Inferno (1980)

An American college student in Rome and his sister in New York investigate a series of killings in both locations where their resident addresses are the domain of two covens of witches.

Director:

Dario Argento

Writer:

Dario Argento (story)

Stars:

Leigh McCloskey, Irene Miracle, Eleonora Giorgi

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leigh McCloskey	...	Mark Elliot
Irene Miracle	...	Rose Elliot
Eleonora Giorgi	...	Sara
Daria Nicolodi	...	Elise Stallone Van Adler
Sacha Pitoëff	...	Kazanian (as Sacha Pitoeff)
Alida Valli	...	Carol, the caretaker
Veronica Lazar	...	The Nurse
Gabriele Lavia	...	Carlo
Feodor Chaliapin Jr.	...	Professor Arnold / Dr. Varelli (as Feodor Chaliapin)
Leopoldo Mastelloni	...	John, the Butler
Ania Pieroni	...	Musical Student
James Fleetwood	...	Cook
Rosario Rigutini	...	Man
Ryan Hilliard	...	Shadow
Paolo Paoloni	...	Music Teacher

Storyline

Young poetess Rose Elliot buys a book from a local antique dealer, a diary in Latin of an architect, E. Varelli. She learns of the Three Mothers, and believes her apartment building is one of their houses. She pleads her brother Mark, who is studying musicology in Rome, to come, because she is afraid. Mark's friend Sara reads her letter, which he left behind in class, and discovers the school is run by the Mater Lacrimarum, and is killed for this knowledge. The house of Mater Suspiriorum has already been destroyed, and by the time Mark arrives in New York City, he is investigating his sister's murder.

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Plot Keywords:

evil | murder | house | new york city | book | 

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Taglines:

Come face to face with hell

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

2 April 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dario Argento's Inferno

Filming Locations:

Elios Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Produzioni Intersound

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min 102 min (heavily cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The second part (with Suspiria and Mother of Tears) of the "Three Mothers" trilogy.

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Goofs

The scene at Central Park takes place during a lunar eclipse. However, the eclipse mimics the aesthetic characteristics of a solar eclipse with the Moon being completely blacked out, surrounded by a corona, just as if something had moved between Earth and Moon. However a real lunar eclipse doesn't appear to be pitch black but as a dark reddish layer and there certainly isn't a corona which is a feature of the sun.

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Quotes

Sara: Have you ever heard of the Three Sisters?
Carlo: You mean those black singers?
Sara: No, I'm talking about mythology.
Carlo: Hold on, if you're talking about spooks and stuff, I don't believe in any of that.
Sara: How can you be so sure?
Carlo: I don't believe in such things, that's all, and without any philosophical discussion.
Sara: Then what do you believe in?
Carlo: In whatever I can see and touch.

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Connections

References Johnny Guitar (1954)

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Soundtracks

"Mater Tenebrarum"
Composed by Keith Emerson'
Keyboards by Keith Emerson'

User Reviews

The most beautiful of horror movies

Inferno is Dario Argento's masterpiece. For once, he abandoned the idea of a coherent storyline altogether and made a movie that is simply a series of beautifully made setpieces. Many people have criticized Inferno's plot; such people are completely missing the point. Inferno is no more concerned with plot than Luis Bunuel was with movies such as The Phantom of Liberty; where Bunuel was concentrating on images and ideas, Argento is concentrating on images and emotion, specifically fear.

Each scene features a character or characters running afoul of the Three Mothers, entities introduced obliquely in Argento's previous movie, Suspiria, and developed considerably here. The third movie in the Three Mothers trilogy remains unmade. Each scene is carefully coded by judicious use of colour and sound. All the best setpieces in the movie feature no dialogue whatsoever (most notably the scenes in the underwater chamber and the lecture theatre). Much of the most significant dialogue is whispered offscreen by unseen persons.

Inferno is that rarest of breeds: pure cinema. Not only could it not have succeeded in any other medium, it cannot be adequately described in words. Anyone who is seriously concerned with artistic cinema must see this movie, as should most horror fans. Anyone who has trouble getting their head around movies that push beyond the conventional three-act storyline will almost certainly hate it.