Mother of Tears

(2007)***1/2

Precisely 30 years after the release of Suspiria, Dario Argento finally completes his oft-discussed “Mother” trilogy (i.e., Suspiria, Inferno, Mother of Tears). Sarah (Asia Argento) is an American student (with foreign accent that emerges once in a while) interning at the Museum of Ancient Art (cool!) in Rome to learn about art restoration. When an ancient urn is sent to the museum for a prominent expert to examine, Sandy and fellow intern, Giselle, foolishly open it for a little peak. This, of course, turns out to be a colossal mistake. If there’s one thing we have learned from horror films dealing with the occult, DON’T open old things with creepy ancient scripture written on them and, this is especially important, DON’T accidentally bleed on said things either! Inside the urn they find some evil-looking relics (cool!). Unfortunately, breaking the seal on the urn enables the evil powers of the powerful sorcerer, Mother of Tears, to escape, which sends the denizens of Rome into violent pandemonium abounding with rapes, assaults, and murder. Meanwhile an influx of witches from around the world begin decending upon Rome to pay their respects to the newly reborn sorcerer. As Sarah learns more about the past she thought she knew she realizes that it is up to her, with a little help from her deceased mom, to find the power within herself to defeat the Mother of Tears.

Plenty of gross stuff happens

So is Argento able to complete his witch series on a high note? Yes and no. The Mother of Tears has the potential to be a fantastic horror film but an uneven second half erodes some of the solid first hour’s potency. The film moves at breakneck speed the moment it begins - Argento is not wasting any time here. The urn is opened within the first 5 minutes and the shit hits the fan 5 minutes after that. Within moments Giselle is eviscerated by demons, and a screeching evil monkey pursues Sarah down the halls of the museum. The brooding music, scene composition and use of colors are classic Argento, especially in the early scenes. The most suspenseful scenes occur as Sarah is pursued by the masses of witches flooding into Rome. One particular chase through a train station is particularly effective. However, despite the excellent first half of the film, Argento makes a few choices that ultimately undo everything he has carefully set up. The biggest mistake he makes is having Sarah connect with her deceased mother, initially as a guiding voice in her head (which is fine), and later appearing in ghostly form a la Obi Wan Kenobi (which is comical). This wouldn’t be a bad thing if she didn’t look utterly silly and sound like a decades old smoker – all of her appearances render these scenes silly and really pull you out of the story.

The Mother of Tears’ greatest disappointment is that it ends with a whimper and not the well-deserved bang a 30-year-in-the-making witch trilogy should end with – really, it was that easy? The final shot is badly matted and harkens back to an early 80s (e.g., Dreamscape) look. Despite the unevenness of the story, there is enough gore, suspense, and gratuitous nudity to keep this viewer content. It’s just a shame that it wasn’t better.