La casa maldita

This is yet another home invasion movie but one with a bit of a difference. Allied to the usual psychopathic housebreakers is the added ingredient of their mother.

I didn't really buy into the set up as it's pretty far fetched however that's not really the point of these movies so it didn't spoil it for me. Rebecca De Mornay is manic and slightly over the top as the ruthless mother of the psycho's. The rest of the cast put in surprisingly convincing performances.

The film takes plenty of twists and increasingly brutal and at times unrealistic turns but nevertheless always remains horribly watchable. You do almost at times question why you are entertained by the horrific happenings.

The film is very brutal and there are quite a few unpleasant scenes so if you don't like these kind of films you won't like it. For horror fans though this is a well made and very watchable film which is as unpredictable as you could wish for.

MOTHER'S DAY – CATCH IT ( B+ ) Ever since I heard that gorgeous & brilliant Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood) has been signed on to do a thriller called "Mother's Day" I was anxiously waiting for its release. Finally last week I got hold of Mother's Day and trust me it was more than my expectations. It's not like common violent movies which start with blood & gore. The gore in the movie increases as the situation in the movie gets worse & worse. Director got the perfect cast to play "The Koffins", who invade in a house thinking their mother still lives there and hostage 8 people in the basement. The Koffins are brutal and would do anything to get what they want. Rebecca De Mornay as monstrous mother is powerful & ruthless at her heart. Patrick Flueger as eldest Koffins brother is impressive along with crazy angry Warren Kole. Matt O'Leary is shown being shot & Deborah Ann Woll did a good job as crazy isolated Koffins sister. Among the hostages the girls by far stand out from Jaime king to Briana Evigan, Kandyse McClure, Lisa Marcos & Jessie Rusu everyone did a fantastic job. Among the boys Frank Grillo and Shawn Ashmore did a great job. Alexa Vega & A.J Cook cameo was Okay it was like a "SAW touch". Overall a Mother's Day is a perfect movie to watch & enjoy on your Weekend.

I had a feel when she arrived in the film of Hand That Rocks The Cradle flashbacks. Rebecca De Mornay has that vibe, that ominous character development to which she is mesmerizing on the screen. The film sounds like it would be an epic fail but is a very good suspense, thriller and drama.

The plot is pretty original as a couple are having a birthday party with friends and they are in a sound proof basement. Upstairs three men enter one which is wounded. It comes across this used to be their childhood home. These men are criminals as we find out and in comes MOTHER. The ferocity, soul stealing vibe we get from mother is critical for the film to capture the plot.

The acting was very well done and two in particular Patrick John Flueger (Ike) and Warren Kole (Addley) were very sadistic and extremely well portrayed. Jaime King (Beth) was pretty solid in her own right.

I give this film a solid 7 out of 10 for it's writing, plot and decent acting.

The sadistic members of a villainous family return to their childhood home, which has since been sold, and terrorize the new home owners and their guests.

Right off the bat, I have to give full credit to Rebecca DeMornay. She knows crazy, and she knows how to make it both believable and intense. Despite any flaws this film may have, I find it hard to imagine anyone faulting DeMornay for her role.

Also, I have to say this is a noticeable improvement over the Troma version. I love Troma, and there are enough differences that this could be seen as a different movie rather than a remake, but the production value and professional cast involved made this a top-notch film.

That being said, the film's biggest problem is its length. Running almost two hours, the plot is far too simple for such a length. Cut ten or fifteen minutes out, speed up the pacing, and you have a good film. I kept thinking the confrontations were too long -- get down to it already. I have to admit I lost interest near the end...

Yet another remake that has been churned out from Hollywood over the recent years, and although I've never seen the original I can't really compare the two, but this as a stand alone movie is really good well paced slasher/thriller.

The plot = Three brothers on the run from the police after a botched bank robbery. Unable to escape the small town they're in due to road blocks covering the exits. They make their way back to their old house where they hope to find Mother, whom is the mastermind behind these group of criminals. Unbeknownst to the brothers, their mother recently lost the home due to a foreclosure and it's now the new home to a young couple, who just happen to be having a little house-warming party. The brothers hold them hostage, as they await the return of Mother.

I've only ever seen clips of the original, but from what I can tell that this is almost completely different, such as the setting instead of in the backwoods America we get a suburban house-hold in which I was slightly disappointed, being a huge fan of backwoods survival flicks, but accepted and understood the necessity for the change. The backdrop definitely made it a more realistic take on the story, which seemed to be what the filmmakers were going for. With all the changes, the movie is now more of a home invasion crime thriller than the horror flick that many might've thought it'd be.

The performances in this movie are top notch especially Rebecca De Mornay who plays the sadistic mother showing the audience a kind (yet still devious) and sadistic side of her character and the great lengths that she'd go to protect her family, and it's also nice to see her back in movies again I loved her in "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" back in the early 90's. Other great performances came from recent slasher stars Jaime King (My Bloody Valentine 3D) and Briana Evigan (Sorority Row) they were great together, Jaime King hits all the right notes especially in her scenes alongside Rebecca De Mornay.

All in all this movie was violent and brutal at all the right times and offered some decent tense parts that involved our hostages attempting to escape, definitely worth watching.