Dario Argento is perhaps the most critically acclaimed and widely known Italian director of genre movies. His fame chiefly rests on a string of gialli and horror movies made between 1970 and 1987. They are renowned above all for their directorial flair, stunning design and inventive set-pieces. Argento's career has declined sharply since 1987 following the release of several uninspired movies which have diluted his once untouchable reputation. These days the release of a new Argento film is greeted with indifference by the public, and trepidation by his devoted fans.
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Hands are a key image in the giallo, and Argento's films in particular |
The reality is that there is an element of truth in both of those opinions. THE MOTHER OF TEARS is probably Argento's best film since TRAUMA (1993) but is nevertheless a long way short of the quality of INFERNO, let alone SUSPIRIA. It is confirmation, if it were needed, that the skill and verve which Argento once possessed in abundance is gone, almost certainly never to return.
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Your 21st century witch travels by plane, not broomstick, and wheels her own luggage |
The problem with THE MOTHER OF TEARS is that being the third film in a trilogy it imposes upon Argento a lot of backstory which means that he is more or less forced down a particular narrative route, thereby denying him the opportunity to indulge in one-off set pieces. On the contrary, he is instead obliged to insert several clunky expository sequences for the benefit of viewers who haven't seen or can't remember the first two movies.
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The great Udo Kier, expositing like mad |
It's a great pity to have to report that the film resembles many dull modern American horror films in that, ironically, it only comes to life when dealing with death. There are several impressively gruesome deaths, at times bordering on distasteful, but that's all they are. It's about the worst insult one can imagine to say that this Argento film is anonymous, in that it could have been directed by anybody.
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