Mother's Day

One of hundreds of grade-b exploitation shockers cranked out during this period; falls under the sub-category of rape and revenge films after Last House on the Left. This one has better acting and character development, but it's the addition of the crazy Mom character to the typical depraved psycho routine that makes this movie creepy and disturbing. The two brothers are scary slapstick rapists; "Can she spend the night with us tonight, Mom?" Next morning Mom asks "Where's your friend?" The boys tell her "She don't feel so good..." and they all laugh like it's Leave it to Beaver! ("they raped her to death..." my date said when we watched it in the theater back in the 80's.) This movie is also pretty funny, which really helps give you the chills. Probably only of interest to fans of this particular sub-genre. About the Troma release; I understand this movie was edited when it was first released, this version contains all the scenes. The pan and scan job is not very good, I'm surprised they did not release the film in a letter-box edition. Nothing in the movie however is as offensive as the opening promotional spots for Troma. I wanted to give them credit for attitude but I felt sorry for every one involved.

When I saw that Troma produced this, I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch this. While I enjoy their films, I wasn't in the mood for something as silly as those usually are. Mother's Day, thankfully, isn't quite like any other Troma film I've seen. It's mean, bleak, and nasty at times, but also has just enough of a sense of humor to keep the movie from being unbearable.

In the film, three girlfriends reconnect for a weekend of camping and are captured by two redneck brothers and their psychotic mother who want to use them for their own sick and twisted games.

When Mother's Day wants to get nasty, it goes all the way in. The disturbing moments stick with you and make you feel lousy and disgusted. You really root for these girls to overcome their troubles and get revenge which makes the final act so much more satisfying.

This movie is completely insane.

It has every single idea and the kitchen sink shoved into a script. It is so unhinged it just seems to bounce around from scene to scene franticly. It is so fun to watch.

I also think there are bones of a great story buried in here somewhere. The relationship between the main characters is heartwarming sometimes, it just needs polishing up.

The villains however, Jesus Christ. They are like evil cartoon characters that may also be stunt men but also amateur actors?? They are the most bizarre horror villains I have ever seen. They have no purpose for what they do, the things they do are just insane and I don't mean like killing people.

This movie is a slasher/horror but it has like comedy/coming of age flashbacks that feel like they are out of a totally different movie. This is honestly one of the most insane films, it has a mind of its own.

And I didn't know if it knew what it was doing was going to make people laugh. One of the final parts is the most bizarre thing Iv seen but from my understanding it's meant to be serious? But it's hilarious.

Watch this movie but be warned there is one very uncomfortable scene that I really wish wasn't in this movie because it's gross and takes away from this camp disaster.

I introduced this Troma gem to my partner when we first started dating. She is a wonderful mom and an avid horror movie fan. We now watch it every year on Mother's Day. It's just the right mix of funny, gory and '80s cheese.

MORD39 RATING: *** out of ****

Let's get something straight: This movie is offensive. It features an old mom urging her two misfit sons to brutally rape, torture, abuse, and murder young women for her entertainment. BUT IT'S BRILLIANT, AND WELL DONE FOR ITS TYPE.

With a shlocky piece of exploitation like this, we rarely if ever get a story and character development in the mix. The story of a group of young women planning a weekend getaway for their reunion celebration first provides us with background history detailing their personalities and personal problems. We get to know these girls...and once they get "caught" by the family of crazies, we share their dilemma.

I might also say that the surprise beginning really grabbed me (I first saw the movie in a theatre in 1980 and had no clue what was going to happen), and the ending is also pretty good.

As gruesome as these killers are in the film, you almost feel for them too. You sense that the imbecile sons are victims of their overbearring mother, and have had no proper upbringing to keep them from being such animals. Even mother is pathetic in a pitiful way.

MOTHER'S DAY will probably never be respected, and it is not for everybody. But I respect it and feel it stands out far in front of zillions of other exploitation/slasher knock-off's.