X
- 1980
- R
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 46 m
- 1980
- R
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 46 m
Summary An American college student in Rome and his sister in New York investigate a series of killings in both locations where their resident addresses are the domain of two covens of witches.
Directed By: Dario Argento
- 1980
- R
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 46 m
- 1980
- R
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 46 m
Inferno
69
6.2
Where to Watch
Summary An American college student in Rome and his sister in New York investigate a series of killings in both locations where their resident addresses are the domain of two covens of witches.
Directed By: Dario Argento
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
69
63% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
38% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
69
63% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
38% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The kind of film that starts off with a climax and builds to a plateau of surrealist delirium that, one way or another, will have you shrieking.
For all its nonsensical qualities, it also contains some of Argento's most hallucinatory images and unforgettable setpieces, as always reason enough to watch even when the usual reasons are nowhere to be found.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 13 User Ratings
6.2
62% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
23% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
15% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 13 User Ratings
6.2
62% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
23% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
15% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Inferno -the second entry in Argento's Three Mothers trilogy- does feel like a direct continuation of Suspiria in terms of style and atmosphere. Dario once again bathes each scene in beautiful shades of red and other colors while providing a soundtrack from Keith Emerson that really makes certain moments standout, despite not being as prominent or memorable as Goblin's overall. While it nails the tone, the movie isn't able to recapture that same magic as the writing is much weaker.
Inferno is often criticized for not making any sense. Personally, I had no trouble following what was going on, but was very aware of the various plot holes and random or downright nonsensical events that really would have benefited from some form of explanation. For instance, if the mysterious cult of witch followers didn't want people to read the book about the three mothers then why did they leave a copy of it in the local library just above their alchemy lab?
As far as the more random stuff goes, there's a scene early on in the movie where the protagonist has a bizarre encounter with a girl who is clearly out of place in his music class. It's implied that she's the main witch in the movie, but she only shows up once after that for like a split second and isn't seen again. Argento later revealed that this is actually the third sister and antagonist of his much later film The Mother of Tears, but how on earth were we supposed to figure that out? She shows up like once in a scene so far detatched from the action at hand it's easy to dismiss her as a bit of unimportant weirdness. Which I suppose is all her inclusion really is anyways.
There's also the part where the antique shop owner tries to drown a bag of cats only to end up murdered by a random hotdog vender. His demise isn't even related to the "Mother of Darkness." Why wasn't the character killed off in a way that tied into the main story rather than some odd side excursion? It's not even like he was some unimportant supporting character. He had relevancy in the main thread.
One other thing that kind of bugged me is that it was implied that hotel staff worked for witch in the same manner the faculty of the dance academy did in Suspiria, but it's never fleshed out. They even add another plot hole to the mix by killing everyone looking into the three mothers other than the protagonist. They even go out of their way to save him. That whole "heart medicine" scene was weird. Also what was up with Varelli?
Writing woes aside, there's a lot I like about this movie. It's a bizarre descent into the macabre to be sure, but its eccentric flourishes and oddball characters are actually quite charming. It's like the intention was to remake Suspiria with a higher body count, only the people involved sort of forgot about the script somewhere along the way. The frequent kills are quite gruesome even with the cheap ketchup blood.
I feel like a really good job was done establishing this middle chapter (and Suspiria by extension) as part of a shared, ongoing story. Probably one of the few things other than the visuals that was handled with real elegance. As much as I've crapped on the script, I will say that it very natural for the protagonist to never fully grasp what's happening. It makes sense for him to walk into the final confrontation almost completely clueless as to what's going on given how he never had access to the full puzzle or witnessed any of the murders occurring around him. A nice touch that proves even the writing isn't all bad.
8.1/10
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Dario Argento undervalues his material, but his set pieces are glorious enough that the film’s plot contrivances can be forgiven.
Although not as powerful, impressive, or exciting as Suspiria, Inferno is still intriguing, effective, and stylish enough to make the narrative unimportant.
The movie's distinguishing feature is not the number or variety of horrible murders, but the length of time it takes for the victims to die. This is a technique that may have been borrowed from Italian opera, but without the music, it loses some of its panache.
The sequel to 'Suspiria' is one that was problematic to make, not only was the director ill during production and could not oversee scenes filmed in NYC, but the distribution company shut down when it was meant to be released and it waited years before hitting theatres. The overall film is good, but suffers from elements similar to the original.
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The follow up to Suspiria. The second film of Argento's Three mother's trilogy. Very similar to Suspiria visually and in mood. Unfortunately just like Suspiria I find the story lacking. I Don't mind the cliche Italian horror movies illogical plots that Many Italian horror films have in common. I enjoy the dreamlike qualities that many of them invoke. Inferno just like Suspiria suffers from story that is sometimes just bland and boring. Still worth a watch. It's not a bad film. Its just a bit forgettable.
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I hated the cinematography. They used a massive variety of colour and it was distractingly unrealistic. At night you see black and white so why in a film mostly set at night would you use so much colour? Anyway I didn't like it but at least they tried. The dubbing was better than the predecessor, Suspiria (1977), but still not perfect. The surround sound was disinteresting and balancing slightly off. Not as bad as the picture though. I didn't get the story or the ending. Unlike Suspiria there was no atmosphere. They lost my connection early on and actually managed to alienate me quickly. The whole total eclipse of the moon thing was especially nonsensical.
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