Inferno (1980) Online

1980 Leigh McCloskey Irene Miracle Eleonora Giorgi Dario Argento

Original Title :: Inferno
Genre :: Movie / Horror
Year :: 1980
Directror :: Dario Argento
Cast :: Leigh McCloskey,Irene Miracle,Eleonora Giorgi
Writer :: Dario Argento
Budget :: $3,000,000
Type :: Movie
Time :: 1h 46min
Rating :: 6.7/10

Inferno (1980) Online

Riddled with secret but horrid suspicion, the young American poet, Rose Elliot, writes to her brother and musicology student in Rome, Mark, about the startling findings in the dark and dank basement of her New York Art Deco apartment building. Pivoting around the cryptic knowledge hidden in the leather-bound book entitled "The Three Mothers", Rose is convinced that her aristocratic but damned abode is, in fact, an ancient coven for Mater Tenebrarum, the malevolent Mother of Darkness. Little by little, as the siblings delve deeper and deeper into the occult, a mysterious disappearance and an endless string of gruesome killings will bring Mark closer and closer to a surreal nightmare. Where do the long and shadowy corridors of Rose's building lead?

Cast overview, first billed only:
	Leigh McCloskey	-	Mark Elliot
	Irene Miracle	-	Rose Elliot
	Eleonora Giorgi	-	Sara
	Daria Nicolodi	-	Elise De Longvalle Adler
	Sacha Pitoëff	-	Kazanian (as Sacha Pitoeff)
	Alida Valli	-	Carol, the caretaker
	Veronica Lazar	-	The Nurse / Mater Tenebrarum
	Gabriele Lavia	-	Carlo
	Feodor Chaliapin Jr.	-	Professor Arnold / Dr. Varelli (as Feodor Chaliapin)
	Leopoldo Mastelloni	-	John, the Butler
	Ania Pieroni	-	Music Student
	James Fleetwood	-	Cook
	Rosario Rigutini	-	Man
	Ryan Hilliard	-	Shadow
	Paolo Paoloni	-	Music Teacher

The beautiful, mysterious woman that stares at Mark during his music class was later confirmed to be Mater Lachrymarum, the Mother of Tears. She would not feature in her own movie until 2007, although played by a different actress.

According to Irene Miracle, almost all her scenes were directed by Mario Bava. Dario Argento was rarely on set through most of the shoot.

Legendary Italian horror director Mario Bava assisted with the making of the special effects on this film. Bava passed away shortly before its release.

All of the murderer's hands in the movie were Dario Argento's.

Part of the reason Argento cast Irene Miracle as Rose Elliot was she had synchronize swimming skills, which came in quite handy for the shooting of the underwater ballroom scene.

James Woods was the original choice for the lead role but he was already committed to Videodrome (1983).

To keep the fairy tale approach set by 'Suspiria', Dario conceived the idea of using Grimms fairy tale 'Hansel and Gretel' as a basis for the story and plot. Leigh and Irene as Hansel and Gretel, but instead of being set in a pan cake house it was set in a demonic labyrinth. Thus leading the main characters to act like children.

In an interview with assistant director Lamberto Bava, he said that he handled and wrangled so many cats during the shooting of this film that afterward he could no longer stand to be in the same room as a cat. He's avoided them since then.

According to co-writer and star Daria Nicolodi she didn't fight for writing credits on this film as she had an ordeal just getting writing credit on Dario Argento's previous film, Suspiria (1977). According to Nicolodi the basic plot of 'Inferno' was her creation. Reportedly, Argento wrote the screenplay working from Nicolodi's original story notes whilst staying in a room in a New York hotel situated with an aerial view of the city's Grand Central Park.

Reportedly Dario Argento was ill with a serve case of hepatitis throughout the production. At one point, he had to be bedridden for a few days leaving the production to work on only second unit. Argento has since called Inferno perhaps his most challenging film for this reason alone.

Final collaboration of Italian horror maestros Mario Bava and Dario Argento.

When star Leigh McCloskey's stunt double broke his leg, McCloskey himself had to perform the stunt work for the film's explosive finale. In interviews, McCloskey said it was an intense experience as the rest of the crew and equipment were protected by multiple layers of Plexiglas while he had to run without protection through sets rigged to explode and burn. McCloskey said "When you feel glass flying by you like a Harrier jet, you never forget it!".

According to Leigh McCloskey, Dario Argento's brother Claudio Argento spoke better English than Dario so often he would have to translate Dario's direction to the cast.

According to the book "Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark" (2007) by Tim Lucas, Sacha Pitoëff's death scene was filmed on location in Central Park during the summer of 1979. Production Coordinator William Lustig said of this: "They filmed the actor carrying a bag that contained some kind of moving mechanism, to make it look like it was full of cats. He walked into the lake, pushed the bag underwater, and fell in. At that point, some phony mechanical rats were attached to him for close-ups. When the guy at the hamburger stand runs over the lake... that guy was actually running on a Plexiglas bridge under the water; it made it look like he was actually running across the surface of the lake. All of the stuff with the live rats was shot back in Europe.".

Mario Bava performed a number of uncredited roles on this film. Bava was uncredited for the following duties: camera operator, lighting technician, visual effects artist, second unit director and even acting as a full director directing performances.

The second part (with Suspiria (1977) and Мать слёз (2007)) of the "Three Mothers" trilogy.

The film was shot in three months.

English film critic Kim Newman once called Inferno the most underrated horror film of the 1980s.

