Directed by:Charles Kaufman
Three former college roommates (Nancy Hendrickson, Tiana Pierce and Deborah Luce) reunite for an annual camping trip out in the sticks and reminisce about their long-gone college days, which are shown in comic flashbacks. Then, two mother-obsessed, deranged brothers; Ike ("Holden McGuire"/ Frederick Coffin) and Addley ("Billy Ray McQuade"/ Michael McCleery) attack them, drag them back to their isolated house in their sleeping bags, beat them and tie them up. One of the girls is taken outside, dressed like Shirley Temple, raped and beaten unconscious while the other brother takes pictures and the equally disturbed mother ("Rose Ross"/ Beatrice Pons) encourages them and laughs with glee. The next day, the three girls manage to escape into the woods, but the injured one dies and the two survivors vow to get revenge on their attackers and head back to the house for a blood-soaked finale. The colorful, over-the-top and somewhat inventive gore effects include a hammer to the crotch, a decapitation (complete with a blood squirting torso), a TV-to-the-head electrocution, electric carving knife attack and Drano poured down the throat.
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Just like the majority of Troma's output, it's pretty tasteless (which can certainly be a plus depending on the viewer) and often annoying, but entertaining and creative enough to merit a view, with some successful attempts at satire and jabs at our commercialized world that, naturally, most well-touted critics seemed to overlook in their scathing reviews. The female leads are also a bit more fleshed out than usual for this type of film. The director is the brother of Troma head honcho Lloyd Kaufman, who was the associate producer of the film. Their sister Susan was the production designer and their father Stanley even gets in on the action, appearing in a small role during a pool party scene. Some of the locations were the same ones used in the original FRIDAY THE 13TH. In fact, the films were being made at the exact same time, just on opposite ends of the New Jersey lake.
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Darren Lynn Bousman (the guy behind the SAW sequels and REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA - which I hated, by the way) is working on a remake as we speak.
★★1/2
Saw this movie within the last decade, and I can honestly say it is another one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Is it on my list of Most Hated films? Yes, and I award it zero stars, just as Roger Ebert did. I'm sorry to disagree with your rating of the movie here, but I just think Mother's Day is a despicable, reprehensible piece of garbage, especially because the rape and torture scenes are so explicit. Ugh! When movies like these are made, it makes me wonder what led to them getting the okay to be made in the first place. I don't even like Friday the 13th, but I'd choose that over Mother's Day...under certain circumstances, anyway.
ReplyDeleteI've no issue with ratings disagreements. I get 'em all the time! This is one I plan on re-watching sometime and doing a proper review for. My opinion may have changed over the years. You're not wrong. It IS despicable and most people (even those who like it) understand it's just a trashy, over-the-top intentionally tasteless movie.
ReplyDeleteHave you, by chance, seen I Spit on Your Grave? That is a VERY polarizing movie. Some (including Ebert) find it to be beneath contempt but I've noticed in recent years it has been getting a bit more respect, including from female sexual assault victims who find it cathartic. That's another I need to reevaluate.
I know of I Spit On Your Grave all too well, but given how it was polarized by critics since its initial release, and Ebert even naming it the worst film he had ever seen (with the 2010 remake being even worse), I have no intention or desire to see it. If I do one day, I probably will also give it zero stars and add it to my list of Most Hated movies.
ReplyDeleteWhat's your opinion of Ebert's 3 1/2 star review for The Last House on the Left? That really perplexed me considering his general hatred for movies with graphic rape and gore!
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