use strict;
my @items = ('file1', 'file2', 'file3');
open INPUT_FILE,"/no/such/directory/$items[2]" or print eval 'qq{unable to open file $items[2]: $!\n}';
open INPUT_FILE,"/no/such/directory/$items[1]" or print eval 'qq{unable to open file $items[1]: $!\n}';
open INPUT_FILE,"/no/such/directory/$items[0]" or print eval 'qq{unable to open file $items[0]: $!\n}';

##</code><code>##

unable to open file file3:
unable to open file file2:
unable to open file file1: No such file or directory