The majority of the picture was filmed as interiors on studio sets on Italian sound stages in Rome.

Director Dario Argento has frequently cited this picture as being one of his least favorite of his films due to the production difficulties associated with it due to the pain of the meningitis illness he suffered whilst making it.

In 2005, Total Film magazine named Inferno one of the 50 greatest horror films ever made.

Dario Argento once said that the gentleman who provided the live ants used in the film collected them by walking around in the park with a vacuum and literally sucking them up from the ground. He would later retrieve them from the vacuum bag once on set.

For some of the exterior location shoots in Italy footage of New York City, skyscrapers were superimposed in the background to make it appear like the film's New York City setting.

Twentieth Century Fox co-financed the film because it's predecessor Suspiria (1977) had been quite a successful film for their company. However, Fox was not the only financier. Producer Claudio Argento acquired additional financing from German and Italian consortiums.

The film's story was apparently inspired by Alain Resnais' L'année dernière à Marienbad (1961).

For the scene where Kazanian carries the bag of 'cats' into Central Park a mechanical device was placed inside the bag to make it move, giving the impression that there were actually live animals inside.

Nancy Allen was offered the role of Rose Elliot when James Woods was in talks to be in the film, but had to turn the role down due to prior commitments.

The name of the second-hand shop was "Kazanian Antiques".

The unrelated earlier film Inferno (1953) was also distributed by the 20th Century Fox studio.

The name of the ancient book by alchemist E. Varelli was "The Three Mothers".

In Kazanian's bizarre murder scene, it appears that the knife-wielding hot dog vendor runs across the pond to him. A Plexiglas bridge was placed just under the surface of the pond to make it appear that the vendor runs across the water guided by supernatural forces.

Body Count: 10.

User reviews

INwhite

Inferno is Dario Argento's masterpiece. For once, he abandoned the idea of a coherent storyline altogether and made a movie that is simply a series of beautifully made setpieces. Many people have criticized Inferno's plot; such people are completely missing the point. Inferno is no more concerned with plot than Luis Bunuel was with movies such as The Phantom of Liberty; where Bunuel was concentrating on images and ideas, Argento is concentrating on images and emotion, specifically fear.

Each scene features a character or characters running afoul of the Three Mothers, entities introduced obliquely in Argento's previous movie, Suspiria, and developed considerably here. The third movie in the Three Mothers trilogy remains unmade. Each scene is carefully coded by judicious use of colour and sound. All the best setpieces in the movie feature no dialogue whatsoever (most notably the scenes in the underwater chamber and the lecture theatre). Much of the most significant dialogue is whispered offscreen by unseen persons.

Inferno is that rarest of breeds: pure cinema. Not only could it not have succeeded in any other medium, it cannot be adequately described in words. Anyone who is seriously concerned with artistic cinema must see this movie, as should most horror fans. Anyone who has trouble getting their head around movies that push beyond the conventional three-act storyline will almost certainly hate it.

Mozel

This is a film about witches, ancient alchemy, and death. The atmosphere is Gothic and medieval. But the setting is modern. Most scenes take place in small, stylish interior spaces. For lighting, Argento uses the glow from indirect sources (mostly blue, red, and orange hues), and alternates this with darkness. In combination with the lighting, the film's sound effects, which alternate with silence, are appropriately spooky. And Keith Emerson's soundtrack, with all that organ music, contributes to the Gothic tone. One of the best parts of the entire film is the rock-opera opus from the chorus at the film's end, with that great beat, and lyrics that are indecipherable.

The nightmarish atmosphere, while maybe not quite as stunning as in "Suspiria", is more than adequate to induce suspense, anticipation, and a sense of danger. From out of the darkness and stillness comes "death", in all its horrific cruelty. As a "horror" film, "Inferno" is fairly pure, in that the plot is more or less self-contained. There are only brief references to the "real" world, outside the confines of the story.

The film's plot is indeed thin, and functions really as an excuse for the actors to move from one atmospheric set to the next. The script does not require great acting skills, mercifully, since great acting is nowhere to be found.

Of the various Argento films I have seen, "Inferno" is perhaps my least favorite. It does not have the conviction of Argento's other works. It seems more like a half-hearted sequel, an afterthought, to "Suspiria". Like most sequels, I find it less satisfying than the original, the soundtrack notwithstanding. Still, for Argento fans, "Inferno" is a must-see, if for no other reason than for purposes of comparison.

Mala

In New York, the poetess Rose Elliot (Irene Miracle) reads an ancient book called "The Three Mothers" that she bought in the bookseller and antique Kazanian close to her building. The architect and alchemist E. Varelli, who tells that had designed and built three buildings for three mothers,in Rome, New York and Freiburg, wrote an impressive story in London. These threes wicked mothers, called Mater Suspiriorum (the oldest one), Mater Lachrymarum (the most beautiful) and Mater Tenebrarum (the youngest and cruelest), intended to rule the world with sorrow, tears and darkness. In accordance with the book, there are three keys, each one of them hidden in one building. Rose realizes that she lives in one of the buildings, and decides to look for the second hidden key in the cellar. From this moment on, weird things happen to her and she decides to write a letter to her brother Mark Elliot (Leigh McCloskey), a student of musicology in Rome, and asks him to visit her in New York. Mark never meets his sister and finds who the three mothers are indeed.

