The Third Mother (Dario Argento, 2007)

[blindside8zao]

November 21: TOOLBOX scribes writing SUSPIRIA sequel

At the recent Turin Film Festival, director Dario Argento and his brother/producer Claudio revealed to FANGORIA that busy genre screenwriters Adam Gierasch and Jace Anderson (pictured, of TOOLBOX MURDERS, CROCODILE and the upcoming MORTUARY, all for Tobe Hooper) will be writing the THIRD MOTHER script. Argento, who penned the classic first two parts of the trilogy—SUSPIRIA and INFERNO—with former girlfriend Daria Nicolodi, reportedly wants a better chance at reaching the U.S. marketplace by using Stateside talent. Watch for more exclusive details on this site soon about THE THIRD MOTHER film. —Tony Timpone

[blindside8zao]

is that the guy that did lighting?

[The Invunche]

Asia's mom and Argento's ex-partner. She was co-writer on the previous mother films. She also starred in several of his movies.

[Lino]

Not to mention that she was the creator of the original story about the 3 mothers and has already mentioned in interviews that she knows who the third mother is and how the story will end.

To not acknowledge her contribution to the stories and scripts is criminal.

[Dylan]

From Dark Dreams:

On May 16th dario will be back in rome ready to start working on the third mother whose pre-production work starts on June 1st.

This movie is a big budget feature, produced by medusa along with a major american company. It's a sort of diabolical sequel to suspiria and inferno set in rome, with eerie creatures and a race against time in the way of dan brown's 'angels and demons'.

Immediately after finishing work on the third mother, dario has been signed by another major american company to start shooting another big budget movie.

Argento has always spoken of seemingly endless trouble finding funding for his films, and to my knowledge these two projects are his most generously produced in over a decade. I'm looking very forward to both films.

[blindside8zao]

sheesh, I hope it's good. I really loved Suspiria but the Card Player was close to unwatchable if I remember correctly.

[Gordon]

Not to mention that she was the creator of the original story about the 3 mothers...

She's 19th Century English opium-eater and debt-dodger Thomas De Quincy?! Crikey!

[Lino]

Not to mention that she was the creator of the original story about the 3 mothers...

She's 19th Century English opium-eater and debt-dodger Thomas De Quincy?! Crikey!

I was only quoting her from an interview.

[Gordon]

I was only joshing with you, Annie!

[Lino]

I know that, you silly thing!

[Gordon]

Dario really ought to have gave De Quincy some kind of credit on his films or dedicated them to him. Thieving bastard.

[DrewReiber]

The film is now back to being called La Terza Madre / The Third Mother. The Italian production company, Medusa, took the risk and put up the majority of financing, and as Argento hated the "Mother of Tears" title, it's been dropped.

Here's a few set reports:

December 7: First set report/pics: Argento's MOTHER

November 27: First photo from MOTHER OF TEARS set

Here is an exclusive report from Alan Jones with some on set pictures.

[Lino]

First clips of the movie are now online and let me tell you: I was not feeling very hopeful about this one (and you can't really blame me judging by Argento's last theatrical features) but after seeing those clips, I am suddenly very anxious about his Third Mother. I was instantly transported back to his last truly great movie, Opera and if the whole movie will be able to at least be as interesting as those clips suggest, I think we might be on to a good thing.

[Matt]

Now that I see Daria Nicolodi and Udo Kier are appearing in the film, I'm slightly more hopeful that this might capture some of the old magic. If it ends up being at least as good as Opera, it will be a major step up for Argento. Although this phrase from one of the plot synopses linked above has me a little concerned: "white witch Marta teaches Sarah how to summon up the ghost of her mother Elisa (Nicolodi) via an enchanted powder puff."

[scalesojustice]

that plot point sounds excellent. argento's plots have always taken a backseat to amazing style and atmosphere, sweet killings and an even better soundtrack.

i need a new, solid argento. no more "argento's phantom of the opera" or "the card player."

and udo kier!

[DrewReiber]

i need a new, solid argento. no more "argento's phantom of the opera" or "the card player."

I don't know if we're ever going to get another "solid" Argento, as he has so much farther to climb up than simply avoiding another "The Card Player". We need something at least entertaining, even if it's flawed.

