Dario Argento on the set of his 1987 giallo Opera. Photo: Reporters Associati & Archivi.
Who are the Three Mothers?
Argento's triumvirate of witches
The Three Mothers (Italian: Le Tre madri) is a trilogy of supernatural horror films by Italian filmmaker Dario Argento. It consists of Suspiria, Inferno, and Mother of Tears.
The story of the Three Mothers opens at the beginning of the 11th century, when the origin of witchcraft is depicted as three sisters on the coast of the black sea. In the years that followed, they wandered the world and amassed great personal wealth and power, leaving death in their wake. The sisters are known as, The Mothers, hence the title of the trilogy.
Mater Suspiriorum, the Mother of Sighs, is the oldest and wisest of the Three Mothers, her given name is Helena Markos. She is also known as The Black Queen.
Mater Tenebrarum, the Mother of Darkness, is the youngest and cruelest of the Three Mothers. Her true name is not given; her home is located in New York City and was christened in 1910.
Mater Lachrymarum, the Mother of Tears, is the most beautiful and powerful of the Three Mothers. Like Tenebrarum, her true name is unknown. It is suggested that her home is in Rome, Italy.
Movies
The Three Mothers Trilogy
Suspiria
An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.
Release
1977
Trivia
Suspiria was inspired by the book Suspiria de Profundis by Thomas de Quincey.
Inferno
An American student investigates the mysterious disappearance of his sister and the death of a friend, both connected from New York to Rome by an old alchemy book.
Release
1980
Trivia
All of the murderer's hands in the movie were Dario Argento's
The Mother of Tears
An American art student in Rome accidentally triggers the return of Mater Lachrymarum and must use her latent magical powers to end the witch's reign of terror.
Release
2007
Trivia
Udo Kier played "Dr. Frank Mandel" in Suspiria in 1977 and returned as "Padre Johannes".