This is the beginning of "Inferno", one of my favorite Dario Argento's movies, with an intriguing and frightening story and great atmosphere. There are many flaws in the screenplay; the characters are not well developed, so their motives are not clear; and there are lacks of explanations for many events, so the viewer does not understand why the evil mothers attack the characters of the story, but anyway it is a cult Gothic movie. With some improvements in the screenplay, this movie would be a masterpiece classic. I have already seen this scary movie four times in a VHS I have recorded a couple of years ago from cable TV, and unfortunately it has not been released on VHS or DVD in Brazil. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Mansão do Inferno" ("The Mansion of the Hell")

Note: On June 23rd, 2009, I saw this movie for the fifth time in an imported DVD.

On June, 4th 2015, I saw this movie again.

Jugami

Okay, here's the deal: If you need a coherent movie with an algebraic plot, skip this one. If you are interested in Dario Argento but haven't seen any of his films, start with something else. If you are a fan of Dario Argento, do yourself a favor and buy this one. Inferno is weird, makes no sense, but is a gorgeous horror film. I loved it.

Reggy

Beautiful and chilling follow-up to Argento's classic Suspiria (1977) is an underrated film and one that Argento himself declares to be his 'purest' work!

Music student receives troubling news from his sister and travels to New York, where he discovers sinister evils at work.

Many critics have said that this film lacks sense in the storyline, but it's actually a more coherent story than they would have you think. The story does evoke a dark world of its own, taught with suspense and a touch of the surreal. Naturally, the greatest thing about this film is of course Argento's wonderful style! Agrento again flairs his colorful direction with excellent camera work, lavish uses of color and lighting, unique set pieces, and an atmosphere of sheer terror! Keith Emerson also lends a hand with his dramatic and stunning music score.

The cast is great, attractive leads McCloskey, Miracle, and Giorgi being the best.

For Argento fans, Inferno is everything you could want! It packs all the delightful trademark style we have come to love from this great director. It won't be for all tastes, but genre fans may just find it to be a truly colorful and chilling gem!

**** out of ****

Kalrajas

Dario Argento is a master of his genre, no doubt about that, but his script here is pure hokum. The film has a number of striking images (the mysterious beauty that appears out of nowhere in the classroom; the drapes being slowly ripped apart by the nails of a stabbed-to-death woman; the close-up of Daria Nicolodi's lips; the pursuer at the library's basement, whose face remains in the dark, but whose hands are clearly not human), and a very peculiar architectural design, with secret passages leading to all sorts of hidden rooms to other passages to other rooms....However, as many others have said, the film is best approached as a dream, because the plot is incoherent and there are several scenes that run on too long. It does get better on the second viewing. (**)

Dakora

Out of all of the horror films I have seen, there have one been a few that I found truely frightening. Suspiria and Inferno were among the few. The Cinematagraphy and the music in these films is extraordinary. I know a lot of regular film goers, people who take courses on analyzing films, I do by the way, and they love Argento's work. I see some reviews here bad mouthing the plot and the poor acting in Inferno. While I admit the actors are not spectacular the plot is there, it is simply not what you normally see. This is NOT a Hollywood film, this is not a plot driven film, like a lot of Argento films, this film's plot is more like the plot of a Nightmare. This IS a horror film and it IS very frightening and very well made. I am getting sick of all the Hollywood remakes myself, like this recent film "Decoys", while I have not seen this film, it looks like a Hollywood version of David Cronenberg's Rabid. But that's another subject. I recommend any Argento film to anyone also sick of the Hollywood films.

Varshav

'Inferno' is the kind of movie - like Gilliams 'Brazil' - where a few of us will leave the theater enriched by the experience, but there's also the sour-faced crowd dismissing it as the worst crap ever.

I came upon Argento's movies just recently, looking for good horror films. Now I've enjoyed Suspiria, Tenebre and Inferno. At first his original style came as a shock. I can understand those that, accustomed to hollywoodian narrative, find his movies to be full of faults. I wouldn't even recommend them if you're looking for 'ordinary', mainstream horror.

'Suspiria' reminded me of the 1933 'Vampyr' by danish director Carl Dreyer. 'Inferno' has echoes of German director Fritz Lang, for instance his 1933 The 'Testament of Doctor Mabuse'. Much of the Argento way of doing things has a silent movie era feel to it. The acting is visually exaggerated, and the dialogue is often wooden - the awful dubbing of english voices in the versions I saw added to this effect.

Argento makes different choices. The music, for instance, is not adding atmosphere as a soundtrack - it is a full frontal assault, meant to be noticed and impossible to ignore. The cinematic choices of camera angles, lightning and so on are stylish and unique in their unrelenting artistic ambition. I can't even begin to describe the style. Even if I mentioned Dreyer and Lang, Argento is more expressionist than impressionist, but for lack of good words I'll shut my mouth about this subject.

I have to defend Argento against the claims that 'Inferno' has an incoherent plot. It simply doesn't - the story is fairly straight and linear. The evil depicted is not rational, and we are often left in the dark as to the acts and motives of the evil forces. But this is part of the horror and suspense. I won't go into more details about the plot, as there are many excellent user comments here, and this is not really a review, just some comments.

Some parts of 'Inferno' are pure beauty - exact scenes, feeling more like a storyboard coming to life in the imagination than as a real movie. The design of the house of the second Mother is fascinating - modern and medieval at the same time.

Finally, some individual scenes are truly scaring, which is rare in horror movies - especially the underwater scene.