I've heard that the break from theatrical features might have done him some good, but I only saw "Jenifer" which was just OK. If they hadn't cut the most frightening sequences he shot (two of them) and concieved (monster vagina), it may have been more memorable. I didn't see "Do You Like Hitchcock?" or "Pelts", though. Anyone else seen these?

I just hope that there is evidence that "The Third Mother" could be adequate. Getting Argento's family back together behind-the-scenes had to have had some kind of positive effect on him, if only because the entire downfall of hsi career can be tracked back to the points where he ended his familial relationships. This makes me optimistic enough for something watchable, though I would welcome the surprise of a great film.

[Lino]

Release date for Italy is now October, 31 and apparently Medusa (the producer) is asking Argento to do some cuts due to excessive gore. Whatever. Read on.

Just as long as we get an unrated DVD. Which may be the whole point, actually.

[lord_clyde]

sheesh, I hope it's good. I really loved Suspiria but the Card Player was close to unwatchable if I remember correctly.

You think the Card Player was bad? Have you seen Jenifer?!

[DrewReiber]

You think the Card Player was bad? Have you seen Jenifer?!

Jenifer was nowhere near that bad. It was somewhere between merely competent (if not entirely predictable) and a tad sexually disturbing. What really offended me was how the necessary bits to push it over the top had been cut against his will. Of course, after Garris' people promised the uncut DVD, it turned out to be nothing of the kind (the cut bits are in the documentary). If Masters of Horror had any real support for their directors, they wouldn't have forced Argento to cut the most horrific sexuality or in the case of the monster vagina, restrict him from even shooting what he had already designed and built.

If anything, Jenifer was clearly a case where his material has once again reached a place where modern distributors cannot and will not deal with his content. I read an interview with Argento recently where he talked about how difficult it was to do anything significantly shocking with violence now that sadistic is the new trend (ex. Saw), and now he was going to use sexuality as his "new violence". I applaud him for his new direction. Some of the moments in Jenifer, specifically the scene in the car, stuck with me for weeks.

[scalesojustice]

i have a feeling that DVD is the only way i'm going to be able to see this one. Hopefully Anchor Bay or Blue Underground can get their hands on it and have a region 1 release in our hands before the end of the year.

i hope that's not just wishful thinking...

[Michael]

i have a feeling that DVD is the only way i'm going to be able to see this one. Hopefully Anchor Bay or Blue Underground can get their hands on it and have a region 1 release in our hands before the end of the year.

i hope that's not just wishful thinking...

Jenifer has been out on DVD for a while now. Check Amazon. I haven't seen Jenifer but the cover art looks very sick. Takeshi Miike's Imprint is also out on DVD (via Masters of Horror). I saw that one and it was among the most fucked up things I've ever experienced.

[DrewReiber]

I believe he was talking about The Third Mother.

[scalesojustice]

Yeah, third mother. after a couple of argento's more recent "efforts" (mentioned above no less), i'm hardly interested in his current minor works. i think the "third mother," might be make or break for the horror maestro.

[DrewReiber]

i think the "third mother," might be make or break for the horror maestro.

I agree with you, but I fear this is a lose-lose situation for Argento. He is clearly no longer the filmmaker he was 30 years ago, much like any other director who has lasted this long. Whether he delivers a quality film or not, it's going to differ so much from the earlier films that it won't likely resemble the sequel people have pictured in their heads for decades.

While it's clear that the quality of his work sank over the last 20 years, I do believe he has made an effort to evolve over the past couple of projects. As I mentioned earlier, replacing violence with sex is a conscious effort on his part in an attempt to affect his viewers. However, it may not be what his established audience is looking for.

Regardless of the end product, I think that Argento made a commercial mistake by waiting so long to follow up his most famous horror series. It only dares his fans and critics to compare and contrast his work by impossible standards.

[scalesojustice]

Regardless of the end product, I think that Argento made a commercial mistake by waiting so long to follow up his most famous horror series. It only dares his fans and critics to compare and contrast his work by impossible standards.

at least it seems (from the insanely limited info) that he's doing it now because he wants to and not in an attempt to rekindle his own career. i think it's a project that he is interested and wants to do well, rather than capitalize on the idea of a trilogy.

i guess i'm still holding out on the outside chance that argento will mix the old and the new coherently and give us an astounding swan song. something the horror genre desperately needs.