Spoilers of Inferno and Suspiria (original only).
When you think of Italian horror (which I’m sure you do all the time, right?), you think of Dario Argento. The Master of Thrill has produced some of the most classic horror movies of all time, and while not all of his films have lived up to his legacy, his impact is undeniable.
With its recent remake, his 1977 film Suspiria looms large in the genre as an unsettling, dream-like masterpiece. The whispers of Goblin in the background and the slow, dragged out death scenes create something beautiful that has kept us coming back for over four decades, despite it being about as far from modern horror sensibilities as you can imagine.
What catches the attention of many critics in this film is the use of color. The director's heavy-handed use of red makes it impossible to overlook. But this topic has been beaten to death, especially since the remake deliberately did away with it. So I’m not here to talk about color theory in Suspiria. Instead, I'm going to dive into one of the forgotten mothers. Let’s talk about Inferno.
The Three Mothers Trilogy
The Three Mothers Trilogy is a set of films that explores the mythos of three sisters that rule the world through witchcraft. They are known as Mater Suspiriorum, Mater Tenebrarum, and Mater Lachrymarum. The three movies, Suspiria, Inferno, and Mother of Tears, each focus on one of the sisters and their elaborate mansions in Germany, New York, and Rome, respectively.
The inspiration came from a Thomas De Quincey essay, but the similarities mostly stop at the names. Suspiria, as you might have guessed, has become an iconic piece of film. Inferno was mostly ignored. Mother of Tears has been panned as a sign of a washed up master.
Inferno
You don’t need to have seen Suspiria to understand Inferno. In fact, reversing the order may actually make Suspiria a better experience.
This film focuses on Mater Tenebrarum and her mansion-turned-luxury apartment building in New York. The perceived protagonist changes several times as the characters are murdered for getting too close to the secret of the building. It starts with Rose (Irene Miracle). Rose is a poet, which never ends up mattering, despite Argento's insistence on reminding us. She also collects strange books on the occult, and through one old diary, she discovers that the apartment building she is living in is home to one of the three mothers. She does some snooping and gets whacked by a mysterious figure.
Before she dies, she writes a letter to her brother Mark (Leigh McCloskey), who is studying musicology in Rome, explaining what she’s found. He leaves the letter in a college lecture hall and his friend, Sara (Eleanora Giorgi) grabs it and reads it. She decides to do some snooping of her own, and (surprise!) she dies too.
When Mark finally gets the letter, he decides to go to New York and help his sister, only to discover that she’s been missing for a few days. Can Mark unravel the mystery of the three mothers? Is he doomed to the same predictable death as everyone else? Will the plot finally decide to focus on one character without them dying?
I understand why Inferno hasn’t gotten the same praise as Suspiria. It lacks the stellar performances of Jessica Harper and Alida Valli, and it just feels low-budget when compared to the grandiose first film. However, the movie is crucial for understanding the mythos of the three mothers. It gets more into their background, and in reality, you really wouldn’t know anything about the sisters if you’d only seen Suspiria.
It also expands on some of the most studied themes of the first film. Nowhere is this more obvious than the color.
Red, Blue, and No Other Hues
In Suspiria, Argento covers everything in red. Red building, red hallways, red blood—nearly everything is red. Red has been used to represent so many different themes, from passion to danger to evil. But there isn’t any sex or love in this movie, so we can assume Argento errs on the evil side.
But there’s another color that people don’t seem to bring up: Blue. Most of the actual danger and violence happens under a blue glow. When Pat is murdered, the hand reaches through a blue window. The attic and the barbed wire room are blue. Helena Markos’s room is blue. Even the scene with the maggots, which are obviously a symbol of death and decay, is bathed in a blue glow.
With Suspiria, it’s easy to write off the blue as nothing more than the color of the rooms when the lights are off. You could also make the argument that the blue glow is just to contrast with the red.
That’s all well and good for Suspiria, but in Inferno, the blue is much more present. It’s even dominant at some points, and the glow is much more unnatural. This eliminates the idea that blue simply implies "lights off." There is also an emphasis on water, and although the water isn’t always an idealized blue, it’s not a stretch to make the connection.
Keeping with the theme of blue ironically denoting danger, the characters constantly find themselves entering a blue-coded scene only to meet their demise (or atleast a representation). Adding more to the twist, the blue scenes are often calm and intended to lure the viewer into a false sense of security. This begins when Rose dives into the underwater ballroom. The scene is brightly lit and gorgeous. But just as we’ve accepted that it’s safe, the floating corpse “attacks” her.
A later example is when Kazanian (Sacha Pitoëff) is drowning cats. The water (blue) represents his supposed salvation from the cats, but just as he thinks he’s succeeded, he falls and is attacked by rats. Blood (red) then mixes with water.
What Does It Mean?
This strategy is used over and over again throughout both movies, and while Suspiria and the color red have been beaten to death by film critics, not much has been said about the blue or what it could possibly mean.
There’s a very strong parallel between both films, but Argento is much more heavy-handed in Inferno. While the bulk of my analysis focuses on this film and Mark, it all applies to Suspiria as well.
One meaning that I felt Argento was hammering into my skull focuses on the danger of stagnancy. The 70s and 80s were a time of social growth and progress. The old buildings, and perhaps the ancient witches as a collective, represent the past. Mark and Suzy are newcomers into the old world. They could represent the longing for progress and change In the younger generation. They end up defying the ancient ones and escaping, which so many others failed to do. They do so by running into the red.
While there are several instances of Mark running into the red, the most obvious is the ending. Just as water is a parallel of the blue, the fire is a parallel of the red. As the building is burning down, the only way he’s able to escape is by running straight into the flame. Despite the exploding glass and collapsing beams around him, the path of discomfort and challenge is his salvation.
This ending is nearly identical to Suspiria. If you watch the first film in isolation, you may not derive any meaning from this. However, when viewed in succession (or better yet, reverse order), the reds, blues, blood, and water are so much more vivid.
If you've already seen the first film, Inferno may be a disappointment. It's more experimental and a bit less engaging. However, it's still an important movie, as it almost works as an answer key. If you're new to the series, or even Argento as a whole, I'd suggest starting here to help you better understand Suspiria.