Directed by Dario Argento
Suspiria is a genre masterpiece and most definitely my favorite film from the legendary Gallo director, Dario Argento. I look at this film as a crucial part of my horror education. An outline of the artistic approach a horror film can take. An ABCs comprised of atmospheric sets and ultra-stylized gore. This film stuck with me like some unpronounceable vowel that gets stuck in your throat during that critical presentation before the class. When you love a movie this much, it is only fair to follow through. Fair is fair. After much procrastination, I began the second installment of the Mother of Tears trilogy, Inferno.
Kinda in a grey area on this one. Here is a visually stunning film that instills a real sense of dread in me. Every frame is like a piece of art you would see at some Halloween themed, modern art show...on like 10 hits of acid! Ya. That's pretty powerful stuff man! But no amount of intricately designed shots could save the movie from its flimsy plot and acting so poor, its not even worth laughing at.
We are given a brief mythology behind the Three Mothers, evil witches, by a long narrative in the beging of the movie. Three characters begin to decipher the mystery of the witches and conclude that one of them is living in the same apartment as character number one, Rose. It makes a lot of sense actually. The building is a perfect counterpart to Suspiria's Gothic locale. There's rooms underwater. There's fucking cats everywhere. Most importantly, it fits the description in the book that Rose has been studying. Oh ya, its all about those witches and its nothing good. She writes to her brother in Rome all about her distrbing findings and before we know whats going on we are sitting in a college class...in Rome.
Next, we find Rose's brother, Mark. Although his character also does not evolve in any way, he becomes the new protagonist. He should really read that letter and help his sister but he's so busy oggling the so obviously evil hottie in class that he forgets the letter. So, Mark's classmate, Sara, picks it up and reads it, becoming our next main character.
That felt really long right? I was just overcome with frustration with all these sudden shifts. By the time our characters start dying off, I know them no better than I did at the beginning of the movie. The characters are so underdeveloped I just don't root for them. Quite the opposite. I wanna see um' offed. Trust me, they do get offed and while it is entertaining it lacks the imagination of Suspira's kills.
I'm still a little unsure of what happened in the story but I have figured something out about watching Inferno. Don't beat yourself up trying to follow the plot. Don't ask questions or put the films integrity on trial. Enjoy the master visuals and how shall we say, rodent infested...i mean..interesting deaths. It's entertaining. I like it..just not everything about it.
Because I am soooo dedicated to finishing what I started, i got Mother of Tears, the final film, in my Netflix queue. I have a feeling there's going to be some really fantastic over the top gore but no answers to any of my residual questions left behind by Inferno.
Here's an opium induced passage of Thomas De Quincey's, Suspiria de Profundis, the book the trilogy is loosely inspired by:
"Our Ladies of Sorrow. I know them thoroughly, and have walked in all their kingdoms. Three sisters they are, of one mysterious household; and their paths are wide apart; but of their dominion there is no end."
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