Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Asia Argento | ... | Sarah Mandy | |
Cristian Solimeno | ... | Detective Enzo Marchi | |
Adam James | ... | Michael Pierce | |
Moran Atias | ... | Mater Lachrymarum | |
Valéria Cavalli | ... | Marta Colussi | |
Philippe Leroy | ... | Guglielmo De Witt | |
Daria Nicolodi | ... | Elisa Mandy | |
Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni | ... | Giselle Mares | |
Udo Kier | ... | Father Johannes | |
Robert Madison | ... | Detective Lissoni | |
Jun Ichikawa | ... | Katerina | |
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Tommaso Banfi | ... | Father Milesi |
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Paolo Stella | ... | Julian |
Clive Riche | ... | Man in Overcoat | |
Massimo Sarchielli | ... | The Hobo |
An ancient urn is found in a cemetery outside Rome. Once opened, it triggers a series of violent incidents: robberies, rapes and murders increase dramatically, while several mysterious, evil-looking young women coming from all over the world are gathering in the city. All these events are caused by the return of Mater Lacrimarum, the last of three powerful witches who have been spreading terror and death for centuries. Alone against an army of psychos and demons, Sarah Mandy, an art student who seems to have supernatural abilities of her own, is the only person left to prevent the Mother of Tears from destroying Rome. Written by Max Borg
Being such a big fan of Argento, I went into this film with a mixture of massive anticipation and worry that it might not live up to my expectations. With the exception of Sleepless, Argento hasn't made a really great film since Opera in 1987, and while I wouldn't quite call the final instalment of the 'Three Mothers' series a return to form, it's certainly a lot better than the majority of his modern movies. The thing that really made the first two films in this series standout was the colourful sets and fairytale atmosphere, and unfortunately this film features neither. I have no idea if Argento decided to discard these things in favour of a modern setting or if it was the producers who were worried that a seventies style film wouldn't sell, but either way; it doesn't feature here and that's the thing I liked least about this film. The film is slightly more story-heavy than the two previous entries and this time we have more of a clearly defined point. The story is set in Rome and our central character is Sarah Mandy. The film kicks off with the discovery of an ancient urn, and from there strange things start happening. Rape, assault and arson increases and strange people start to gather in Rome. These events are due to the return of Mater Lacrimarum, the most beautiful of the three witches at the heart of this series. It soon becomes apparent that the only person who can stop the evil from enveloping the world is Sarah Mandy, who has a few supernatural powers of her own...
As mentioned, it's the change in style that is the biggest problem with this film for me and the thing that really means it doesn't quite live up to the previous two instalments, but what the film lacks in atmosphere, Argento makes up for in gore (and then some) and it's clear that the great director has lost none of his eye for a brutal and stylish death scene. This film is far gorier than the sum of the gore scenes in both of the previous films, and it's great to see a modern film that doesn't hold back. The gore scenes range from quick to stylised and drawn out but all are very gory - with one notable exception which also happens to be the most shocking sequence in the film! Argento has donned the use of CGI and it's a bit of a shame because it looks rather cheap - but that's only a problem really in one scene. Argento films are not known for fluent plots and great acting, and there's a very good reason for that. This film has more than just a few holes and the acting is not anything to write home about either. As is the case with a lot of his modern films, Argento has cast his daughter, Asia Argento in the lead role. She's beautiful and not a bad actress - but Argento always makes her roles too 'clean', and it doesn't suit her considering the Hellraiser she is in real life! I also didn't like the supernatural subplot with her character; it's just sort of thrown in there and doesn't work very well. Argento makes more of an attempt to establish his mythology with this film than in the previous two and he even makes nods to the first two, though I think more could be made of this aspect of the series. The ending is abrupt but nicely done if you ask me. Overall, I did like The Third Mother a lot - it's only disappointing when compared to the other two films. In its own right; this is a great gory Italian horror flick and definitely comes recommended.