Dario Argento is a near legend in horror circles, but he sure is in no hurry to burnish his credentials.
His latest film, “Mother of Tears,” brings his famous horror trilogy to a close. The bloody flick, just released on DVD, follows up on “Suspiria” (1977) and “Inferno” (1980). Clearly, the Italian horror maestro was in no rush to complete his signature work.
Yet watching “Mother of Tears” reveals a surprising lack of gravitas – or coherency. Sure, blood spills profusely throughout, and a few ugly moments are worthy of Argento’s horror cred. But why make us wait nearly 20 years for just another horror romp?
Asia Argento, the director’s daughter, plays Sarah, an art student in Rome who stumbles upon the re-emergence of the Mother of Tears. The evil force is unleashed when an old urn is opened, sparking a rather gruesome killing that’s certainly worthy of Argento’s reputation. Mass murder and suicides break out across Rome, but people don’t seem particularly upset by the turn of events.
It’s up to Sarah to figure how to shut Mother down, and also why Mother’s minions are so interested in her in particular. That leads to some ugly revelations about how her parents died years earlier.
Argento the director coaxes his daughter into a brief, utterly unnecessary shower sequence, but the entire film is so sloppily handled it’s hard to blame the director for losing control of any one sequence.
His “Tears” tries hard to stir up outrage. Some demonic types engage in lewd sexual acts in between the bloodletting. But the devil’s henchmen look like extras from ’80s music video – bad makeup, worse hair.
The Mother of Tears herself looks as if she stepped out of a Playboy Centerfold video, which ratchets down her scare factor immeasurably.
A few shocks do emerge from the mayhem, and there’s something noble about the young Argento’s performance. She glowers like an old pro, and seems oblivious to the silliness surrounding her. She could have a long career in the horror genre should she be up for the task.
The horror genre needs all the auteurs it can find, but perhaps that label shouldn’t be so hasitly applied to Argento if “Mother of Tears” is considered.
(Photo: Asia Argento plays a woman trying to fight a demonic uprising in “Mother of Tears.”)
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