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Inferno
Inferno
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Inferno

Inferno

1980
Fantasy, Horror
1h 46m
Semi-sequal to 'Suspiria' has a American college student in Rome, and his sister in New York investigating a series of killings in both locations where their resident addresses are the domain of two covens of witches. (imdb)

Inferno

1980
Fantasy, Horror
1h 46m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 50.77% from 781 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(790)
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Rated 26 Sep 2020
70
76th
I think I "get" Dario Argento: a series of horror clips (each able to be condensed to a gif) in a mysterious building dripping w/atmosphere interspersed w/pounding operatic rock. This film doesn't have as much of the bright red fresh blood but there's still a variety of deaths, e.g. gouged eyeballs. The final act is just crazy. Fav scenes: Ania Pieroni looked at me in music class & I was willing to follow her anywhere; being attacked by feral cats; Mater Tenebrarum crashing through the mirror.
Rated 18 Aug 2019
30
18th
To be honest my heart wasn't in this one for the life of me I couldn't understand the story But I will say visually stunning and the bouncy score I felt like I was watching a Italian rock opera
Rated 22 Sep 2013
59
33rd
Surreal, verging on downright weird. Killer cats and rats, bright red blood, typically oddball characters, inexplicable plotting, incongruous music and lashings of gaudy colour. Did New York look like it was made from cereal boxes? I perhaps should have watched Suspiria first, although I'm not sure it would have helped me understand this madness. Another enjoyably nutty Argento oddity, albeit lacking some of the charm and impact of some of his other work.
Rated 09 Dec 2011
82
54th
Inferno never really stops feeling like a dream. The half baked plot and beautiful lighting make this film quite surreal. I liked it for its beauty and its horror. The gore is abundant and very well done. Expect an Argento film, the good and the bad. The Keith Emmerson score was a tad overbearing at times.
Rated 13 Jun 2011
50
21st
Rated 05 Oct 2022
80
85th
Often clumsy, but it never misses the chance of being just pure lust, chaos and colorful anytime it wants -- and that's the beauty of Argento's cinema. Beheading, rat and cat attacks are pure mayhem bliss. Bava's contribution with optical effects and props is also brilliant.
Rated 25 Apr 2012
77
53rd
Argento is a crap storyteller and this is among his most incoherent plots, but boy does he have a knack for the stylishly bizarre. His Suspiria-esque colors are on full display. And the rat/catbag/hot dog guy sequence is one of the most hilariously surreal things ever. Not his best movie but the striking visuals and fun oddness make it very enjoyable.
Rated 08 Jan 2024
90
81st
If I could watch movies with the same narrative flow as this for the rest of my life I would probably be happy. I do feel somewhere in my gut like there was something essential I was missing, a feeling that wasn't far from my mind even as I watched Suspiria, but this is a visual stunner.
Rated 27 Feb 2018
68
66th
For all its aesthetic virtues, Argento's vision overwhelmed him on Inferno. Seeking to outdo Suspiria, he aims for scale, arbitrarily moving from one big set piece to the next without care for coherence. While this is his trademark, the effect is magnified in Inferno, which often seems improvised. However, the baroque production design is among his best (the underwater sequence is excellent), the Bava-esque lighting is striking and moody, and Emerson's choral score roars with prog menace.
Rated 09 May 2017
10
1st
More evidence Argento is the most over rated director in history but he does have great set designers hence the 10 points.
Rated 04 Nov 2014
73
66th
As always, this was pretty and suspenseful. I quite enjoyed the pacing of this one. However, I still think I like Deep Red, Tenebre, and Suspiria more.
Rated 29 Oct 2012
3
24th
Argento's photography is normally the salient reason for enjoying his work but I was always worried one day it wouldn't be enough. And lo and behold, the day I watched Inferno was the day I watched an Argento movie with such a half-baked plot I could barely enjoy myself. This is a bad movie. There are some cool moments but it's mostly bad. BAD movie. BAD BAD movie. Now I'm skeptical about watching more of Argento's films. Goddamn it. W/e. It's still better than Rock of Ages or Cloud Atlas.
Rated 09 Oct 2010
70
63rd
Suggestive use of color and music (Argento trademarks) highlights a story about evil forces that leads to a bizarre ending. This flick barely made a lick of narrative sense, but it was full of trippy photography and bloody killings.
Rated 23 Apr 2009
65
26th
Entertaining, but it's basically it's just a string of scary sequences strung together.
Rated 09 Aug 2008
78
89th
very good movie
Rated 18 Jun 2008
23
24th
More scattershot eyecandy from Argento in the vein of Suspiria, but not quite as overrated.
Rated 31 Mar 2007
80
68th
Not a patch on _Suspiria_ but still good
Rated 24 Oct 2024
26
6th
My second foray into Dario Argento. There are a few oddly fascinating scenes, but everything is so damn awkward. Is it a comedy of sorts? I know if it was made today, it would be laughed at.
Rated 24 Aug 2024
80
72nd