I'm a Russian Occupant

I had my doubts whether this was a bad movie or not. But after some time of thought I realized it was not that much different from 'Suspiria'. Except 'Inferno' is more abstract, making it more bizarre than 'Suspiria'. They both have nightmare like atmosphere, but whereas 'Suspiria' is thunderous and leaves you feel like you've had a roller coaster ride, 'Inferno' leaves you in a trance like state. Making for two ways of having nightmare. Both are artistic, but 'Inferno' got even more artistic. Argento even used classical music in 'Inferno'. The violence combined with the classical music (which by the way is Verdi's 'Nabucco') was disturbingly beautiful. It was uncomfortable to watch but the music made it irresistible. Speaking of music, Keith Emerson made the music which I find quite interesting. Emerson's music gave the movie a whole new level of awesome if you ask me. Especially with the song "Mater Tenebrarum". In the floor where the music starts and a cat is eating a mouse, whilst our main character is looking around it just got really interesting to watch. For some reason I find it hard to explain. It was simply astonishing.

Anyway, why is 'Inferno' so underrated? Is it because it is more abstract? Some people argue that the script is pure crap and it makes less sense than 'Suspiria'. But that's the point. Dreams are abstractions of the mind, dreams don't always make sense and you can't explain them. Dreams are absurd like this movie is. Or maybe people expected more a movie in the same vein as 'Suspiria'? They're both the same overall, but with small differences. I guess those small differences are a big deal. 'Inferno' is also an overlooked gem and underrated compared to 'Suspiria'. I like 'Inferno' a bit more than 'Suspiria' since Mater Tenebrarum is the cruelest of all the mothers, also because it is more absurd than 'Suspiria'. Tenebrarum's influence and power felt quite overwhelming, even a bit hard to see through at first. But after repeated viewing it starts to make a little more sense with the unexplained events. But the strength of the movie is also its weakness, which is its abstraction. Many people will probably dismiss it because it is abstract, which is kinda sad. But anyway it won't stop me from liking it more than 'Suspiria'. Although I gotta say 'Suspiria' is a whole lot scarier to watch than 'Inferno'.

Exellent

Two years after he shot his masterpiece "Suspiria", horror director Dario Argento made "Inferno", a sequel, of sorts. Unlike it's predecessor however, it meet lots of bad reviews and it didn't get a proper release. Which is a shame really, considering how it's one of Argento's finest works, containing two of his most beautiful screen moments (Rose's descent into the flooded ballroom and the scene at the lecture hall with Mark). While it may not be as good as it's predecessor, it's still more than a worthy follow up, specially when compared to "Mother of Tears", the god-awful second sequel to "Suspiria". Again, with have a gorgeous color palette and brilliant set design, there is a haunting atmosphere of dread throughout, a great soundtrack (Keith Emerson replaces the Goblins in this one, and does a pretty good work), some very creepy moments and of course, the brilliant death scenes, Argento's trademark. The film also excels in creating a dreamlike feel that surpasses anything remotely surreal that we've seen in "Suspiria". "Inferno" is probably the closest thing to a recorded nightmare I've ever seen. It's also much different than the other genre flicks of it's time. In fact, it's feel much closer to the work of Alain Resnais or Luis Bunuel than to the films of say George A. Romero or even his Italian contemporaries such as Fulci or Bava Jr. Of course, the film is not without it's flaws. The biggest flaw of the film is the protagonist. Argento shows us three candidates for the role of the protagonist, only to kill each and everyone of them in brutal and mean-spirited ways (they were clever twists, I admit). At the end, we are left with the one guy we'd never expect to be the 'the final boy'. That is, Leigh McCloskey as Mark. The thing with this character is, it's badly written and badly acted. Maybe it was Argento's intention to have the main character look high from the beginning to end, possibly to enhance the film's state-of-dream, but it simply doesn't work. Also, there are some surprisingly cheesy and unintentionally funny lines that are almost impossible to seat through. Still, the film has more than enough redeeming qualities, and it is one of the greatest masterpieces of the macabre - a definite acid trip to Hell. Even if it's not for everyone, it should be seen by anyone interested in horror.

Modred

One thing that has always bugged me enormously about Mr. Argentos films, are his blatant disregard for decent scripts and good actors, preferring to focus solely on visual and auditory extravaganza. Considering the latter aspect, I can not help but to applaud the man for being somewhat of a master when it comes to creating a sinister atmosphere. Few can match him here. I think my favourite films penned by him have to be Suspiria, Phenomena, and Trauma. Of course, as all his films are ultimately marred by bad script and acting, the aforementioned films are sadly no exception. But what these films have going for them, (unlike his lesser films) ,especially Suspiria, are a twisted and dark atmosphere that tends to overshadow the fact that the lines delivered often seem to be spoken by robots. I really enjoyed Suspiria, and in my opinion, it is probably one of the most atmospheric horror-flicks out there, in addition, the murders are delightfully inventive here.

So what to say then about Inferno, the follow up to Suspiria? One thing is certain; I refuse to join the choir of appraisal, for the sole reason that, compared to the brilliance of Suspiria, this is really nothing special at all. Sure, he creates some striking visuals yet again, and I absolutely love the many times mentioned underwater-scene. But all in all, this is quite an forgettable film, with forgettable murders, shitty acting, and with an ultimately forgettable atmosphere. One thing that I fail to grasp though, is the fact that many seem to view this film as confusing, which, in my opinion it is not. Quite easy to understand, if you ask me. I think this film would have been much better, if Argento dropped all the dialogue, and created a lot more tension and more sinister visuals( ala the underwater scene). As it stand now though, it is a boring experience. Plain and simple.

