While excavating outside of a cemetery in the countryside, the workers accidentally find the coffin of the noble Oscar de la Vallée chained to a small urn buried since 1815. Monsignor Brusca (Franco Leo) orders to rebury the coffin inside the cemetery and sends the sealed urn to the director of the Museum of Ancient Art in Rome, Michael Pierce (Adam James),who is an expert in mysticism and occult science, to confirm his fears. However, Michael's assistant Giselle Mares (Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni) decides to open the urn with the student of Art Restoration and Archeology and Michael's lover Sarah Mandy (Asia Argento). While opening, she hurts her finger and drops blood on a magic red tunic, resurrecting the evil witch Mater Lachrymarum (Moran Atias),who immediately spreads a wave of violence, death and destruction in Rome and attracts witches from everywhere. While visiting Padre Johannes (Udo Kier) seeking answers, Sarah meets Marta Calussi (Valeria Cavalli) that tells that Mater Lachrymarum is trying to bring the second age of witches after the falling of Rome with chaos and human despair. Further, Sarah's mother was a powerful white witch that dared to fight against the evil black witch and Sarah has inherited her abilities and is the last hope to stop the evil witch.

"La Terza Madre" is a disappointing conclusion of the trilogy of the Three Mothers. The story is full of clichés and has free explicit violence, and Asia Argento performs a weak heroine. The characters are not well developed, Adam James has a below average performance and the dubbing in English is awful. As a fan that worships Dario Argento and Asia Argento, I really expected to see a better movie and I was frustrated in the end. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Retorno da Maldição: A Mãe das Lágrimas" ("The Return of the Course: The Mother of the Tears")

Sarah Mandy (Asia Argento) is in Rome, working for an archaeologist who specializes in the occult. While he is away, Mandy and her co-worker decide to open and inventory a crate. Big mistake! Inside is a talisman and by reading the sacred words, the third mother (the Mother of Tears) is awakened from her hibernation and all heck breaks loose throughout Rome (sort of like "Ghostbusters II" but not nearly as funny). Is there any way this madness can be stopped?

I had a copy of "Mother of Tears" sitting on my desk for about two weeks. It was beyond a doubt the most anticipated film of 2008 for me. But I could not watch it... I did not want to risk being disappointed. Some people have waited over thirty years for this one. I was not waiting quite so long, but my love of Dario Argento is strong and enduring like true love should be. So I felt the passion those who came before me were feeling.

One complaint is that the film is too short. Too much happens in such a small amount of time, that I really feel it could have been explained more and characters could have been developed. Mandy's awareness of her magic abilities and her dead mother (played by her real-life mother) start to blossom but are not fully made the focus at any point. We are lead to believe that she will be using these powers to fight evil, but all she ever does is hide in a book store. ("Books" seem to be the central theme of this film... endless libraries and book stores are present throughout.) That criticism aside, we also have in "Mother of Tears" a lack of the feel of the original two films ("Suspiria" and "Inferno", if you have forgotten) and the return of Claudio Simonetti (of Goblin) doing the music again (though not in quite such a distinct manner as "Suspiria"). But we also have the new Argento, the gory Argento we have come to know from his "Masters of Horror" stints ("Jenifer" and "Pelts"). If it is possible to go beyond the gore of "Pelts", he has done it here: impaled female genitals, smashed out teeth, entrails ripped from abdomens and used to choke a woman.

Argento regulars are going to get much of what they have grown accustomed to here: this will be at least the third time Asia has been filmed topless by her father (which used to be controversial, but is now just expected). There is the giallo feel of tracking down a mystery, traveling across the country on trains (not unlike "Sleepless"). And there are a fair assortment of references to the past two movies. If you missed the plot of the first two (or did not see them),this film will get you up to speed. If you have seen them, this will give you a new outlook on the past. Oh yeah, and Udo Kier is here again (but in a new role).

Argento expert James Gracey has some criticisms, saying, "The film lacks the glowing and lurid kaleidoscopic look of Suspiria and Inferno, and it resembles Argento's more recent output, favoring a stylish neo-realism as opposed to baroque surrealism." When I spoke to writer Adam Gierasch, he made a similar complaint: he felt that Argento did not use color as much as he should have, focusing more on his new, glossy approach.

Gracey points out that the "fact that public transport is still running while Rome self-destructs is a testament to Argento's emphasis on stylistic flair over logical narrative." This is nothing unusual to Italian horror fans.

The witches "resemble heavily made-up Goths from the eighties on a rowdy girl's night out," he says, and on this I must agree. The witches are probably the weakest part of the film, besides some cheesy CGI. Gracey says this was "not quite the masterpiece fans would have hoped for" and it "fails to provide a worthy conclusion to the trilogy". I think I found it better than most people did, but his concerns are all valid and this is far from Argento's best work.

I cannot talk bad about Argento easily (except for "Phantom of the Opera") and this one can be chalked up under the "success" category, though hesitantly. I feel it ends a bit anti-climactically and cuts off a little short rather than winding down. But this does not take away from the pulse-pounding action throughout the movie. You may be left less than fully fulfilled, but you cannot complain about the need to come back for more, can you? Dario Argento, bring on the next course!

When I stop and think about how far Dario Argento has fallen, it's enough to make me cry, but this final movie in his Three Mothers trilogy is so monumentally bad that, occasionally, the tears were of laughter.

Problem number one is the script, which borders on the farcical at times: new-wave witches (think Bette Midler in Hocus Pocus crossed with mid-'80s Madonna),a malevolent monkey, a friendly ghost, a taxi driver willing to pick up fares while the city is in chaos - even for Argento, this one pushes credibility a bit too far.

Problem number two is the acting - utterly dreadful performances all round, with Dario's daughter Asia the biggest offender (watching her character trying to will herself invisible is hilarious).

Problem number three... the visual effects: Stivaletti's practical effects are great (and make this one of Argento's goriest films),but the digital trickery is cheap and wholly unconvincing. How those awful ghost effects got the go ahead, I'll never understand.

Problem number four: the direction. Dario Argento has a crack at creating some memorable moments, but he's unable to work the magic this time around: the most notable shot is one long take, the camera following Asia as she wanders around a derelict building. It's technically impressive but ultimately pointless.

Problem number five is the ending: it sucks. After all that we have seen, the Mother of Tears (a naked silicon-chested bimbo) and her acolytes are destroyed in a flash, leaving Asia and the bloke she is with unable to contain their mirth. The joke is most definitely on us.

A generous 4/10 for the graphic violence, which includes a woman chucking her baby off a bridge, a person being strangled with their own intestines, a witch having her head crushed in a door, Udo Kier getting his face smushed, a neat eye-gouging, some throat slashing, and a woman impaled by a spear (which goes up her hoo-ha and comes out of her mouth!)