Mother's Day

Year: 1980

Director: Charles Kaufman

Written by: Charles Kaufman

Threat: Psychopath

Weapon of Choice: Hatchet

Based upon: Original

IMDb page: IMDb link

      Mother's Day

Other movies in this series:
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Rish Outfield's reviews
Back in the heyday of the slasher craze, studios (and non-studios) would mass produce these cheap horror films, most of the time to cash in on whatever the flavor of the month was that week (I know, sorry). One of the things I most enjoy is how many holiday titled flicks came out after the success of Halloween. Besides Friday the 13th, you've got New Year's Evil, Happy Birthday To Me, several Christmas related titles, Graduation Day, Bloody Birthday, and My Bloody Valentine. I think there was even a Memorial Day. Too bad there was never a "Chanukah Bloodbath" or "Easter Egg Massacre" to round out the list. [Editor's note: What about April Fool's Day? And if you want to get technical you should probably count Uncle Sam and the "Leprechaun" movies.] Mother's Day has little to do with all this, but forgive me for getting off on a tangent (again).
So, three women who were pals in college reunite for a camping trip out in the woods. Unfortunately, they choose the same woods where a psychotic family lives--two childlike men and their crazed mother--a family who enjoys brutally torturing and murdering the passersby!
This movie had that Last House on the Left/ Texas Chainsaw ultra-realistic flavor (we called that neo-realism in our college days) to it, and I hate that. It started out quite funny, took a dead serious turn, and ended up feeling like a snuff film. I loathe this type of film, and will avoid others like it if I can. It made me feel dirty, folks, and I don't wish that on others. Some of the folks who made this one went on to make the "Toxic Avenger" films and form Troma Studios, which have created disgustingly fun and entertainingly stupid movies for years. But while this was half of those things, it wasn't the good half. The old woman who played Mama's performance (in fact, the whole cast) was admirable, and some of the dialogue worked well, but that didn't change the fact that this was one of the least pleasant horror films I've seen.

The tyranist's thoughts
I don't really like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Last House on the Left so Mother's Day never really had a chance. What kind of sick, sick minds would feel the need to make a film that is half homage half parody of those movies. It's just not right.
So three women in their early 30's get together for yet another college reunion. This time they are camping in a place that no one else seems to even dare approach. Well, wouldn't you know that there is a whacked out family who lives in the otherwise unpopulated area that is in for a little rape and battery action.
This movie was sick from beginning to end and never entertaining to me. Sure I laughed at one or two lines and I felt a little sympathy for the women, but really, I just wanted the movie to be over. The acting wasn't terrible, the dialogue mostly passable, even the death effects were pretty okay. This just isn't the kind of movie that I enjoy.
I've never enjoyed it. Being a devoted horror fan means that I'm pretty immune to a lot of things but rape usually pushes it over the edge for me and when that is combined with inexplicable violence, I'd rather be doing something else. This strange little section of films that seem to highlight the bad guys as much or more than the good are usually ultra-realistic, which this one was not thank God, and have some kind of cult following. Neither of those things make them good movies. And just how do they get a cult following in the first place?
Anyway, suffice it to say that I am not going to recommend this movie to anyone. The people who are likely to enjoy it (sick bastards that you are) have already seen it. Oh, and I should point out that the surprise, twist ending didn't surprise me at all.

Total Skulls: 25

Sequel
Sequel setup skull
Rips off earlier film skullskull The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Last House on the Left
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise skull
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution skull
MTV Editing
OTS skull
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex skull
Unfulfilled promise of nudity skull
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location skullskull
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer skull
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start skull
Cat jumps out
Fake scare skull
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth skull
Warning goes unheeded skull
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes skull
x years before/later skull
Flashback sequence skull
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead skull
Killer wears a mask skull
Killer is in closet skull
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading skull
Blood fountain skull
Blood hits camera
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives skull
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell? skull