An American art student in Rome accidentally triggers the return of Mater Lachrymarum - the Third Mother - and must use her latent magical powers to end the witch's reign of terror.An American art student in Rome accidentally triggers the return of Mater Lachrymarum - the Third Mother - and must use her latent magical powers to end the witch's reign of terror.An American art student in Rome accidentally triggers the return of Mater Lachrymarum - the Third Mother - and must use her latent magical powers to end the witch's reign of terror.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDario Argento reportedly offered the title role to Ania Pieroni, who had briefly played the same character in Inferno (1980). The actress declined the offer, on account of her age and having been retired since 1985.
- GoofsWhen the bewitched mother on the bridge drops the baby off the side, the dummy baby visibly hits the side of the bridge and its hands fly off and splash into the water beside its body.
- Quotes
Mater Lacrimarum: Who wants to eat the girl?
- Alternate versionsGerman version was cut by ca. 1 minute to secure a "Not under 18" rating.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013)
- SoundtracksMater Lacrimarum
Music by Claudio Simonetti
Lyrics by Dani Filth
Performed by Daemonia (Claudio Simonetti: keyboards, Bruno Previtali: guitar, Federico Amorosi: bass, Titta Tani: drums)
Vocal featuring Dani Filth by courtesy of Roadrunner Records
Published by Simonetti Productions S.a.s./Cradle of Filth Music Ltd/Market s.r.l.
Featured review
Yet another disappointment by Dario.
I'm sorry, Dario but this doesn't belong next to your other "Mother" films. It's really funny that some people dare compare it to his older films and especially to Suspiria.
On the good side, Dario proves that he is still inventive in his killing scenes. Actually, this may be his most gory film. Violence and gore are really over the top, sometimes to such a degree that it can be comic. But in the direction/atmosphere department things don't look that good. The film never manages to build the really tense atmosphere we've seen at other Argento films and old masterful camera moves are mostly absent. The special effects don't help much, either. Blood and gore is done pretty good, but the Spirits and other CGI moments (God, I hate CGI in horror films) are at least cringe-worthy.
Of course Dario's decline hasn't started now, I consider his last decent film to be Sleepless (2001) and before that, Opera (1987). It's just that the story and the acting don't help either. What's new ? you'd say. Admittedly, especially in the acting department Dario's films were never that good, but here most of the acting is really bad. Especially his daughter (which he so much likes to torture in his movies) delivers some of the worst acting I've seen. She was never that good an actress, but especially in this film she's very bad. The fact that she has lost that exotic youth she portrayed in his older films lessens even more her overall appearance.
I'll give it a 5/10 because there *are* some strong moments in the movie (albeit a few), but all and all I would only recommend this film to die-hard Argento fans, or people that badly want see some over-the-top gore. There can be no comparison whatsoever between this film and the previous "Mother" movies, or his other golden-era films. If you really want to get to know one of the best horror filmmakers ever, watch Suspiria, Tenebre, Phenomena, Inferno and Profondo Rosso.
On the good side, Dario proves that he is still inventive in his killing scenes. Actually, this may be his most gory film. Violence and gore are really over the top, sometimes to such a degree that it can be comic. But in the direction/atmosphere department things don't look that good. The film never manages to build the really tense atmosphere we've seen at other Argento films and old masterful camera moves are mostly absent. The special effects don't help much, either. Blood and gore is done pretty good, but the Spirits and other CGI moments (God, I hate CGI in horror films) are at least cringe-worthy.
Of course Dario's decline hasn't started now, I consider his last decent film to be Sleepless (2001) and before that, Opera (1987). It's just that the story and the acting don't help either. What's new ? you'd say. Admittedly, especially in the acting department Dario's films were never that good, but here most of the acting is really bad. Especially his daughter (which he so much likes to torture in his movies) delivers some of the worst acting I've seen. She was never that good an actress, but especially in this film she's very bad. The fact that she has lost that exotic youth she portrayed in his older films lessens even more her overall appearance.
I'll give it a 5/10 because there *are* some strong moments in the movie (albeit a few), but all and all I would only recommend this film to die-hard Argento fans, or people that badly want see some over-the-top gore. There can be no comparison whatsoever between this film and the previous "Mother" movies, or his other golden-era films. If you really want to get to know one of the best horror filmmakers ever, watch Suspiria, Tenebre, Phenomena, Inferno and Profondo Rosso.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origen
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Mother of Tears: The Third Mother
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $3,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $58,669
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $19,419
- Jun 8, 2008
- Gross worldwide
- $3,120,229
- Runtime1 hour 42 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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