Picture Mommy Dead

One of those low budget films that had lots of style. Filmed at the famous Doheny Mansion in Beverly Hills, opening scene has a horrendous bedroom fire consuming the dead body of Zsa Zsa Gabor. I first saw this in the 70's and being a teenage pyro I was fascinated by the fire sequences. Teenage girl Susan Gordon (Producer Bert Gordon's daughter) gets let out of a convent 7 years after her mother (Zsa Zsa) gets crispy in the previously mentioned fire. Seems the girl still has some issues and things get wierd after her dad (Don Ameche) brings her back to the house where it happened! (How tacky is that?) Enter her old nanny (Martha Hyer) who just wed Daddy Don Ameche. Seems Martha wants to get her hands on an old Diamond necklace Zsa Zsa reported missing before the fire. Seems Martha is a bit of a tramp and will let anyone grab a hold of her Double D cups that will tell her where the jewels are hidden. Dig the crazy scene where Susan scratches a portrait of Zsa Zsa and the picture starts to bleed! They don't make 'em like this anymore. Wendell Corey makes a rare appearance (right before he died) as a surly character who likes tormenting Susan with remarks about the fire like "it must be what hell is like" just to watch Susan twitch out big time. Great bit of film noir (even in color) this movie has lots of shadows, great photography & direction, even the scene where the bedroom is ablaze is photographed in an almost beautiful way with the flames towering up expensive drapes and ashed slowly cascading down. Great fun, it's on video I hope they put this film on DVD. Of course, anything with Zsa Zsa Gabor is a hoot, even though here she is essentially playing herself.

This is one of those movies I saw as a young kid back in the late 60's that always stuck with me, so creepy when I was little and now that I am older it is just plain campy!!!! Susan Gordon overacts playing the demented daughter of Don Ameche and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Seems Susan comes out of a convent or was it a mental institution? Anyway, she's got major issues since her Mom burned to death in the family mansion. Now Daddy Warbucks has married her former nanny, sleazily played to the hilt by Martha Hyer. The nanny wants all of Daddy's money and is willing to do anything and anyone in order to get it. I love the scene where the toys are coming alive, pretty creepy stuff when you are 8 years old and not too bad now that I'm 43. Lot's of fun to watch and the ending comes as somewhat of a surprise. Enjoy.

So many films have yet to be released that it's shocking what does trickle down from on high onto DVD. You'd think whoever owned this little souvenir of 70's syndication would want to start seeing some long overdue profits from it already. They must be working on a Director's cut. Right.

I haven't seen this TV movie for a very long time, but I remember it well. There was a song that played over the credits that was the eeriest thing about Picture Mommy Dead. It was a little nursery rhyme with the chilling refrain;

"The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, in your stomach and out your mouth," or something appetizing like that. Is it coming back to you now?

If not, check the DVD when it does come out and see what an evening's TV entertainment used to look like in America in the late 1960's. The best thing about these movies is that because there were only a couple of options on the toob back then, everyone seems to have seen them. These were the days of the 75% share for a TV movie. "Friends" doesn't even come close in viewership. For better or worse that age has come to an end and made us less of a family.

WOW I have been trying to remember the name of this movie for a very long time... today I goggled the famous "the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out"... and found the title of the movie "Picture Mommy Dead". I re-watched this movie today after I found the movie title again and I must say it is pretty good old film.

I recalled that as a kid this movie scared me... but after re-viewing it as an adult I find it a good mystery/thriller film.

The movie is worth watching if you like older "whodunnit" types of movies. Nobody will ever find out Daddy.

The Hearse Song is the creepiest part of this film -- the part I remembered for years.

7/10

34 years have not dimmed the memory of this super low budget thriller. The special effects remind me of a Mario Bava film because maximum use is made of camera angles and light and shadow. Mind you, I only saw this shocker once at a remote air base but, along with the early Dario Argentos (Bird, Cat & Flies), What's the Matter with Helen?, Who Slew Auntie Roo?, and Romero's original Night of the Living Dead, this flick hit my funnybone and I remember its twisted plot and shocking ending as fondly as I remember those schlocky Bill Castle masterworks, Homicidal and Strait-Jacket. Seriously, the film is a fun ride and if you like Grade B thrillers, you'll get a big kick out of it. So, please, put it on DVD before the film stock dissolves!