Dario Argento did some good movies back in the day. Sadly, I cannot consider this one a masterpiece. What little there is of plot feels very "mehh" and you start to feel very soon that this movie is just an excuse for Dario Argento to slap you with some red and blue while pretending that's art. Being spiritual successor to "Suspiria" you would expect a decent amount of creepy scenes, but you only get half of it, and when it starts to near to perfection, Dario blows it and it falls flat. Characters are bland and you don't really care for anybody except the final guy, which you only do because he looks cool. Also, the ending is pretty disappointing and you are like: "What just happened?". Still, it's not all that bad. That song near the end of the movie is kinda cool, there are some little disturbing moments and the movie oozes with potential. Sadly, the potential is left wasted and you just get a half baked horror movie who doesn't know what to do with itself. 6.5/10 from me! It's far from the worst thing you can watch as a horror fan, but it's a perfect fit for that "mehh" category...

Dario Argento is a master of his genre, no doubt about that, but his script here is pure hokum. The film has a number of striking images (the mysterious beauty that appears out of nowhere in the classroom; the drapes being slowly ripped apart by the nails of a stabbed-to-death woman; the close-up of Daria Nicolodi's lips; the pursuer at the library's basement, whose face remains in the dark, but whose hands are clearly not human),and a very peculiar architectural design, with secret passages leading to all sorts of hidden rooms to other passages to other rooms....However, as many others have said, the film is best approached as a dream, because the plot is incoherent and there are several scenes that run on too long. It does get better on the second viewing. (**)

Inferno, Dario Argento's second film in his Three Mothers trilogy, features some great death scenes and inventive set-pieces, and yet the film remains my least favourite from the Italian auteur. Whilst individual moments certainly impress (an underwater scene at the beginning is particularly scary),I find the film as a whole something of a disappointment.

My first major issue is with the plot (or lack of one)...

Leigh McCloskey plays Mark Elliot, a man searching for his sister Rose (Irene Miracle),who has gone missing whilst investigating the legend of The Three Mothers—three wicked witches each living in a different part of the world in specially designed buildings. Mark discovers that the apartment in which Rose was living is situated in the building created for Mater Tenebrarum, the cruelest of the Mothers, who is keen not to be disturbed. So much so, that she kills anyone who comes close to discovering her secret hideout.

Which leads me to ask the question 'why don't people just leave her alone?' Seems to me that if you don't go poking your nose where it's not wanted, you won't wind up the as the victim in one of Argento's elaborate death scenes.

Throw in some rubbish about a cat-hating antiques dealer (who gets attacked by rats and is killed by a hot-dog seller),an unnecessary appearance from Daria Nicolodi, and a confusing finalé, and you have one of the least satisfying stories that Argento has ever committed to celluloid.

The other big problem that I have with Inferno is the damn irritating lighting: I'm sure that many Argento fans feel that Inferno is a visual triumph—a feast for the eyes that actually transcends the need for a logical storyline—but I cannot stand the constant overuse of primary-colours . I would have much preferred a plot that I could understand over the blatant lighting nightmare that drenches practically every frame.

I didn't really like Suspiria, and enjoyed Inferno even less. Which means that I may be the only Argento fan that isn't looking forward to his next film: the Mother of Tears—the last in the Three Mothers trilogy.