Mother of Tears

Horror legend Dario Argento finally delivers the final chapter of his masterwork, the "Three Mothers” trilogy. It began with the film that launched his fame and acclaim, the visually stunning but limply plotted Susperia in 1997, and continued with the equally beautiful and superiorly scripted Inferno in 1980 before Argento forgot about his third mother for over 20 years. Where Susperia was the domain of the mother of mystery, and Inferno the mother of darkness, Mother Of Tears is a creature of pure misery and sorrow. For those familiar with Argento’s vibrant, dream-like aesthetic and fantastically brutal kill scenes, Mother of Tears will be shocking. Even in an age clogged with sadistic torture and gore films, Argento effortlessly proves his dominance in the field of pure horror. Opening with a couple of archaeological researchers in a museum in Rome cracking the lid on an recently unearthed urn found in a church cemetery, Argento wastes no time introducing one of the most disgusting introductory murder sequences in film history. It’s disturbing for its macabre ingenuity as much as for its twisted brutality and the best (or worst?) part is that it isn’t nearly as horrific as what follows. One of the researchers escapes due to some mystical intervention on her behalf but the urn is stolen and returned to the evil Mater Lachrymarum, which sets off a wave of horrific events all over the city. People begin irrationally tearing each other to pieces in the streets, submitting to the darkest acts the subconscious spew forth. Asia Argento, daughter of Dario, plays the surviving researcher Sarah, who discovers she has a connection to the white witches, so she’s obviously the only hope for humanity. Her abilities as an actress have blossomed after her time as a director, a point she and her father bond over in the filmmaking process, as revealed through conversations with each of them in the special features. Their teamwork seems to have paid off. Mother of Tears is possibly the best and most coherent story Argento has told, and has some of the most consistent acting in his filmography. While his signature visual style is still very present, he’s dialled it back in favour of presenting one of the most truly horrifying depictions of horror ever filmed. There is only a "making of” and a "Conversation with Dario Argento” for special features, with Dario warning those hoping he’ll shoot something easier to stomach that his commitment to gore will never change.