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:

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

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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 film was shot in three months.

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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

Kazanian: There are mysterious parts in that book, but the only true mystery is that our very lives are governed by dead people.

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Connections

References Rosemary's Baby (1968)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Typical Argento...visually striking, poorly scripted.

"The Three Mothers" are a trio of nasty, unseen witches/sisters whose rein of terror leaves behind a string of bizarre, grisly murders stretching from Germany to Italy to America. A young woman (Irene Miracle) renting out a room in a multiple-story, Gothic mansion in New York City (also head quarters to the witches) becomes obsessed with a book on the sisters and ends up meeting a gruesome demise for her meddling. Her brother (Leigh McCloskey) receives a distressed letter and returns from musicology studies in Rome to investigate, is thrust into a series of grisly murders and coming face to face with the spirit of death itself!

Argento's follow-up to SUSPIRIA is poorly acted by the leads and often confusing and senseless. However, it's also surreal, beautifully atmospheric, gorgeously photographed and strikingly colorful. Keith Emerson's thundering keyboard score another plus. Beware the Key/20th Century-Fox VHS version that's missing over twenty minutes.

Lamberto Bava was the assistant director. His father, Italian horror stylist Mario Bava, in his last film (he died in 1980), gets credit for both shooting it and FX.