I see why she’s crying now. Horror maestro Dario Argento finally completes the Three Mothers trilogy that he began with Suspiria in 1977. The final film has long been anticipated. In my opinion, it’s only half a film but it does feature some rather brave gory situations.
While excavating some ground outside of a cemetery, a casket is discovered buried outside holy ground (not a good sign). The casket has a small sarcophagus chained to the top of it that is also held in place with numerous crosses (again, if you find the same – run away).
The local bishop removes the small box and takes it back to his home. He finds some relics inside and gets an ominous feeling from them, but wants confirmation so he seals the box with wax and sends it curator of the Museum of Ancient Art, Michael Pierce (Adam James), to have him confirm the devilish contents.
Pierce’s girlfriend Sarah Mandy (Asia Argento) is shown the box by his assistant. The assistant is curious of the contents and breaks the wax seal while Sarah is out of the room. The intrusion unleashes a horrific force, Mater Lachrimarum or the Mother of Tears, and her evil minions do some rather nasty things to the assistant, which is witnessed by Sarah.
Soon witches from all across Italy are converging on Rome to celebrate the freeing of the Mother and the streets are running with blood and chaos. Sarah is now on the run trying to flee from the mad followers, with help from her dead mother (Daria Nicolodi), and trying to stop the tears from flowing before all of Rome is drowned in misery.
Dario Argento began his trilogy about three powerful witches in 1977 with Suspiria (co-written by his partner and actress Daria Nicolodi), continued with 1980’s Inferno (written by Argento, but Nicolodi had a role), and the anticipation has always been high with Italian horror movie fans that he’d complete the trilogy.
It’s been hinted since the 1980s that Nicolodi had completed a screenplay about the third Mother. Since her name doesn’t appear on the final film I wonder what that fabled version was like. As it is the final product released on October 31, 2007 seems like half a film.
The beginning of the film is brutal, bloody, and worked for me. It’s when the witches, that seemed to have stepped out of the 1970s, start to converge on Rome with their over-the-top acting and eye-rolling histrionics that I began to see the cracks.
It was at the end that I completely lost interest and dubbed myself the “Motherf*cker of Sighs.” I really wanted to like the film, but somewhere in the middle it seems to fall apart.
Daria Nicolodi’s (Dario’s partner and baby mama of Asia) role is so slight and shot in a rotten, laughable Tinkerbell CGI filter that she’s barely recognizable and not in the film enough. The show starts off ominous enough with the discovery of the sarcophagus and the brutal and bloody murder of the assistant.
To gore hounds that will be the redeeming factor of the film as Argento shows a no-holds-barred sensibility when it comes to violence and luckily this is the unrated cut. You won’t see infanticide in any American film of the like. It’s somewhat brave that he would show such horrible acts during the apocalyptic chaos wrought by Mater Lachrimarum.
However, it seems like they ran out of money and inspiration around the middle of the film. The Mother of Tears turns out to be pretty disappointing as played by a model Moran Atias. She looks great naked, but she can’t act her way out of a velvet sack. The film’s final scene is even more ludicrous.
I only half liked the film and hoped that it would more resemble the half I liked all the way through and not taken that nosedive in the middle.
The Mother of Tears is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include the 33 minute “Making of Mother of Tears,” an 8 minute conversation with Dario Argento, and the U.S. and Italian trailers.
The Mother of Tears starts off well, but it was I who was crying tears of missed opportunities by the end of the film. Devoted Argento fans will eat it all up, and perhaps I’m only an Argento poser after all, but it feels like only half a meal.
It has some brave and surprising moves, but some faulty casting and a strained second half (and that ludicrous final shot) seem to make Mother drown in her tears (no matter that she looks great naked).
Mother of Tears is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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