Mother of Tears
Myriad Pictures | Release Date: June 6, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
2
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The Hollywood ReporterRichard James Havis
Witty to the point of hilarity, blood-soaked and thoroughly politically incorrect, Mother of Tears: The Third Mother follows 1970s cult classics "Suspiria" and "Inferno" to complete Argento's "Mother" trilogy. Read full review
90
The New York TimesNathan Lee
The Mother of Tears is silly, awkward, vulgar, outlandish, hysterical, inventive, revolting, flamboyant, titillating, ridiculous, mischievous, uproarious, cheap, priceless, tasteless and sublime. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
The first two thirds are gangbusters, with marauding bands of tarted-up young witches who look only slightly less scary than Lindsay Lohan and her pals on an average night. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
So unapologetically loopy and lush and ridiculous that I found it irresistible. Read full review
80
VarietyDennis Harvey
This hectic pileup of supernatural nonsense is a treasure trove of seemingly unintentional hilarity. Although lacking helmer's usual aesthetic panache, this "Mother" is a cheesy, breathless future camp classic. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A gloriously tacky horror movie with an inclination toward the occult, The Mother of Tears hails from the Italian schlockmeister Dario Argento, who photographs his Euro movie star daughter, Asia Argento, with something more than paternal pride. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Argento set a standard a lot of moviemakers are desperate to surpass. It's not simply that he's crazy about gore and supernatural hokum. It's that he understands that storytelling is both an art and a craft. His filmmaking carries you along on the illusion of effortlessness; amusement, suspense, a certain elegance follow. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Although The Mother of Tears teeters on the preposterous and awkward, it is diverting and reveals that the filmmaker's signature bravura flourishes and use of sinister settings are still intact. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
As a lissome art restorer, Asia Argento (the director's daughter) comes off as the sanest human on screen, which is pretty scary. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Mother of Tears can't rival the David Lynchian otherworldliness of "Suspiria," but at least you know you're in the hands of a director. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Argento is admired for his voluptuous use of color and his operatic bloodletting; this is lovely to look at, if you can stand to. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Compared to a recent Argento dud like "The Stendhal Syndrome," Mother Of Tears at least has some of the go-for-broke gothic spirit of his earlier work. He's just lost the ability to shape it into something artful. Read full review
38
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
A crude, artless bogey tale. Read full review
30
Village VoiceJim Ridley
A once-great director's near-worst work passes through its funhouse plumbing and emerges from the crapper as intentional mischief: self-sabotage explained away as mad genius. Read full review
25
New York PostV.A. Musetto
There is, of course, a maximum of blood and gore. Sometimes the director's ideas work; often they don't. Read full review
20
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
This lurid celebration of shock, schlock and the shamelessly perverse finds the 67-year-old grandfather of torture porn scraping the bottom of his admittedly limited creative barrel. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
At 67, maestro Argento's taste still runs toward bloody entrails and eye-gougings, but Asia's sexy sour-lemon smile is underused in his movies. Read full review
0
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Aside from being vile and repellent, it's mainly dull - old-fashioned in its shock tactics and culminating in a ho-hum climax. Read full review
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