Review: Dario Argento is one of those directors that I have became more familiar with over the past few years due to my curiosity of Italian directors. Argento has blown me away with many of his films and Inferno is one of them. From his own personal visual style to the music he uses to create great atmosphere that often can be quite intense. Those two elements paired up with great acting make for good films. Inferno is the second chapter in the "Three Mothers" trilogy and to me it's one of the best. Most would go with the popular vote of Suspiria being the best but I really enjoyed this film more. Nonetheless I still do love Suspiria.
Inferno follows a young woman who comes across a diary that reveals the secrets of "The Three Mothers" and ends up unleashing the unholy trio onto this world. As the trio spread from Rome to New York the trio must be stopped before the world is engulfed by the Three Mothers. Like Argento's other films Inferno is filled with great atmosphere, haunting music, stunning visuals, and of course some great gore to keep things interesting. The thing most that caught my eye was the use of very bold colored lighting that is usually either in the back ground or shrouded over the characters. The use of reds, blues, pinks, and greens really help add to the dream like and supernatural feel of the film.
The only time that music is really ever used is when something bad is about to happen which of course is used to help heighten the tension and Argento is magnificent at doing that. The music of Inferno was done by the great Keith Emerson of the great rock band Emerson Lake and Palmer. Now lets talk about the gore in this film. Well there is a pretty good amount of it but they do spread each death out from one another. The most memorable one for me was when this older crippled guy gets attacked by rats and they gnaw on him and then this mysterious person comes along and kills him off with a knife. I think the thought of rats eating you while your alive and can't get away is what makes it so effective. There are plenty more good kills but I will let you witness them for yourself.
If you are new to the works of Argento I would highly suggest you checkout the Three Mothers trilogy first starting with Suspiria then Inferno and ending with Mother of Tears. These I think are the best of the supernatural films that he did. On top of getting a great film if you pick up this blu-ray release from Blue Underground you will also get one hell of a presentation. The picture is very solid and clear of damage. Also the colors pop out very boldly and are quite vibrant. The audio is equally as great with a variety of choices that even includes an English 7.1 DTS-HD. You still get the same features as the older DVD release from Blue Underground but also you get 2 new featurettes: "Art & Alchemy- Interview with star Leigh McCloskey" and "Reflections of Rose- Interview with star Irene Miracle" and both are in HD. Overall you get a great and quite underrated film from Argento in the best home video presentation possible! Another home run for Blue Underground!
-Daniel "Damnation" Lee
Director: Dario Argento
Genre: Horror/Giallo/Supernatural
Blu-ray Release Year: 2011
Theatrical Release Year:1980
Time Length: 106 mins.
Company: Blue Underground
Website:
www.blue-underground.com
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