The second in Argento's Three Mothers trilogy is not quite as good as Suspiria, the first, mostly due to a slightly less fun soundtrack and (more importantly) a much weaker protagonist. Still here, though, are the beautiful lighting and atmosphere, and the nightmarish scenes logic of the thing are truly an experience.
Rated 12 May 2024
49
40th
Style over substance, extremely nice to look at with some cool ideas, but otherwise unfortunately absolutely nothing else
Rated 15 Oct 2023
66
89th
The settings, the atmosphere and the campiness: Argento is truly a master at his craft. The story is silly and the movie itself is very similar to other movies made by him, but it doesn't take away from it at all. I caught a little blooper at 1:31:55, where you can see a hand grabbing the cat jumping into the hole, lol; and speaking of cats, it does seem like some of the scenes involving the animals weren't filmed particularly ethically, which fucking sucks.
Rated 04 Oct 2023
40
7th
I take no joy in disliking an Argento film from his peak period, but this one combines all of the nonsensicalness of "Suspiria" with none of the style. It's a turgid slog of a movie with a fairly unremarkable score from Keith Emerson.
Rated 24 Oct 2022
40
18th
Very nice looking, but that's it for me. I guess this is the best film that has a woman getting viciously attacked by cats.
Rated 22 Aug 2022
60
16th
Starts off promising but quickly kills of any interesting characters and we're stuck with a dull man with a pornstache. Some cool shots and set designs but story gets nonsensical. And no Goblin music.
Rated 07 May 2022
4
55th
argento ticks another goal off the bucket list: make a crotchety old antique dealer drowning a sackful of kittens with his crutches before getting eaten alive by rats look beautiful. and man, that flooded cellar scene.
Rated 21 Oct 2021
60
23rd
The script resembles more the recount of an almost forgotten weird dream than to the plot of an actual movie. Almost nothing in here makes sense, and the characters act as if they were aliens in human suits. The score is maniacal, but then again many were in these type of movies at the time. The imagery and the gore are excellent, hence the passing grade.
Rated 08 Oct 2020
85
90th
Once again, Dario Argento's horror isn't so much scary as it is mesmerizing and beautiful. One thing I noticed here is how artificial the violence is: red paint for blood, mannequins for dead bodies, toy rats, etc. Whether intentional or not, it creates an eerie sense of detachment, like Argento is tempting you with reminders that it's all fiction, as his cinematography pulls you right back in. Anti-immersive horror.
Rated 12 Dec 2019
69
55th
Part two in Argento's "three witches" trilogy goes deeper into the lore beyond these infernal women. While still visually very appealling, it never reaches the fever dream level of 'Suspiria'. Still, an entertaining horror flick.
Rated 26 Nov 2019
67
52nd
I'm very conflicted over this film. The plot feels simultaneously over- and under-developed, being filled with complicated lore but often lacking a coherent narrative, and I also both love and hate different aspects of the ending. In the end though, it's still an engaging and stylish film from Argento, although it doesn't quite reach the heights of his earlier films.
Rated 22 Sep 2019
60
26th
As much as I like form-over-substance approach in cinema, here even the form has big holes. A series of elegantly staged and filmed scenes, all ending in a series of climaxes all so goofy you ask yourself if this was intended as a parody. My favorite is a woman "dying" of too many cats being thrown at her (the cats suffer more than the woman, of course). No story, no characters, barely any acting. Some nudity would seem appropriate in such setting, but there's none. What's the point, Dario?
Rated 08 Sep 2019
70
57th
bunch of cats fall from the ceiling and your dead bye
Rated 18 Jan 2019
71
82nd
I honestly think I liked this even less than Suspiria and I didn't like Suspiria. It's not scary, it's not suspense if I'm bored, and it's not atmospheric just because you hired a sweet interior decorator and put up some funky lighting. I'm saying this and I LOVE funky lighting, Italian atmosphere & cats. The three mothers trilogy will never hold up to Fulci's living dead trilogy for me and I'm about to give up on Argento entirely.
Rated 20 Jul 2018
86
62nd
Based on my limited experience with Argento, the link between SUPIRIA and OPERA. I find it less enaging than either, but still amazing. The reds here recall a dark room, just another way that Argento is constantly reflecting upon himself and his artform, like Jerry Lewis.
Rated 07 Jul 2018
76
41st
Yeah, Argento has an eye for pretty landscapes, but he revels a bit too much in his "kill shots," which come off as painfully dated 38 years later. Plus it's hard to really call this a full-on movie; it's more of a hodge-podge of gratuitous set-pieces.
Rated 03 Mar 2018
71
21st
As well as the story having no clarity nor direction, it's handled sloppily with underwhelming twists and lackluster moments of horror. It has some of the visual intrigue of Suspiria, but falls short of its predecessor in almost everything.
Rated 14 Oct 2017
70
41st
Once again, I am overwhelmed by the lighting Argento creates and captures. This artistic skill alone makes Inferno a movie worth watching. The often-mentioned underwater scene gives us one of cinema's best dream like sequences. Beyond this, there are several fantastic scenes and moments. Unfortunately, there is no story holding together all these scenes, and it feels aimless. I think this film would have been even better if Goblin created the soundtrack as they did for Suspiria.