Hystana

As the second movie in Argento's Three Mother's trilogy, it's hard to watch Inferno without comparing it to Suspiria. And that's not really a fair comparison. Inferno has its moments of brilliance. The opening scenes as Rose (Irene Miracle) lowers herself into the flooded room are what horror movies are all about. It's easily one of my favorite moments from an Argento film, second only to the opening murder in Suspiria. The atmosphere, tension, and horror are overflowing. The first time I saw the movie, this scene had me literally squirming in my seat.

But Inferno also features what I feel are some of the worst moments to be found in an Argento film. Take the ending as an example. It's a real let down. The entire movie builds to the discovery of the second of the Three Mothers and it's over before it really gets started. Our hero (Leigh McCloskey) meets her, she transforms into Death, he runs away, and the building burns - end of movie. This evil creature whom we have waited to see the entire movie does nothing once we finally see her.

The look of Inferno is awesome. Inferno is like Suspiria on steroids. It's real eye-candy for the Argento fan. The use of colors, set direction, and lighting are about the best I've seen.

Keith Emerson's score is adequate. While it lacks some of the punch of a Goblin score, it suits the mood of the film nicely. Most of the acting is also adequate, with Daria Nicolodi's small role being my favorite. It's too bad she wasn't in more of the movie. While McCloskey and Miracle do nothing special, neither is a liability.

Tat

Inferno(1980) was the second film in the yet to be completed 3 Mothers Trilogy. The first film, Suspiria(1977) was about Mater Suspirium. Inferno(1980) deals with the evil mysteries of Mater Tenebrarum. The third film is to be about the character of Mater Lacrimarum. At one point after this film, Argento was planning to complete the trilogy with Jennifer Connelly as Mater Lacrimarum.

The director decided to shift gears by using the music of Keith Emerson for the film's soundtrack. Its a change of pace after the hard rock pounding effects of Goblin. The music in Inferno(1980) is more of the traditional gothic sound. The music in this film is wonderful to listen to. Its the most overlooked soundtrack in an Argento picture.

The cameo of Mater Lacrimarum is an essential part of this movie. Her appearence is to set things up for the story of the third film. The scene with Mater Lacrimarum is so unreal that it has the aura and feeling of a dream. Ania Pieroni is bewitching and impressionable as the beautiful and mysterious music student. Mater Lacrimarum is very much unexplained to the point that she is something out of a dream or fantasy.

Inferno(1980) deals with occult themes such as alchemy and magic. Goes into the supernatural and the mysteries of the occult with better detail than in Suspiria. What this film says about alchemy and the supernatural is that they are elements of nature that are difficult to explain. Its in this form that Inferno is in the tradition of the great gothic works from the gothic era. The subject of alchemy was another thing that interested Dario Argento.

Unlike the previous film which had a story, Inferno takes a different route by having no story. Inferno instead relies on the use of images and sound. Not liked by many because the film leaves many things unesplained and is too dreamism looking. Inferno(1980) is an inaccessible film to a mainstream audience as were the films of Lisa & the Devil(1974) and The Beyond(1981). I absolutely love this movie because its the closest thing there is to a recorded dream.

Inferno(1980) is an important Italian horror picture because it was the last picture that Mario Bava worked on before his death. He ended in the same manner that he began when co directing I Vampiri in 1955. Mario Bava was involved in the special and visuals effects for the underwater and mirror sequences. He helped make these scenes a pleasure to view. A fitting end to a filmmaker that influenced a generation of directors around the world.

The murder scenes are done with much creativity and panache. The murder of Sara is filled with good use of Verdi and memorable visuals. The death of Rose Elliot including a guillotine like window is cleaver. The murder of the Countess Von Adler is both sadistic and vicious. The murder sequence involving Kazanian is also sadistic as well as skillfully done.

The weakest part of the film is the male protagonist played by Leigh McCloskey. The character of Mark Elliot is both bland and uninteresting. He is the main protagonist by default because the people who were protagonist material had been killed off. This shows that the strongest protagonist in a Dario Argento film is the female protagonist. This is one thing that hurts the film very much.

Kazanian is excellently played by Sascha Pitoeff who had earlier co starred in another complex and confusing flick known as L'Annee Derniere A Marienbad/Last Year at Marienbad(1961). This is the most difficult film that Dario has partaken as a director. He poured every ounce of creative and imaginative ideas that he came up with and it drained him out of an big amount of creative energy. Its one of the main reasons that he hasn't done the third film in The Three Mothers Trilogy. As in Suspiria(1977), the ending here is one of the auteur's weakest.

The main inspiration besides the De Quincey essay is the 1960s horror film, Horror Hotel(1961). In both films there is a female protagonist who disappears during the middle act. The two films includes a brother who searches for the truth about what happened to the sister. The best line in the film is from Kazanian when he says, "There are mysterious parts in that book, but the only true mystery is that our very lives are governed by dead people". The dream of Mark Elliot is the film's surreal moment and the image of the total esclipse as Kazanian is being murdered is mesmerizing and spellbounding.

Leniga

Director Dario Argento strikes gold with his film Inferno, released in 1980. His trademarks; superb set design, and hypnotic lighting, are prominent here. The story and screenplay were also Argento's work, with the latter really bringing this piece to life.

Inferno opens with a young poet; Rose(Irene Miracle), reading a passage from a book called 'The Three Mothers', written by an architect named Virelli. The passage describes three sisters who rule different cities around the world using sorrow, tears, and darkness. It also explains that Virelli has built the houses these sisters dwell in, and where to find the 'keys' to unlock their mystery. This launches her and her brother, Mark(Leigh McCloskey), on a quest to solve this mystery.

