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Dario Argento finally concludes his Three Mothers Trilogy, much to the consternation of many of his fans.  Was I one of them?  Read on, fearless interweb traveler…

I’ve never been a huge Argento fan, although I have seen and enjoyed my fair share of his work.  His camera work and brutal set pieces have always taken precedent over a linear story in his films, and while I’ve liked them, I’ve never been a rabid fan like some folks out there.  I think that this is why I was able to get behind Mother Of Tears in spite of its shortcomings, of which there are several.

The discovery of a strange artifact chained to a coffin buried outside an old church opens the film, and the artifact is sent to Rome for further investigation.  Sarah Mandy (Asia Argento) and Giselle Mares (Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni) open the box and take out the contents, including a tunic and three stone idols.  Sarah leaves Giselle alone with it, which is enough time for the three idol creatures to come to life (unless I missed something, which is entirely possible) and brutally kill her.  Sarah returns to find the aftermath, and flees, pursued inexplicably by a monkey (!) through the museum.  A voice in her head opens locked doors for her and helps her escape to call the police.

The police of course balk at the insinuation of the supernatural and Michael (Adam James), Sarah’s boss and lover takes her in for the night.  We’re treated to flashes of an occult ritual involving the tunic that is immediately followed by strange bits of violence all over Rome, people turn on one another, a woman pitches her infant from a bridge, etc.

Michael attempts to visit the Monsignor who sent the artifact to him, only to find that he is in a coma, brought on by a stroke that hit him after the coffin was uncovered.  He learns the legend of the Mother Of Tears, or Mater Lachrymarum, and the havoc and pain that she has wrought in her time on Earth. When he returns home, he finds his son kidnapped, with a warning written in blood, surrounded by occult symbols.

Michael tries to find his son as dozens of witches converge on Rome, to celebrate the return of The Third Mother and Sara is pursued by both the witches and the police, who want to question her further about the death of Giselle.  Sarah eludes them, again using the powers revealed to her by the voice in her head.  She eventually learns that she is the daughter of a White Witch, and one of the other Mother’s was responsible for her parent’s death.  Sarah follows a bloody trail of clues and bodies towards a final confrontation with the Mother Of Tears herself, the gorgeous Moran Atias, usually onscreen in some stage of undress.

Mother Of Tears is a bloody romp through Argento’s typically convoluted plotting and gory set pieces.  I was surprised by the violence on display in this Unrated edition, though I don’t know how it compares to the R-Rated version that’s also out there, there may be little to no change compared to what was released theatrically.

Mother Of Tears arrives courtesy of Dimension Extreme, and sports a few extras such as a 30 minute Making Of Mother Of Tears feature, as well as an 8 minute conversation with Argento himself which hints at the possibility of a prequel film to this series.

Not as dreamy and surreal as Suspiria, nor as color-saturated as Inferno, Mother Of Tears still manages to bring the gore and over the top violence that seems to be the direction Argento is going these days, if Masters Of Horror episodes like Jenifer and Pelts are any indication.  There’s even the customary nude scene by Asia Argento, because why would she appear in a film by her father is she wasn’t naked at least once, I swear to God, it’s like a rider in their contracts or something. 

The film is not entirely successful, but it has its moments and is definitely worth a look for his fans and horror aficionados alike.

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