Inferno 1980

In the heart of New York City, poet Rose Elliot (Irene Miracle) stumbles upon an ancient tome, The Three Mothers, which whispers secrets of three wicked sisters ruling the world with despair. The book, penned by architect Varelli, reveals that each sister dwells within a specially designed domicile in Rome, Freiburg, and New York - and Rose suspects she’s living in one of those very buildings. As she delves deeper into the mysteries of the text, Rose writes to her brother Mark (Leigh McCloskey), a music student in Rome, urging him to visit her. Using cryptic clues from Varelli’s book as a guide, Rose descends into the depths of her building’s cellar, where she discovers a hidden ballroom submerged beneath the waves. With her keys slipping away, she plunges into the water, uncovering a portrait bearing the haunting phrase “Mater Tenebrarum.” As she recovers her keys, a putrid corpse rises from the darkness, sending her fleeing in terror. A shadowy figure watches as she escapes the cellar.

Meanwhile, Mark is distracted from his brotherly concerns by the enigmatic gaze of a beautiful student (Ania Pieroni) in Rome. When class ends, she vanishes; Mark follows, leaving Rose’s letter behind. His friend Sara (Eleonora Giorgi) stumbles upon the letter and becomes enthralled by its ominous contents. Her curiosity gets the better of her as she locates a copy of The Three Mothers at a library. As she searches for an exit, a monstrous figure recognizes the book, sending her fleeing in terror. Later that night, Sara seeks comfort from neighbor Carlo (Gabriele Lavia), but their evening is brutally cut short by a gloved killer. Mark discovers the bodies and torn fragments of Rose’s letter. After the police arrive, he departs Sara’s apartment, only to spot a taxi driving slowly by - its occupant fixating on him with an unnerving intensity.

Mark attempts to contact Rose, but their conversation is plagued by poor reception. He promises to visit just as the connection falters. Rose, sensing danger lurking outside her door, flees through a back exit, pursued by unseen forces. Her flight ultimately leads her to a decrepit room where she’s seized by a clawed assailant and brutally murdered.

As Mark stepped into the vibrant streets of New York, he was introduced to the enigmatic residents of Rose’s building, including a compassionate nurse (Veronica Lazar) tending to the ailing Professor Arnold (Feodor Chaliapin, Jr.), confined to his wheelchair and bound by silence. The Countess Elise (Daria Nicolodi), her frailty evident in every gesture, revealed to Mark that Rose had vanished without a trace. Elise recounted the unsettling tale of Rose’s erratic behavior, her words dripping with an air of foreboding. As they ventured further into the building, the pair stumbled upon a gruesome discovery: bloodstains on the carpet outside Rose’s room, a harbinger of darkness to come. Mark’s pursuit of the trail led him down a treacherous path, and as he fell unconscious, fate seemed to conspire against him.

Meanwhile, Elise unwittingly crossed paths with a mysterious figure draped in black, their paths entwined in a deadly dance. As the hooded assailant gave chase, Elise found herself besieged by a swarm of cats, their claws and teeth rending her flesh mercilessly. The black-robed figure then struck the final blow, ending her life.

The next day, Mark sought answers from Kazanian (Sacha Pitoëff), the antique dealer who had sold Rose the cursed tome, only to be met with an enigmatic silence. That night, Kazanian’s malevolent fate was sealed as he succumbed to a macabre ritual involving cats in Central Park. His accidental plunge into the pond was the precursor to his gruesome demise at the hands of hundreds of ravenous rats.

In a separate thread of terror, Carol, the caretaker, stumbled upon the mangled corpse of Elise’s butler (Leopoldo Mastelloni) in the Countess’ apartment, her shock and horror triggering a chain reaction that would ultimately lead to her own downfall. As she frantically attempted to extinguish the flames engulfing her, she became entwined in burning draperies, her fall from the window marking the end of her life.

As Mark delves deeper into the mysteries hidden within Rose’s letter, he uncovers a cryptic clue that leads him to a network of secret crawl spaces beneath each floor. Following the narrow passages, he stumbles upon Professor Arnold, or rather, Varelli, masquerading as the esteemed scholar behind a mechanical voice generator. The old man’s true identity is revealed, and Mark’s curiosity turns to alarm as Varelli attempts to inject him with a lethal dose of hypodermic fluid. As they struggle, Varelli becomes entangled in his own vocal apparatus, choking under the circumstances.

Mark manages to free him just as Varelli utters a chilling warning: “Even now you are being watched.” The dying man’s words send Mark scrambling to uncover the source of the ominous gaze, which leads him to a shadowy figure lingering in the doorway. As he approaches the chamber where Varelli’s nurse awaits, Mark is met with a macabre revelation - she is Mater Tenebrarum, her maniacal laughter growing more intense as she reveals her true nature.

In an instant, the nurse transforms into the embodiment of Death itself, its dark presence closing in on Mark. However, fate intervenes, and the raging fire consuming much of the building provides a window of escape for Mark to flee the witch’s lair. As the structural integrity of Tenebrarum’s domain begins to crumble, Mark seizes the opportunity to make his way back out into the fray, forever changed by the harrowing experience that has unfolded beneath his feet.