Without divulging too much more, the story is fairly straightforward from there. The way in which it is told and paced, however, is captivating. It jumps between the characters of Rose, Mark, and Mark's friend Sara(Eleonora Giorgi), explaining just enough about each characters motivations to drive the story forward, but leaving their back story a mystery. Some people may see this as a downfall, but I think it was the right choice as it leaves more screen time to develop the core elements of the story. Irene Miracle gives a solid performance, and the supporting cast are all solid as well. However Leigh McCloskey and Eleonora Giorgi, definitely leave something to be desired.

Argento's films are best known for their visual style, and Inferno is no exception. This movie is candy for the eyes. Almost every scene has saturated colors, mainly blues and reds, cascading along set pieces and faces. These colored lights emanate from an unknown source that's always off screen, adding to the feeling of mystery. The set pieces are great; An oddly lit, oddly painted apartment building where much of the movie takes place, projects the sense that there is something wrong there. A library in the first act of the movie, is one of the most gorgeous set pieces I have ever seen. The entrance to this library through a set of red velvet curtains, is sure to cement the moment in your mind.

The scares and kills in this movie are well done and fairly creative. Although this is more of a mystery, the horror elements are executed masterfully, with a good balance between tension and jump scares.

Keith Emerson of the band 'Emerson, Lake and Palmer' was responsible for the entire score and soundtrack of this film. It is one of the best ever composed.

In short, Inferno is one of the best films I have seen in my life. Other than some strange choices in editing, and a pair of less than desirable performances, there is nothing wrong with this movie. A must see for horror and mystery fans alike.

Verdict: 9/10

Cktiell

"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.

Usishele

I have thus far seen Suspiria, Phenomena, Deep Red, and Tenebre. I have enjoyed all of them, especially Suspiria which to me is a perfect 10/10. However, this film exhibited all of the weaknesses and none of the strengths I have seen in Argento's films. There is essentially no plot, and the characters actions make very little sense throughout the movie. The visuals, which are usually the strong point in Argento's films, are just plain cheesy in Inferno. Almost every scene is lit from one side by a bright blue light, and from the other by a bright red light. It looks like you're watching some cheap 80's television horror serial. The music is OK, but not on par with that in his other movies. In short, this movie is a real disappointment and not worth seeing.

3/10

Ndlaitha

Dario Argento's Inferno is one of the best horror movies i've watched. It has very heavy atmosphere which makes you want to watch this movie. Horror isn't about how much blood or killing you see, it's all about the atmosphere. The problem is, that these days people have become immune to killing and violence, it's more entertaining than terrifying for most people. This movie creates the horror by the atmosphere, that's the reason why it was scary for me.

The movie itself doesn't have very complicated storyline, in fact if this movie was done today, it'd be a cliché. The few and only things which suck in this movie is the ending scene.

It doesn't take a genius to interpret that this movie doesn't belong in the same category as Halloween or any other today's horror movie.

Mavegelv

Definitely a Dario Argento film here. No question about it. The film's plot concerns a young girl ,having read a book about three "mothers" who live in France, Germany, and her hotel in New York, investigating the place she lives in for a key. The girl contacts her brother going to school in Rome - anyone buy Leigh McCloskey as a student of musicology? - asking for help. The three mothers are...well, if you know you are a step ahead of me.

This Argento film is very problematic. On the one hand its genius cannot be denied when it comes to visual artistry and suspense building. Argento paints a scene like no other film maker I know, with the exception perhaps of Mario Bava(who worked on this film...his last). The vibrant colors used throughout the film are surreal, and some of the scenes are lessons in scene building. The underwater sequence is an awesome scene, yet its has virtually no place in the film's plot. Another scene involves a crippled man falling in water and slowly being devoured by rats. His cries reach a diner cook working late, who runs outside to stick a knife in the poor man's throat. His character or an explanation never come. How about the key? Never mentioned again. Visual brilliance cannot make this a good film, though it really works hard at it. I found myself not really understanding what was going on yet loving the scenery. As with most of Argento's work, we get plenty of bloody deaths, particularly young girls and crippled older men. Inferno is not a bad film nor is it a great film. It has many qualities found in Suspiria, but that film made a great deal more sense and had some actors that had a bit more talent than those involved with this. McCloskey's stage presence is akin to driftwood. He is a very poor lead. Alida Valli is back as a permed hotel manager. She gives a good performance though her part has almost no real significance in the film. I guess my gripe is that how can a director with so much obvious talent like Argento just cross the line too much between reality and imagination. If your audience doesn't have SOME guidance then how are they going to know what you are trying to achieve. Some reviewers say you need to watch this film many times to get its point. Balderdash! I could watch it ten more times and still would not be able to make the aforementioned connections in the plot. I could easily sit through the film again though, because of Argento's style of using film as a canvas. If Inferno had a better constructed plot, something along the lines of Suspiria, this very well could be a minor masterpiece. It is definitely worth a look; however, though it pales in comparison to Suspiria in every way.

