🎬 The Horror Podcast – Tour of Italy, Part 3 of 3 Dario Argento and the Three Mothers

In this finale of our "Tour of Italy," host Blake Smith dives into the visionary world of Dario Argento—a director whose bold color palettes, experimental soundscapes, and operatic violence helped define Italian horror. We explore the arc of his career through his groundbreaking "Three Mothers" trilogy: Suspiria, Inferno, and Mother of Tears.

🩸 Episode Summary

• Blake wraps up the Italian horror trilogy with a deep dive into Argento's life and legacy. • Learn how the young film critic-turned-director wrote for Once Upon a Time in the West before redefining Giallo with The Bird with the Crystal Plumage. • Explore the shift from thrillers to supernatural horror in Deep Red (Profondo Rosso). • Discover how Argento and Daria Nicolodi drew on Thomas De Quincey's Suspiria de Profundis to imagine the mythic Three Mothers.

🌹 The Three Mothers Trilogy

Suspiria (1977) — A surreal nightmare of witches, ballet, and blood starring Jessica Harper, Joan Bennett, and Alida Valli, with an unforgettable score by Goblin. Inferno (1980) — A Lovecraftian descent into urban occultism, as a poet and her brother uncover one Mother's lair beneath New York. Mother of Tears (2007) — Asia Argento stars in the long-awaited finale, confronting Mater Lachrymarum as Rome collapses into chaos.

💀 Argento's Impact

Argento elevated horror to operatic art, fusing bold cinematography, expressionistic color, and avant-garde music. His collaborations with Goblin transformed horror soundtracks forever. He even helped George A. Romero finance and cut Dawn of the Dead—known internationally as Zombi.

📚 Literary Roots

Argento's mythic framework sprang from Thomas De Quincey's Suspiria de Profundis, whose "Ladies of Sorrow" inspired the trilogy's supernatural themes. By blending Romantic prose, Lovecraftian dread, and Nicolodi's family folklore, Argento created something wholly new.

🎥 Additional Recommendations

• Tenebre – A meta-mystery where an author's fictional murders turn real. • Phenomena – Jennifer Connelly, psychic insects, and a razor-wielding chimp stop a killer. • The Stendhal Syndrome – A psychological Giallo exploring art, trauma, and obsession.

⚰️ Closing Thoughts

Even when Argento's later films falter, his artistry remains singular. From the baroque terror of Suspiria to the icy logic of Deep Red, he shaped modern horror's visual language. His mentorship, musical sensibility, and sheer imagination ensure his place among the masters.

Some links above are affiliate links that help support the show at no additional cost to you. © 2025 The Horror Podcast | Text by Blake Smith

Our 3-part tour of Italy continues with a look at influential genre director MARIO BAVA!

Our Core Three Films:

1960 - BLACK SUNDAY

1963 - BLACK SABBATH

1965 - PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES

Additional Recommendations:

1964 - BLOOD AND BLACK LACE

1968 - DANGER DIABOLIK

1971 - A BAY OF BLOOD

Also Mentioned:

1986 - Demons

The Horror Podcast crawls out of the grave once again, this time to kick off season 2! We begin with part one of our 3-part "Tour of Italy" by looking at 3 films of the grand-master of gore, Lucio Fulci.

We will be looking at other directors beyond our core three, as well as additional films from all of them. Grab your pasta and your popcorn, it's going to be a wild ride!

Our Core Three Films:

City of the Living Dead (Streaming) aka The Gates of Hell

The Beyond (Streaming) aka The 7 Doors of Death

The House by the Cemetery (Streaming)

Additional Recommendations:

Zombi 2 (Streaming) aka Zombie

Fulci for Fake (documentary about Fulci, featuring interviews with his daughters and colleagues)

Conceptually, the "Gates of Hell" have many interpretations. I may explore this further in a future episode since it's the same idea as the "hellmouth" and inspired films like The Gate.

I'm joined by Rev. Peter Laws (Creepy Cove Community Church, Matt Hunter series, YouTube) to discuss the often maligned but fascinating entry in the Halloween movie series, Halloween III: Season of the Witch. If you remember this movie as just being the one that annoyed people because it didn't have Michael Myers in it, I'd urge you to give this a listen.

There was a lot more going on behind this film and I found myself as fascinated by the film it wanted to be as I was by the film it actually is. With influences of "Witch Cults of Western Europe," the Satanic Panic, fear of technology, and many other horror tropes, this film combines extraordinary kills with (perhaps overly) ambitious goals and is certainly memorable for many of its particulars.

I was amused to notice that in my haste to try and squeeze a fresh episode out for the show here, I forgot to mention my own name?? I'm Blake Smith. It's probably more important that you know the show exists than that you know my name - but on the other hand it's a bit weird to not at least give my name in the episode... But hey - I GOT THE EPISODE OUT DIDN'T I?

Mentioned in this episode:

The Music of John Carpenter

Synthwave Music (Documentary)

The rest of the Halloween Series

Nigel Kneale's incredible Quatermass Series

Margaret Murray's Witch Cult in Western Europe

Not mentioned - but probably SHOULD have been - Ronald Hutton's superb historic look at Murray's theory and the rise of Neo-Paganism in Europe, The Triumph of the Moon

Can confirm that Michael Myers does show up in Halloween 3 - around the 21 min mark on the bar TV:

AIPT Comics - is putting on a free online convention Sunday July 18th.

