Unfortunately, the blurb on the poster, "An Instant Cult Classic" quite overrates this film. We have waited twenty-seven years for this film and it falls drastically short of the hype and expectation I had as a fan of the trilogy.Firstly, Argento made the decision to forgo the style and lighting of the two previous chapters for a more "modern" gritty style. This works okay with the film if it were a "stand alone"; however, because the previous films were so iconic this missing element actually hurts the film.Along with the missing style is the disappearance of the lavish and grand sets.I can understand the reasons for doing this, though, I for one would have liked it had he tried to tie it in with the preceding films.The story, once again, expands on the Three Witches mythology and settings. Upon opening an urn, found outside a cemetery in Rome, an evil is let loose on the city and the world. It falls upon Sarah Mandy, irritatingly portrayed by Asia Argento, to try to halt the threat, and what a threat, what with all witches from around the globe descending on Rome... Except it's not as there's not a lot of witchery witchcraft going on.The story in this chapter of the trilogy is more comprehensive and understandable though it doesn't have quite the same atmosphere or tone. This might be because of the number of writers scripting the tale - too many chefs... On the upside, there are some nice and gruesome murders. I especially liked the train toilet door witch kill and the lesbian eye puncturing. However, these seem less choreographed than in the previous films again going for a more realistic feel. One of the story points I really loved was the encroaching travesty and violence which is affecting people's lives. This is represented by the people in the background shots arguing and fighting, this is a nice little touch. They missed an opportunity here to show how widespread the effects of the Third Mother had spread. Since Argento had switched over to digital (which wasn't a good idea as the look and feel are flatter than that of celluloid) he could have asked friends and family around the world to take some videos of extras skirmishing in cities around the world.However, it's the end that is probably the worst scene in the movie as the Mother Of Tears gets "Ming'ed" at the climax of the movie and the CGI landscape is laughable, when our heroes climb out of a hole in the ground. Italians are geniuses when it comes to wetwork special FX, though not so good at the computer generated stuff.If you're going to watch this as part of the trilogy then you have been forewarned. However, it does work well as a stand-alone movie, since it is so different, in every aspect, than the previous films.Not brilliant, but not a turn off either.

After all the bad reviews and negative posts on IMDb I thought the movie was going to be horrible. But like I usually do when I watch movies I kept an open mind and usually have very small expectations (in reality, my only expectation is more than often political incorrectness). But still surprisingly it wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be. I actually think this is a good movie. Now first of all 'La Terza Madre' is politically incorrect which to my taste already gets a big plus. Second of all it has that same simple plot that 'Suspiria' and 'Inferno' have. I don't mind simple plots since movies are about moving pictures, sometimes people want movies to be like books which I find a bit ridiculous, because honestly books and movies are two different media (although I love reading books). So 'La Terza Madre' if you will, can say has a thin plot like 'Suspiria' and 'Inferno' have. But I feel this one had a little more touching story, with Asia and her mother Daria trying to have contact with each other. All in all it was the same as its predecessors story wise. Except this one seems to me to be less dream like than its predecessors. But it still has the fairy tale approach and it is told like a fairy tale. Because it is simplistic in its approach. Also not (obviously) realistic and has its own logic, which a lot of people don't seem to appreciate with today's "realism" obsession.The themes are basically the same also: mysticism and alchemy (plus some terrorism, which should be obvious and Gnosticism which require some research of it to understand). Might explain why people often feel the script is hokum. So nothing has changed much with the Trilogy. Except 'La Terza Madre' is not as artistic as its predecessors and a bit less visual and a little more talky. I prefer visuals but it wasn't more talky than other movies of its time so it didn't bother me that much. The murders are typical Argento, which means they have sexual tension (very obvious in the lesbian murder scene). But they are not as artistic as they usually are with Argento movies, but honestly I don't mind if they are not actually artistic. Dario can't do it exactly the same way all the time. Besides, murder is an act of atrocity whether justified or not. Murder is depraving and degrading, which we often try to forget about in movies. Asia Argento did a pretty good job in acting in my opinion and I feel the acting in the movie is above average compared to other horror movies. Also with a budget of $3.500.000 the special effects were convincing enough. The cinematography is not typical Argento, but I still feel it is Argento since the camera moves around a lot and still distinct enough to stand out compared to mainstream movies. 'La Terza Madre' doesn't fall into everyone's taste. It is politically incorrect, pretty violent, mischievous almost naughty and kind of humorous in its approach. So with all that in mind I'm rating the movie 8/10, so I enjoyed the movie.

This movie is not either bad nor good, but people are asking so much. There is no way that in 2007 they can replicate what has been some of the best horror movies like susprira and inferno, first off goblin was not around to do the soundtrack which for me is a big downfall.My girlfriend is not an horror fan she hates it, i just bought my copy blueray of suspiria and ask her to watch at least the start of the movie.The movie ambiance is amazing, with the strong rain at the start, the soundtrack holding everything together and giving you goostbumps. The same thing has inferno. Its impossible to replicate this because it was the 70-80 era.Dario Argento gave us all he had in the 70 and 80 its only normal that at some point just like a musician the inspiration is no longer there or the creation is gone. At some point you cannot always be creative.Dario done what he could with great success, there will be no more deep red bird with the crystal plumage and more. Worst there will be a remake of suspiria.I suggest anyone watching mother of tears to not compare it to suspiria or inferno but take it has a separate movie there are good gory parts in the movie but sadly Asia Argento cannot act. Dracula 3D after seeing the trailer will not help elevate Dario career at this point he should retire and enjoy life.

There is much to like here and I found myself more impressed with the film on 2nd viewing. I particularly liked the monkeys. But what kills the film for me is the lack of gravitas around the Mother figure here. she is too soft porn and thus difficult to take seriously. Her henchmen are fine, but she lacks genuine magic, and i. a film that takes magic as its subject, this pulls it down. In an Argento movie, we Can swallow the odd bit of scenery chewing (Udo) and even lack luster CGI and a lessening of the visual poetry of suspiria.... but only if that underlying sense of magic works. It half does work until the Mater turns up looking like a playboy centefold in a cape