Gaua

In Dario Argento's 1977 masterpiece, "Suspiria," the viewer learns that the ballet school known as the Tanz Akademie, in Freiburg, Germany, was the home to a coven of witches led by a being later revealed to be the Mater Suspiriorum, Latin for "Mother of Sighs." And three years later, in Argento's semisequel, "Inferno," the viewer learns something even more disturbing. The Mother of Sighs, the oldest, was apparently only one of three sister entities; living somewhere in Rome, there exists the Mater Lacrimarum (Mother of Tears), the most beautiful of the three (we DO get a look at her in "Inferno," I THINK, in the guise of a music student played by Ania Pieroni), while in New York City abides Mater Tenebrarum (the Mother of Darkness), the youngest and cruelest of the bunch. Together, the trio has caused woe to mankind for untold ages. And when a young poetess named Rose (Irene Miracle, whose work in Aldo Lado's 1975 film "Night Train Murders" had recently impressed me) discovers, by reading an alchemist's book called "The Three Mothers," that she just might be living in the same apartment building as Mater Tenebrarum (the creepiest NYC apartment building, perhaps, since Rosemary Woodhouse's Bramford!), all sorts of diabolical things start to occur. In Rome, her brother Mark (Leigh McCloskey) receives a letter from Rose asking him to join her; this letter is intercepted and read by his friend Sarah (Eleonora Giorgi), leading to some horrendous slayings in the Eternal City. And once in NY, Mark, along with helpful neighbor Elise (Daria Nicolodi, here in her second of six films for the director), encounters even more gruesome doings; it would seem that the Mother of Darkness just might be living up to her reputation....

Though deficient in the Coherent Plot Department--indeed, the story line of "Inferno" just barely makes sense, and then only if we are willing to indulge in some major guesswork--the film yet remains an atmospheric and riveting experience. Contributing hugely to that atmosphere is the background music provided by Keith Emerson (yes, ELP's keyboard genius), whose eerie piano tinklings and Gregorian, Latinate bombast prove central to the picture's feel. Long stretches of the film proceed with very little dialogue, and a surreal, nightmarish quality is often engendered by the director. The film boasts extremely handsome production values and is often quite gorgeous to look at, with excellent special FX; that burning building at the end, for example, looks infinitely more convincing than the house conflagration in Argento's much-beloved film of 1975, "Deep Red." In essence a supernatural giallo, "Inferno" also features any number of stylish and grisly murder sequences, including slayings by knife (to the neck, back and chest), glass-pane guillotine, maddened cats, frenzied rats, fire, and eye gouging; the gorehounds out there will NOT be disappointed. As to the perpetrator of these ghastly deeds, again, the viewer will ultimately need to exercise his/her imagination, although the film's ultimate scene left little doubt for this viewer. "Inferno" also highlights many puzzling/weird/illogical sequences. For example, if you were exploring a creepy cellar in a building that you believed was the domicile of a witch, and you accidentally dropped your keys into a pool of water in the cellar floor, would you dive in after them, as Rose does?!?! Not that I'm complaining, as this action leads to one of the more surreal and shocking sequences in the entire picture! Other puzzlers: What was going on in that Roman library basement, with all the bubbling vats? Bookbinding? What's the deal with the mirror-image copy of the "Three Mothers" book? And why does this rare volume seem to be so easy to find (it's in that Roman library, and NYC book dealer Kazanian has no less than four copies of it!) if the Three Maters are so touchy about its being read by the general public? Who knows? And, oh...perhaps I should add here how nice it was to see Alida Valli, the one-time-beautiful Italian actress, on screen again; Valli had also appeared in "Suspiria" in a completely different role...I think. Food for thought, there.

As for the DVD of "Inferno" itself, the one that I just watched, from Westlake, is an absolutely bare-bones affair, with not an extra to be had; not even chapter stops or the ubiquitous FBI warning! From what I've read, the DVD from Anchor Bay would be the wiser choice, although the Westlake DVD still looks fine enough. Bottom line: Two Maters down and one to go. Time to check out Argento's conclusion of the trilogy now, 2007's "Mother of Tears"....

Fani

I'm sorry, but this movie was a travesty. I completely respect Argento's style and understand that plot is not what he concerns himself but this film was a waste of time. At least in Suspiria and Deep Red there was enough of a plot to sustain one's interest. In this there was absolutely no plot whatsoever. Even so, this is not truly what I disliked about this film. Where his other films may lack 'substance' (I find that they have substance, just in a different form) they made up for it with nightmarish insanity and heart-stopping violence. This has none of that. The sets are Gothic and beautiful, that's it. I hate to sound like a morbid sadist but what redeems Argento's films the most are his awe-inspiring death sequences. This has someone getting stabbed, and not in a very interesting way either. The score as well is a lard disappointment. It just doesn't creep me out at all. Why he didn't enroll those zany Goblin musicians is beyond me. Maybe he wanted to expand his horizons. I can sort of understand why he did this movie (perhaps to expand his vision of nightmarish horror?) but it just lacks any real tension of any kind. An awful movie. I'm sorry to say it.

Whitemaster

I only got around to watching this recently....for the first time perhaps!? I may have saw this when i was 10 or 11 when it was first released in the 'good old' days of the pre-cert nasties era. I've been going through a horror/slasher nasties nostalgia phase recently and I've been re watching Dario Argento's vintage slasher movies, Suspiria, Tenebrae etc, but after watching this i just thought....Terrible!! What was all the fuss about and why on earth was it banned?! There's a awkward scene of a REAL cat eating a REAL mouse which is completely unnecessary and if filmed deliberately for the movie is totally wrong and unethical.

