'Mother of Tears' is the third and final instalment of The Three Mother trilogy directed by Dario Argento, with the first two being 'Suspiria' in 1977 and 'Inferno' from 1980. Now we finally get the long-awaited final entry of the saga 27 years later and how does it measure up well... not great unfortunately as it fails to live up to those first 2 films in almost every way and therefore creates a disappointing final chapter.
The Plot = An ancient urn is found in a cemetery outside of Rome, and after American art student Sarah Mandy (Asia Argento) accidently opens it, it triggers the return of Mater Lachrymarum - the third mother and soon a series of violent incidents occurs, causing havoc around the city and it's up to Sarah to try and stop her once and for all.
The fact that it took so long to be released may have laid far too much anticipation on this and given that the first 2 were released when Dario Argento was at the top of his game, but by the time this came out he was way past his prime and after viewing this it became evident that this was never gonna recapture his former glory. That's not to say that there wasn't some enjoyment to be had here and there are some redeeming qualities such as the rather tight narrative, over the top violence and the direction does show some signs of Dario's unique artistic flair. However, what lets things down are the lack of style, the over reliance on unconvincing CGI (which looked dated even back then), the weak characters, terrible effects, and the very weak climax which bogs everything down.
The cast performances vary in quality with Asia Argento giving an overall good performance in the lead role. Udo Keir makes for a solid addition to the cast and elevates things slightly. Cristian Solimeno & Adam James both gives decent performances in their respective roles and Jun Ichikawa gives one of the more memorable and over the top performances here.
Overall 'Mother of Tears' is nowhere near the epic ending it could have been, but it does feature some entertaining moments even if this does come across as more camp than horror.
The Plot = An ancient urn is found in a cemetery outside of Rome, and after American art student Sarah Mandy (Asia Argento) accidently opens it, it triggers the return of Mater Lachrymarum - the third mother and soon a series of violent incidents occurs, causing havoc around the city and it's up to Sarah to try and stop her once and for all.
The fact that it took so long to be released may have laid far too much anticipation on this and given that the first 2 were released when Dario Argento was at the top of his game, but by the time this came out he was way past his prime and after viewing this it became evident that this was never gonna recapture his former glory. That's not to say that there wasn't some enjoyment to be had here and there are some redeeming qualities such as the rather tight narrative, over the top violence and the direction does show some signs of Dario's unique artistic flair. However, what lets things down are the lack of style, the over reliance on unconvincing CGI (which looked dated even back then), the weak characters, terrible effects, and the very weak climax which bogs everything down.
The cast performances vary in quality with Asia Argento giving an overall good performance in the lead role. Udo Keir makes for a solid addition to the cast and elevates things slightly. Cristian Solimeno & Adam James both gives decent performances in their respective roles and Jun Ichikawa gives one of the more memorable and over the top performances here.
Overall 'Mother of Tears' is nowhere near the epic ending it could have been, but it does feature some entertaining moments even if this does come across as more camp than horror.