The online convention starts at 10 am and I'll be participating in a couple of ways if you're interested. At noon, I've got a special interview with Stephen R. Bissette. You might know him as a key artist on Alan Moore's run of Swamp Thing in the 80s - but if you've been subscribing to BIG FOOTAGE the Patreon bonus cast, you'll know him as the author of CRYPTID CINEMA.

I'll also be on at 3:30 pm with Jeb Card to discuss conspiracies and comics.

Other guests include paleontologist Jim Lehane, psychologist Craig Foster, paranormal investigator Kenny Biddle, artist Celestia World, archaeologist David Anderson, and Matt Brady. author of THE SCIENCE OF RICK AND MORTY.

A link to Cryptid Cinemais here: http://bit.ly/CryptidCinema

The convention details are here:

https://aiptcomics.com/2021/06/28/aipt-sciphi-fest-science-skepticism/

The direct ZOOM link is here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86109451697

I hope you can catch the show tomorrow but if you can't, I know that many of the interviews will end up on YouTube and I'm happy to report that Steve Bissette and I talked quite a while longer and the full version of that discussion will be up on YouTube *AND* will drop as a regular episode because it's all right up your alley, dear audience. Fun and informative stuff indeed - and chock full of monsters.

Also chock full of monsters is also my favorite imaginary coffee.

At long last, Episode 5 crawls out of the subway tube to wreak havoc on your podcast feed. I'm joined by Dr. Jeb Card (co-host of another show I do called In reSearch Of...) to discuss this amazing horror/sci-fi hybrid film. And that's not the only hybrids we'll be discussing.

There will be more show notes soon. I just want to get this beast out the door! :)

My old friend Mike Harris returns to talk about a beautiful and disturbing French film from 1960 - Eyes Without A Face. (AMZ Affiliate Link)

Directed by Georges Franju

Pierre Brasseur as Dr Génessier

Alida Valli as Louise, the assistant (more on this in our Suspiria coverage)

and

Yvette Etiévant as the daughter in the expressionless mask...

The filming locations for the "clinic" and the "residence" were both outside of Paris, but 9 miles away from each other.

Music by Maurice Jarre

(father of Jean-Michel Jarre but Maurice left Jean-Michel's mother in France when he was only a lad, and later even disinherited JMJ from his estate!)

View of the "clinic" in the time of the movie and today:

Make Your Case - The Flesh & The Fiends (1960) - Affiliate Link

I'm delighted to be joined by Ronn Bauman (Scaramouche of the Tortuga Twins) to talk about the 1964 horror film The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price. Based on the novel I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, this is one of several film versions and we'll actually end up talking about all of them during this episode.

For what I can only assume are US copyright reasons, the entire Price movie is available in a lovely transfer streaming directly off of Wikipedia.

And if you want to throw some pocket change our way, you can watch these on Amazon (or purchase the book) via affiliate links:

The original novel

Last Man on Earth (prime) <-- this is the colorized digital version

The Omega Man (prime)

I Am Legend (prime)

And we're not recommending it, but here is a link to The Asylum's knock-off version: I Am Omega

Finally - a link to last episode's "Make Your Case" winner: NOMADS (starring Pierce Brosnan)

Ronn and I have a wide-ranging discussion, including a good bit about The Thing (1982) and the rumor that Blumhouse is making something new of this material.

Additional: The Danny Elfman film we discussed was Forbidden Zone. I still haven't seen it but Ronn did warn us that it contains some scenes of blackface.

Reefer Madness: The Musical is available streaming on Amazon.

The comic-book sequel to Carpenter's The Thing was a 2-issue special from Dark Horse and versions of Issue #1 and Issue #2 are available online for varying prices.

Welcome to The Horror Podcast - TheHorrorPod.com - a show whose title should tell you what you need to know.

My name is Blake Smith and I'll be your horror host for this show. I've been a fan of horror for as long as I can remember, and I want to take you on a journey through some of the strange creations that helped make me who I am today.

if you're new to my work, I am the host of a couple of very science and history focused podcasts - the venerable MonsterTalk: The Science Show About Monsters, which has been going on for a decade as I record this, and the relatively new podcast In reSearch Of... a podcast where an idiot and an archaeologist watch old episodes of IN SEARCH OF and try to add in missing information and context for modern audiences.

Like some vampire in a horror movie, The Horror Podcast rises yet again - this time to take on one of the best made for TV horror movies ever made: The Night Stalker. Our guest for this one is screenwriter Richard Hatem! (The Mothman Prophecies) (Ep#5 is delayed - but is being excavated in an obscure Tube stop in London.) Is the titular character the vampire? Is it the intrepid reporter? Will there be inebriation and unbridled effusion for this film? Tune in and find out! SO MANY STAR TREK CONNECTIONS! This is a jam-packed "6 Degrees," Jim! You can find this movie in full on YouTube. Rich and I are big fans of the TV series as well. You can find that streaming on Amazon. If you haven't seen Rich's movie The Mothman Prophecies you're missing out. Watch it alone in the dark - if you can! Season 1 and Season 2 of Titans are streaming on Amazon. And you can get the latest episodes on DC Universe.