Inferno (novel)/YMMV

Note: Both the Larry Niven/Jerry Pournelle novel and the Dario Argento film pages link to this YMMV page.

The Novel

Values Dissonance: The constant conflict between the strict Christian morals demonstrated in Hell and Carpent(i)er's modern, secular values (probably also those of the authors) lead him to conclude that God Is Evil. However, the fact that most people nowadays are uncomfortable with the concept of infinite damnation for finite sins leads to a Family-Unfriendly Aesop: anyone in Hell can escape if they can get over themselves enough to seek redemption. Even if their punishment involves complete immobility or vigilant guards. Then again, there seem to be souls whose duty is to guide others, including Benny - and ultimately Carpenter himself.
- Dante's Inferno was also based on older concepts. The sequel is post Vatican 2, and thus deals with it very differently in dealing with the value's dissonance.
- The guards almost never stop anyone from going deeper into hell, as very few believe anything exists down there but worse punishments. And the sequel has Carpenter dealing with the people that are trapped and immobile, trying to prove to himself that his idea that anyone can leave is correct.
- The middle ring of the seventh circle is the Wood of Suicides in Dante's Inferno, with a sideline in punishing the "violently wasteful" (profligate). Now, the wood is gone and the profligate are far more numerous. (Examples in Strawman Political).

Adaptation Displacement: Few fans of Suspiria are aware that this is supposed to be a sequel (to be fair, the two films have little in common plotwise, other than the overarching mythology, which Suspiria makes almost no reference to). The third film remedies this by directly referencing the plots of the previous two. However, fewer still are aware of the Thomas De Quincey poem, Levana and Our Ladies of Sorrow, on which the mythology is based.
Alternate Character Interpretation: Mater Lachrymarum is heavily implied to be hypnotic and meddling in Mark's life while in Rome. How much of what follows is someone else's idea?
Anticlimax Boss: Mater Tenebrarum, whose demise occurs due to an accident earlier in the film.
- Never Found the Body, though. Tenebrarum's death is far from clear, as she simply vanishes amid rising flames. She'd previously disappeared and reappeared in a mirror just a scene prior, and her transformation into Death presumably makes her more difficult to kill than Suspiriorum in the previous film.
Evil Is Sexy: The mysterious woman in the music school who Word of God later confirmed was Mater Lachrymarum.
Special Effects Failure: The cat scene as well as a few others.