With all due respect, the best horror critic on the web, Arrow in the Head, panned this movie for its flimsy plot and atrocious dialouge. On the other hand, he dug the gratuitous gore and nudity; not that I necessarily believe it 100 percent, but gore and nudity go a long way in a horror movie.

Still, I like that you liked the film's retro sensibility. Instead of a gaggle of attractive teens being picked off one by one, or a brainded "Hostel" rip-off with ridiculously elaborate tortures for the lizard brain set, Argento goes old school. However, bad Argento is still bad, period. Let's face it: Argento is overrated, and while he put out a few gems like Suspiria, mostly his films are just crap with a stylish Italian air.

Do I want to see the ol' pike up the vagina and out the mouth gag? Didn't another scumbag Italian director do that already in "Cannibal Holocaust" (or was it "Make them Die Slowly")? Not really, and if that's the selling point for "Mother of Tears," I'll just watch George Romero's Living Dead trilogy again and get the gore minus Argento's misogyny and second-rate talent (albeit with his Goblins music -- there's no escaping it, is there?).

I am so distracted in my attempt to figure out what is going on in that picture accompanying the article that I can't read right now.

Just, eww. What's entertaining about women being sexually mutilated?

...but depraved, bloody and unrepentantly exploitive? that's just icing on the cake!

If strangulation by entrails and other bloody insanity is your cup o' tea, check out "The Story of Ricky." Very entertaining and absolutely insane chop socky movie.

Hate to plonk, guys, but "mother" as a term of horror, and "witches" (in real life - presently in some countries, and famously in post-Medieval Europe) were powerless scapegoats, usually women. Sounds like all the movie lacks is a Hillary with a stake thru her... P.S. - it's unsettling to think of people going to watch "eviserations" etc. for fun...

Sorry, but I just can't be quite so blase about entertainment that features "the ol' pike up the vag."

Arrow in the Head, panned this movie for its flimsy plot and atrocious dialuoge.

Not surprising since, even as an Argento fan, I can't name any film of his that doesn't have a flimsy plot and atrocious dialogue. At horror conventions, even fans who clamor to get into his screenings burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of his films. There are only two reasons to watch his films: inventive gore and garish style. The minus column definitely includes cohesiveness and, yes, those damn Goblins soundtracks.

Still, I'm excited to see this new one, hoping he can reclaim some of his faded cult status of years gone by. He hasn't really made a decent film since 1987's "Opera" (aka "Terror at the Opera). He did one entertaining segment for Masters of Horror series ("Pelts") and one that was just awful ("Jennifer").

I had the pleasure(?) of spending several hours with Argento at a horror convention about 20 years ago. He was sweet and demure, but with an undercurrent of insanity and creepiness that set me on edge. I don't envy Asia having him as a father. It's easy to see where her personality comes from; the looks must come from her mother. I sure do enjoy her as an actress, though.

Keep spreading the gospel of "The Story of Ricky"!

Reviews have been mixed, but I'll be seeing Mother of Tears this weekend anyway, mainly out of nostalgia for Argento's earlier pictures.

I read an interesting quote about Argento that I think is particularly true: The things that make his films bad are usually the same things that make them entertaining. ALL of his films, even the legitimately good ones, feature wooden acting, eye-rolling dialogue and plots that don't make a lick of sense. At his best (Phenomena is my personal favorite) his films are incredibly stylish and achieve a sort of dream logic that defies conventional criticism. At their worst (most everything since the 80s) they're pointless exercises in violent misogyny, indistinguishable from any direct-to-DVD horror movie. You either get it or you don't.

BTW, most of his later movies are shite but I really liked The Stendhal Syndrome (1996), also starring Asia Argento - it's worth checking out for fans of his other work.

“Argento prefers the classic push-and-pull of good against evil, of the past against the present. (And, it should be noted, he sure likes nudity.)”

Never has the appeal of a good horror story been so succinctly described. Thank you.

Personally, I can take or leave the nudity, though I realize I am probably not representative in that regard.

You’ve also put your finger on the moral importance of pace in horror films. There is a world of difference between the shock of sudden violence (in vintage giallo films) that forces the spectator to identify with the victim, and the lingering shots of modern torture porn that play to the audience’s sadistic streak.

On the other hand, it’s entirely possible that I am simply becoming an old fart.

I knew you'd show up here.

Hey, I liked "Jennifer." Maybe I was in a particularly chartitable mood, but it worked for me. The actress did a really good job of being very sexy and very horrific simlutaneously. I liked "Pelts" too, and not just because I think that everyone who buys fur coats should be strangled with their own intestines while drowning in cadaverous sewage and having their eyes gouged out and...anyway, you get the picture. Gotta hand it to Meatloaf for going way over the top.

You're right about Argento's films being practically all style over substance. Besides, why should anyone expect any sort of coherent plot from Italian horror movie directors? Compared to Fulci, Argento is freakin' Steven Spielberg.

But tell me why it is that Italian horror maestros love to gouge out women's eyes or disembowel them or worse, run stakes through their orifices? Is this related to some ancient Roman history that still runs through their veins?

Well, despite having seen "Suspira" and "Inferno," I think I'll check out "Stuck" tomorrow night instead. Mrs. Durian Joe realizes that when a Stuart Gordon movie comes out (in theaters, no less), she has no say in the matter. But, I'll let her pick the restaurant.

Just remember to stay out of trouble, but if you don't and end up in prison, steer clear of the warden. You know what they say: the warden is tougher than you think. In fact, "The warden of any prison has to be the very best in kung fu!"