Mom (1988)

Directed by:

Patrick Rand

MOM (filmed in 1988; released in 1990) is effective in many ways. For the most part it works as a black comic horror film. However, it also gets a little heavy handed toward the end and piles on the melodrama. For a movie with a lighter, campier touch much of the time, suddenly trying to be serious and dramatic doesn't always come off as it should. Emily Dwyer (Jeanne Bates, a regular presence in the films of David Lynch and great fun here) is an unhappy widow who lives at home alone and takes comfort in simple "motherly" things like cooking dinner and rare family holiday get-togethers. Desperate for companionship (because her two grown children are always "too busy" to spend time with her), she decides to start renting out an upstairs bedroom to the strange, blind, always-in-shades, deep-voiced Nestor (a very funny Brion James). Unfortunately for her, Nestor also happens to be some kind of cannibalistic monster who bites her and transforms her into one of the same. Now her newscaster son Clay (Mark Thomas Miller) has no choice but to jeopardize his marriage and job to help her out; even resorting to covering up her killing spree and putting steel bars over her bedroom windows to keep her from sneaking out at night!

FLESH EATING MOTHERS and RABID GRANNIES may be better remembered all these years later because of their snappier titles, but this one is better than either of those two and also more ambitious in content. A strong recurring theme here is how the lines between being loyal to your family and trying to have your own life always seem to be hopelessly blurred. Not all of the humor is on target, but most of it works and it's entertaining and sometimes outrageous; so a mild thumbs up from me. Mary Beth McDonough (from the TV series "The Waltons") co-stars as Clay's confused, pregnant girlfriend and cameo appearances are put in by Claudia Christian (who is killed in the opening sequence) and Stella Stevens (in a lively role as a tactless, over-the-hill barfly).

★★1/2

Horror Show, The (1989)

...aka: Horror House
...aka: House III: The Horror Show

Directed by:
James Isaacs

Sadistic mass murderer Max Jenke (Brion James) decides to get even with Detective Lucas McCarthy (Lance Henriksen); the guy responsible for putting him away. The only catch is that Jenke is already dead, having somehow bypassed death row in an incredibly (and unrealistically) short amount of time and ushered straight on to the electric chair. Turns out that being dead can't even stop old Max as he lashes out at Lucas and his family from beyond the grave. James can be very good with the right material, such as his fun comic turn in the decent horror-comedy MOM (1990), but you won't believe his scenery-chewing overacting in this film. I don't really hold it against him since he's saddled with such pathetic "comic" one-liners. He's matched by awkward, uneven performances from most of the supporting cast, who are basically filling roles of very unpleasant and/or annoying stereotypes. Henriksen is the only person to really come out of this muck with dignity intact, somehow managing to make a strong impression as the haunted cop hero. That's really a testament to his talents as an actor, because you should hear the lines he's given and see the ridiculous situations he's put in to see what I'm talking about. And he does it all in such a professional, straight-faced manner that you've gotta admire the guy, even when he's appearing in junk like this.

Rita Taggart, Dedee Pfeiffer (Michelle's sister, who has a nude shower scene) and Aron Eisenberg (a strange-looking adult who usually played 11/12 year old boys and was also in AMITYVILLE 4 and PUPPET MASTER III) comprise the family. Also with Thom Bray as Henriksen's partner, Matt Clark as a doctor, Lewis Arquette (father of Patricia, David, etc.) as a police lieutenant and Terry Alexander (from DAY OF THE DEAD). Brief cameos by Lawrence Tierney as a prison warden and Alvy Moore as a chili salesman. In Europe, this was released as HOUSE III, although it has nothing to do with the other films in that series.

★