Rated 02 Feb 2017
68
41st
Probably not what I would have done with a sack of cats, but to each his own. Argento's use of color is paramount in some pretty impressive set pieces. The plot is just a mess, but the film still manages to entertain.
Rated 25 Sep 2016
70
57th
The plot is inconsistent and illogical. The horror elements aren't as convincing as in Argento's other movies. Sometimes they are even comical. The movie is highly atmospheric tough with great use of light, colors and contrast.
Rated 18 Jun 2016
70
69th
featuring a lovable antiquarian with the weirdest hobby, the most helpful hot dog vendor ever, loads of ridiculous dialogue, setpieces, characters and deaths, this turned out to be quite fun actually. incoherent, alienating fun, but fun.
Rated 02 Mar 2016
39
15th
I just don't get why people like Dario Argento's films, I just don't get it.
Rated 02 Nov 2015
49
64th
Superficially miles from the campy, frenetic, dreamlogical "Suspiria." Looking deeper, however, the pacing is subdued, but the logic is there; the mood is more quiet, but still thick; and there are certainly still the lit-with-bubblegum sets and gorgeous photography [Carax stole this look to good effect]. The music also is not quite Goblin, but it's pretty epic in parts. That said, these numerous great elements did not really fall into place, and this is mostly an intruiging failure.
Rated 22 Feb 2015
74
82nd
Argento plants so many occult symbols and psychedelic colors that their repetition gives an illusion of thematic complexity when really there are only set pieces. It's like a walk through a luxurious house of mirrors. Start your conversation about pure cinema right here.
Rated 15 Feb 2015
60
27th
Inferno could get any Suspiria fan excited, being a semi-sequel and all, but now I wish it was never related. It feels like Suspiria with the spine ripped out. The same colors are used but the lighting is extremely dim and passive, the soundtrack is barely there (and the choral theme is awful), the murders are tame and typical, and no characters do enough to be attachable always just snooping around for 10 minutes until they're gone for good. What a bore.
Rated 03 Feb 2015
52
42nd
Argento's follow-up to Suspiria is similar in style, but much worse in every aspect. The plot is very poor; I kept grasping at trying to make a coherent story, but it just too loose. Whatever made Suspiria great is watered down in this film: cinematography is still nice, but doesn't compare to best Argento's films, music is still different and noticeable, but this time in a bad way (Lacrimas lacrimas). Skeletor was just funny, and the movie ends even more abruptly than Suspiria.
Rated 12 Nov 2014
85
91st
Abandon all logic for Argento's exploration of irrational fear takes yet another step with Inferno. Certainly a step too far for many but for those entranced by Suspiria's surreal beauty its sequel is an absolute treat. With crazed fervor, Inferno rejects any and all narrative pretense and assaults us with pure abstract delirium. With maximum Argento flair it establishes a seductive nightmarish mystery with no resolution that lures its characters into a decadant realm of Lovecraftian darkness.
Rated 04 Nov 2014
80
92nd
Keith Emerson's 'Mater Tenebrarum' is the best!
Rated 30 Dec 2013
70
25th
A gory psychological horror that is really nice to look at. Despite never really understanding the plot of it, it kept me interested.
Rated 16 Oct 2013
66
32nd
66.000
Rated 01 May 2013
70
53rd
Yet another Powell-inspired film by Argento. Maybe this doesn't have the logic and storyline of other great horrors, but what makes this one great, is the visuals. Red and blue beautifly fill the screen, and combined with great production design and score make this a truly cinematic expierience.
Rated 29 Dec 2011
66
15th
Zany.
Rated 28 Oct 2011
66
64th
More delirious nonsense from Argento. Even more incoherent and stylized than Susperia, although as others have noted to a somewhat lessened effect. Less mood and mystery and more bloody set pieces, but still skewed enough to be anything i would describe as typical let alone boring. Some of the performances and dialogue seem too deliberately stilted to be unintentional, but there always remains the possibility that it might all just be incompetent. Certainly it's never less than entertaining.
Rated 12 Oct 2011
59
26th
59.125
Rated 05 Dec 2010
65
29th
Muddled and murky. And the level of acting is generally pretty rudimentary throughout. Basically your best bet is just to sit back and watch one amazing chromatic shot after another flash across the screen, maybe even with the sound off (that lunar eclipse looked more like a solar one too btw)...
Rated 05 Nov 2010
30
78th
"More so than any other Argento film, this one is for the fans." - Ed Gonzalez
Rated 04 Dec 2009
57
26th
A stylish-looking, but plot-flawed chiller full of creepy atmosphere.
Rated 27 Nov 2009
62
73rd
This movie has everything that made Suspiria great, it's just not quite as well done. The cinematography is beautiful, but it doesn't serve as much purpose, the kills aren't quite as inspired, the building isn't quite as cool. Oh, but Daria Nicolodi acts in it which is always a plus. If you like supernatural slashers, it's well worth a look. The ending is terrible, though.
Rated 14 Dec 2008
80
61st
not my favorite dario argento film but it's still worth a look.

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