The film itself is abominable. And what about that soundtrack - Keith Emerson and Dario Argneto are not good bedfellows, what were they thinking? In fact i feel the soundtrack almost completely ruins a potentially good film....It's absurd and totally out of contex to whats happening on screen. I actually found myself laughing in parts at the incongruity of what i was seeing and hearing. I suppose you never watch a Dario Argento film for its acting,( i know a lot also gets lost in the dubbing) but i felt the acting was exceptionally bad and the cats were probably the best actors in the movie! The colour of the movie was nice and staging and sets are typical Dario Argento. Where was all the spectacular death scenes i've read so much about?

I don't believe i watched a truncated version,(Anchor Bay region 1). It reminded me of the first time i saw Lucio Fulci The House by the Cemetery, equally overrated and very tame. I'm sorry it's just not a favourite and i cant see why this is considered a classic of it's genre? The one thing i do like is the poster..an absolute classic, filmwise a major disappointment!!

Drelajurus

People kill me. I am a big time Argento fan but this film is garbage if this was made by anyone but Dario you would never hear anything about it but since he made it it's the best thing since fish and grits. Im sorry but this film stinks. Defender's of this usually agree that it's plotless but they say it's all about the color scheme, nice colors in the film they are nice the music is cool too but that only takes you so far this movie has no plot. it's a collection of images that are a long way from Deep Red go with that Tenebrae hell even the Stendhal Syndrome is better his heart wasnt in this this is evident after the first half hour. Do yourself a favor save your money and you will thank me later

Kulalas

Inferno is Argento's most understated and most visually stunning film to date. It has often been unfairly compared to Suspiria, which I admit is the better film of both. People often state that it pales in comparison to Suspiria, but yet what were people expecting with Inferno? A remake of Suspiria? Well, if that is so they would have been shocked when they saw Inferno. Inferno and Suspiria share many qualities but Inferno is in no way a remake.

This film is more atmospheric than Suspiria. The lighting can at times be overwhelming, reds and blues feature particularly. This creates an almost nightmarish vision of New York and Rome where the film is set. Or as it appears to be. This film in a sense is one big nightmare. It becomes illogical and incoherent. Some of the characters actions become irrational, for example when Kazanian is in the lake shouting and been devoured by rats, a hot dog vendor runs over and and stabs Kazanian in the neck a few times. Maybe the man did this because Mater Tenebraum made him do it? We don't no because Inferno has many plot holes which leave some events seem irrational. But this adds the strange other-worldly quality of the film. We seem to just sit back and believe these things are happening because we no we are dealing with the supernatural.

The special effects in Inferno are also excellent. The scene at the end where the nurse disappears but her reflection can be still seen in the mirror is fantastic. But even more impressive is when she turns into death. I won't tell you how she does it because I will spoil it for you. These effects where created by Mario Bava, an icon of Italian horror cinema. He makes the illusion look astonishingly real. He will be sadly missed, especially by Argento.

The performances are good. McCloskey's Mark is a character that is very irritating because he spends the film behind everyone else. He is played by Leigh as very 'wooden' and uninteresting. However, the actresses who play Rose and Sara contribute great performances. They are very believable, interesting and are the characters you wish Argento did not kill off. They are extremely beautiful and have the personalities that can really get the audience involved. They have the qualities that the main protagonist needs. Sacha Pitoëff is also excellent, especially in the scene involving his death. He is able to perfectly capture Kazanian's dark and mysterious character. Daria Nicolodi deserves a mention as she was also great, but not as good as in other Argento classics. Feodor Chaliapin Jr. as Varelli is brilliant and Veronica Lazar as his nurse is at times annoying and seemingly stupid but she is great in the ending, although her laugh seems fake and is laughable. The rest of the cast put in good performances but nothing really outstanding.

The highlight of the film is the scene in the flooded ballroom in the basement. Truly one of Argento's best scenes. Beautiful, atmospheric and scary. But yet it seems hard to believe that Rose would venture down into a flooded room for her keys. Let me just say that it nearly gave me a heart attack...

Keith Emerson's music is masterful. I loved it so much I even bought the soundtrack. It has received a lot of criticism, people say that it does not fit the film at all and some say it is not as good as Suspiria. Again the film is been compared to Suspiria. It is a tense piece of divine art, a truly haunting soundtrack. The theme is wonderfully hypnotic and then becomes a more powerful riveting piece. Mater Tenebraum is the best thing on the soundtrack. Unquestionably masterful.

Also look out for Ania Pieroni in the scene in the music room as Mater Lacrimarum, with the white cat. You can also spot her passing in a taxi as Mark leaves the apartment after Carlo and Sara's deaths.

Overall Inferno is an Argento masterpiece, a must-see piece of cinema. 10/10

It has become my favorite Argento!

Felhann

Since I was a little kid that I know the excellent cinematic work of Dario Argento. The first horror movie I ever saw was "Demoni" and that title scared the hell out of me. That movie is produced by Dario Argento, and since his name was the only one on the cover, I was determined to found out a little more about Mr. Argento. After a few years i saw almost all of his films and I think I can say: "You are one of my favourite directors Mr. Argento". From all of his films I think "Inferno" equals such excellent works as "Phenomena", "Suspiria" and "Opera". It is a tale of witches, haunted houses and mad killers. It has all of the genuine touches that Dario Argento gives in his movies. Very gory and very alive, very stylish and dark, very suspenseful and very strange... Just see the movie and you will understand. If "Suspiria" scared you to death, "Inferno" will kill you of fright.

hardy

Stick with Suspira or Demons. This film is slow and slow and slower. The plot is incomprehensible and you will find yourself asking, "WHY I AM WATCHING THIS).

This is my opinion, you could do better than wasting 2 hours with this,

Ron

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