Although the film takes place in New York City, virtually all of it was faked in Italy between April and August 1979, with some minor location shooting in the Big Apple.  Beautifully framed and shot with primary colors, INFERNO, the story lifted from the myth of the Three Mothers as written by Thomas De Quincey in his 1945 essay "Suspiria de Profundis," takes the viewer on a journey not seen outside of a dream.  Whereas SUSPIRIA was loud, strident, and truly graphic, INFERNO is a study in contrasts - long, meandering scenes suddenly give way to abrupt changes in mood, and Keith Emerson's score is cacophonous in its energy and beautifully eloquent in its quiet moments.  The film is no less graphic in its depiction of violence. 

Leigh McCloskey stars as Mark, a music student in Rome who becomes involved in trying to track down his sister Rose (Irene Miracle) who has disappeared in New York.  With the help of a fellow student, Sarah (Eleanora Giorgi), Mark uncovers a layer of evil that exists on earth that he formerly was oblivious to.  This threadbare plot provides the basis for some truly stunning set pieces ever mounted by the director.  Daria Nicolodi, who has appeared in seven of Argento's films, here plays an inconsequential character but does her best with the material.  Her best role was in his DEEP RED (1975).  Alida Valli, who appeared as the stern Ms. Tanner in SUSPIRIA (1976), is also on hand.  Ania Pieroni, the shoplifter from TENEBRE (1982), looks eerie and malevolent in the school hall sequence with a cat in tow.   

It requires an enormous amount of patience from the viewer to really appreciate this film as it was made during a time prior to computers and quick-style editing.  Even after multiple viewings over the past 23 years, I still have lingering questions about the film.  Yet that is also part of the film's charm as I grow tired of film s that feel the need to spell everything out for the audience. 

INFERNO was readied for theatrical release in the U.S. in 1980, but due to issues at 20th Century Fox, such as rumored management turnover and the studio's suits having no faith in the film, it didn't see the light of day until October 1985 when it was quietly released on VHS through Fox's subsidiary Key Video label.  A brief stint at the Thalia in New York in August 1986 is the closest that the film came to receiving a theatrical exhibition and not surprisingly, it received a less-than-enthusiastic review from the New York Times. 

The Blu-ray from the fine folks at Blue Underground is the best that the film has ever looked outside of a 35mm screening at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).  While the standard definition DVD was a considerable step up in quality from the original VHS transfer this new Blu-ray, while possessing a certain degree of unavoidable film grain, gives us the best transfer we are likely to see of this gorgeous-looking film, at least until the 4K transfers come along and everyone is told to ditch their high definition televisions for new ones!  Cinematographer Romano Albani, who collaborated with Argento five years later on his most personal film, PHENOMENA (1985), takes a cue from SUSPIRIA's director of photography Luciano Tovoli by bathing the frame in distinct colors. 

The 1.85:1 frame is filled with bright reds and blues, in addition to deliciously sinister and muted colors.  The film is truly a cornucopia of dazzling visuals to the eye.  Water plays a huge theme in this film, as it also did in PHENOMENA.  Blue Underground provides easy-to-read yellow subtitles, which are extremely helpful and should be used by anyone watching this movie who wants to gain greater insight into the film.  There are moments wherein the dialogue is so muted that without the descriptive subtitles one would not know that dialogue was even present; some of it is so slight as to be rendered completely inaudible. 

There is much to admire here: Argento's expert use of the "Va, pensiero" chorus from Giuseppe Verdi's opera NABUCCO; Argento regular Fulvio Mingozzi making his trademark cameo, this time once again as a taxi driver (just like in SUSPIRIA); Romano Albani's dazzling camera work; the jump-cuts in-synch to the aforementioned opera; the stunning underwater sequence which anticipates Jennifer Corvino's attempted escape in PHENOMENA; and the gorgeous set design. 

The extras from Blue Underground's standard definition DVD have been ported over to the Blu-ray with some additions exclusive to this edition (specifically interviews with stars McCloskey and Miracle, each of which run about 15 minutes each).  They consist of:

·         ART & ALCHEMY - Interview with star Leigh McCloskey (high definition)

·         REFLECTIONS OF ROSE - Interview with Star Irene Miracle (high definition)

·         Interview with Dario Argento and Lamberto Bava

·         Theatrical Trailer

·         Dario Argento Intro

If you are an Argento fan, the increased resolution in this stellar format is more than enough reason to justify the upgrade. 

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