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Trash addict,advocate,and apologist
"Words like 'conviction' can turn into a sentence."
Mother of Tears
Submitted by Tor on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 19:15.
Okay I couldn't wait any longer so I watched "Mother of Tears" (badly compressed) online. I don't feel like giving a full review is fair because of the low quality of the rip I saw, but there are a few things worth saying, perhaps mostly for those on the fence.
Let's get the bad out of the way first...
Asia Argento is a pretty terrible actress, but she is not a waste as a screen presence....this is a point of view you either adopted or rejected after you saw 'Scarlet Diva".
Dario is still challenged around telling a story.
The worst group of extras I have seen at this level of production.
The 'Mother of Tears' , not a great nemesis in the flesh (oh, but the flesh doth look good!)
Production value wise it swings from some of Argento's best to Soap Opera plasticity to the worst of Backyard Wrestling.
The Good stuff...
A return to the great Argento gore and death set-pieces.
Some good Argento Fetishitic kill devices are in play.
Gore, gore, gore
Ample nudity
Argento doing his best Renato Polselli impersonation. In places this thing feels like "Delirium" and the "Reincarnation of Isabel" updated.
Overall, I do recommend this to all Argento fans and gorehounds. Yes, it's excruciatingly ridiculous in places but if you know the man's work that shouldn't be a problem.
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The Third Mother!
I was actually going to review this back when it hit theaters, but after I saw it, I couldn't muster the strength to get through a full write-up. You've pretty well covered it here though. As has been well documented on the podcast, I have plenty of patience for cheap-o effects and acting, but if the story doesn't work, well then I get a little salty. Let's just say that after "Mother of Tears" I was briny as a can of sardines.
In the context of the whole trilogy, it certainly has value, and as you say, for Argento fans, there's a lot to love. But I would never, under any circumstance, send a horror philistine into this movie, or even someone who liked horror, but wasn't that well versed. Mother of Tears is straight double black diamond.
It's true
definitely not for people with a bland palette. What's funny is I mentioned Polselli, but at different points in the film Argento feels like he's channeling Fulci and even lesser Italian horror makers. While I am sure this wasn't his intent, it did have the feel of an homage to days of Spaghetti past.
Funny
Still haven't seen this, but the Fulci comparison is funny because when Fulci was at his best, he still only felt like he was trying to channel Argento. I guess that's what they call irony.
I could see that
though I do think Lucio was a powerhouse in terms of understanding film and technical savvy. I actually like his early work like 'Lizard in a Woman's Skin' and 'Don't Torture a Duckling' better than the Argento giallo films. The latter may be my favorite giallo unless you count 'Deep Red' which most people don't.