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Mother of Tears, The
Myriad Pictures and The Weinstein Company


8.0

based on 18 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 7 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Asia Argento, Daria Nicolodi, Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, Moran Atias, Cristian Solimeno, Adam James, Philippe LeRoy, Valeria Cavalli, and Udo Kier

Mother of Tears is the finale to the saga that began with the international blockbuster Suspiria and continued with the classic INFERNO from Italian horror maestro Dario Argento. In the heart of modern Rome, an urn is found and brought to a young archaeologist, Sarah Mandy. But what Sarah doesn’t know is that the urn belongs to the world’s most powerful witch, the Mother of Tears. She unwittingly unleashes a demonic power intent on destroying the city and everything in its path. When the Mother’s minions and henchman brutally murder Sarah’s co-worker and come after her, she takes refuge with an old priest and discovers her legacy – that her own mother was murdered years before by the Mother of Tears, and that only Sarah has the power to end the destruction. She must find and stop the Mother, before it is too late. (Myriad Productions)

GENRE(S):	Drama \| Fantasy \| Horror \| Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Simona Simonetti, Adam Gierasch Walter Fasano Jace Anderson Dario Argento
DIRECTED BY:	Dario Argento
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: September 23, 2008 Theatrical: June 6, 2008
RUNNING TIME:	98 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	Italy \| USA

Alternative Title: La Terza Madre

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

The Hollywood Reporter Richard James Havis

Witty to the point of hilarity, blood-soaked and thoroughly politically incorrect, Mother of Tears: The Third Mother follows 1970s cult classics "Suspiria" and "Inferno" to complete Argento's "Mother" trilogy.

The New York Times Nathan Lee

The Mother of Tears is silly, awkward, vulgar, outlandish, hysterical, inventive, revolting, flamboyant, titillating, ridiculous, mischievous, uproarious, cheap, priceless, tasteless and sublime.

Variety Dennis Harvey

This hectic pileup of supernatural nonsense is a treasure trove of seemingly unintentional hilarity. Although lacking helmer's usual aesthetic panache, this "Mother" is a cheesy, breathless future camp classic.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

The first two thirds are gangbusters, with marauding bands of tarted-up young witches who look only slightly less scary than Lindsay Lohan and her pals on an average night.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

So unapologetically loopy and lush and ridiculous that I found it irresistible.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

A gloriously tacky horror movie with an inclination toward the occult, The Mother of Tears hails from the Italian schlockmeister Dario Argento, who photographs his Euro movie star daughter, Asia Argento, with something more than paternal pride.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Argento set a standard a lot of moviemakers are desperate to surpass. It's not simply that he's crazy about gore and supernatural hokum. It's that he understands that storytelling is both an art and a craft. His filmmaking carries you along on the illusion of effortlessness; amusement, suspense, a certain elegance follow.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Although The Mother of Tears teeters on the preposterous and awkward, it is diverting and reveals that the filmmaker's signature bravura flourishes and use of sinister settings are still intact.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

As a lissome art restorer, Asia Argento (the director's daughter) comes off as the sanest human on screen, which is pretty scary.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Mother of Tears can't rival the David Lynchian otherworldliness of "Suspiria," but at least you know you're in the hands of a director.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Argento is admired for his voluptuous use of color and his operatic bloodletting; this is lovely to look at, if you can stand to.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Compared to a recent Argento dud like "The Stendhal Syndrome," Mother Of Tears at least has some of the go-for-broke gothic spirit of his earlier work. He's just lost the ability to shape it into something artful.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

A crude, artless bogey tale.

Village Voice Jim Ridley

A once-great director's near-worst work passes through its funhouse plumbing and emerges from the crapper as intentional mischief: self-sabotage explained away as mad genius.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

There is, of course, a maximum of blood and gore. Sometimes the director's ideas work; often they don't.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

This lurid celebration of shock, schlock and the shamelessly perverse finds the 67-year-old grandfather of torture porn scraping the bottom of his admittedly limited creative barrel.

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

At 67, maestro Argento's taste still runs toward bloody entrails and eye-gougings, but Asia's sexy sour-lemon smile is underused in his movies.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Aside from being vile and repellent, it's mainly dull - old-fashioned in its shock tactics and culminating in a ho-hum climax.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Rico gave it an8:
Maybe strictly for Argento fans. I count myself in that group. I didn't expect the humor. Much better than many recent Argento films.

Jay H. gave it a4:
The only Dario Argento film I have really enjoyed is "Do You Like Hitchcock". I found Mother of Tears to be rather mundane and preposterous. I never could get involved in the film. Plenty of gore, little substance.

Channing T. gave it a10:
A super entertaining film. A fitting finale to the trilogy and a much better film than INFERNO. Loved it!

derelict d. gave it a10:
This movie is a hoot, full-stop.

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Mother of Tears, The Myriad Pictures and The Weinstein Company

Mother of Tears, The
Myriad Pictures and The Weinstein Company