mandy, an American student working in a museum in Rome, Italy. Rome is the last city where the last witch Mother of Tears resides in.

When an ancient urn is located, it is sent to the museum in Rome where Sarah and her boyfriend Michael (Adam James) works. Unbeknownst to them, Sarah and her co-worker Giselle (the stunning Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni) breaks the seal to the urn and unleashes an unspeakable evil. That evil is the last and final witch Mater Lachrymarum (Moran Atias). With her powers restored, she and her followers plagues the city of Rome with violence, murder, rapes, and suicides. To say that all heck broke loose would be putting it mildly. When Sarah finds out about her family ties to the Mother of Tears witch, it is up to her to destroy her once and for all.

The violence was over the top and a visual eye candy for those who love their horror films to be gory and bloody. The first ten minutes of the film was an indication of what was to come through out the film. For me, the violence was a bit much but I will give Dario credit for giving his victims an interesting and colorful death. It is easily one of the most memorable death scenes I have ever seen which is a good thing. The performances were campy and over the top but then again what performances aren't in the horror genre? Still I did like the camp value in the actors' performances especially Udo Kier, who makes a cameo appearance in the film. As much as I liked the film score, film score was obnoxious and distracting. Sometimes less is more, and I think this film would have benefitted from that concept. For all the gore in the film, it was not bad in comparison to the stupid anti-climatic ending which left me thinking "is that it?!". I wished Dario could have come up with a better scenerio than what he did in the film. Another flaw with the film is the scenes between Sarah and her deceased mother (Asia's real life mother). They were unbelievably corny and too Obi-Wan Knobi-ish. And if Sarah was supposed to be a witch, why was she only given the power of invisibility? Talk about lame.

I may not be into horror films as I once was as a teenager but to see a Dario Argento film in the theatre and not on dvd was a real visual treat for my eyes. MASTER OF TEARS is definitely not for the casual horror fan. The death scenes depicted in the film is graphic and cringe-worthy at times. For fans of today's brand of horror fans or Dario Argento's films, this is definitely worth seeing in the theatre if you can.

4 out of 5 stars

Mama Mia! August 13, 2008
6 out of 9 found this review helpful

Let's get one thing out of the way first - considering that no one actually believed the three mothers trilogy would ever be completed, the release of this film is reason enough for horror fans to rejoice. Now, as for the the finished product itself, I think it ought not surprise anyone. People have complained that Mr. Argento has failed to grow beyond the parameters of the zenith he reached in the 1980s. I would agree. But for what it's worth this installment does deliver much of the director's trademark touches - souped up with what can be described as a delirious abandon to the absurd. Nothing in the convoluted plot involving a diabolical relic that somehow triggers the destruction of Rome makes any real sense but then neither did those in Suspiria or Inferno. Writing has never been Mr. Argento's strong suit anyway. What seemed lacking here was the originality and verve of his mesmerizing visuals in Suspiria which had elevated that film to its deserved cult status. We do get in its stead a ratcheting up of the gore and the (intended or otherwise) camp quotient replete with nubile lesbians chaneling the Comme des Garcons school of witchcraft, a hysterical monkey and one hunky sympathetic detective. So, while this doesn't quite achieve the brutal beauty of Suspria, it does manage to close the trilogy with a film that is nothing more or less than classic Argento. And that's not a bad thing.

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