Inferno (1980)

[Neville]

I expected to see more different italian horror before this one, as i mentioned on my "Suspiria" post, but it's taking me a while to get copies of some Mario Bava space horror movie, so I finally watched this one.

Those woh read my comments on "Suspiria" will surely remember how disappointed I felt after watching it, of its amazing visuals but poor sense of plot or pace. Well, can you believe I enjoyed this one better? I'm hopeless.

Not that any of those who dismiss "Inferno" as a bad movie or as a subpar sequel to "Suspiria" are wrong. They are absolutely right in saying that the whole thing makes no sense at all and that the whole third act is drivel.

But after watching "Suspiria", at least I knew what I was to expect. Quite obviously, I was expecting too much of "Suspiria", but here I knew beforehand what kind of movie to expect.

And despite the horrid soundtrack (Goblin are really missed here) and a last act that is pure stupidity, the film offers more unusual settings, imaginative killings and some scenes that are pure distiled nightmare. Of course, you have to forget as much as you can of finding a real sense behind the whole thing, and ignore many, many impossible situations, but if you accept the deal it is more enjoyable than you may expect. Just eject the DVD before the whole house of cards collapses.

[Gerry]

I like INFERNO a lot too, though it does get rather hard to follow towards the end.  The opening scene in the basement of the building when the girl drops her keys is absolutely riveting.  I loved it!  I would probably agree in that I prefer it to SUSPIRIA as well.

[Neville]

I really think me liking it over Suspiria is just accidental. As I mentioned on the board when I saw it, I was expecting too much of "Suspiria", and it was a big letsown when I finally watched it. With "Inferno", although it doesn't make much sense either, at least I knew what to expect beforehand.

And you are right, that scene is the stuff nightmares are made of. Actually, I'd say the film works better than "Suspiria" until the music student reaches NY. Then the whole thing collapses.