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Lunch » Tags » Movies » Reviews » Mother's Day (movie) » User review

Not one to watch with "Mother", and not one you should want to watch at all.

  • Mar 28, 2011
Exclusive to the Lunch Network
Rating:
-5
Half a star out of ****

"Mother's Day" is a psychopathic mistake of horror filmmaking that to my dismay, takes every reason WHY I watch horror films and offends, intends to shock, and twists my words. I have said before that I like a good disturbing film. "Mother's Day" heard these words and assumed that I actually LIKED watching disturbing, gruesome, and explicit imagery. I don't. But I have applauded films that are even more disturbing than this one before; and my reasoning is because they had stories to tell and characters to introduce us to. Sometimes, disturbance is the only way to get an emotional point across. So why, oh why, did "Mother's Day" need to be made? It takes a decent set-up and shreds it up until I can't enjoy or admire the film any more. It is a mediocre-looking film which is made uglier through the things that it depicts. I'm always up for something disturbing. But I'm never really up for something aimless, stupid, and repetitive. "Mother's Day" is all of those things. Did I mention that it's also unwatchable? Well, it is; and it's many other things too. At the end of the day, "Mother's Day" makes me want to cry. Not because I felt bad for the characters or took the gruesome ordeal into emotional consideration; but because I know there are people out there who are sick, depraved, and mindless enough to enjoy a film such as this one. As always, I don't mean to insult those who enjoyed "Mother's Day". I just don't respect anyone who is willing to take such uninspired bait. As of now, "Mother's Day" does achieve one thing; being one of the worst horror films that I've ever seen. I should have never wasted time, and I shouldn't have given such a perverted film my attention. Attempting to see how close I was to the end of the film through a Wikipedia plot synopsis was honestly buckets of fun compared to watching the movie. Believe me when I say that. Never has exploitation been so down-right...revolting. Shouldn't it at least be fun?

"Mother's Day" is kind of like "The Hills Have Eyes" if it had been set in the woods. Perhaps the title should have been "The Trees Have Eyes"? I think so. The set-up for "Mother's Day" is like any other horror movie; it could have worked for many people. It probably wouldn't have worked for me, even if it was decently executed, but instead of a potentially entertaining sleaze-fest, we just get a full-on sleaze-fest that shows no remorse for our boredom and our stomachs. The film stars some girls who go deep in the woods on a sort of camping trip, which is meant to relieve them of their eternal boredom and provide them with more memories. We learn that they've had their share of memories, but like all generic Americans, they tend to want, want, want. So you've got your girls, and now all you need is your source of horror. As it turns out, there is a family of hillbilly-psychopaths living in a broken-down house somewhere in the nearby woods, and they have been stalking the pretty women all along. Eventually, they capture the girls, and bring them home to "mother". The mother of the two (crazy) boys is an old broad who enjoys watching them perform sadistic acts on woman. Throughout the second act of the film, the boys rape, torture, beat, and terrorize each of our heroines. Then comes the third act, in which the girls get sweet revenge on the psychos. Then the film stops reminding me so much of "The Hills Have Eyes", but more-so another Wes Craven film called "The Last House on the Left". Now that was a good film, because it depicted rape and sadism as it should; with realism and affection. This film treats each on as a joke; but without much humor. It's pathetic, really, to realize that crap like this gets made. And for money? Perhaps we're as crazy as the hillbillies.

One thing that really gets my goat about many horror movies is their lack of good actors and good characters. I've seen uninspired characters and actors in my horror-film-watching career. And by all means, "Mother's Day" is just like the worst I've seen prior to viewing this horrendous mess. And again, I am compelled not to list the actress' names since none of them matter, and none of them will be remembered. Who cares about the characters? Who cares about the actors? I mean, really; when you've got shit that stacks this high, you're in deep trouble. Especially when the closest thing to "decent acting" in your film comes from an old granny who isn't even remotely convincing in her sadistic tendencies. Oh, what a damn shame. Not.

Maybe I would "admire" a film like "Mother's Day" if it were ballsy. And even though it's disturbing and suitably revolting; I've seen worse imagery accompanied by beauty. Therefore, "Mother's Day" cannot really impress me if it does not have the raw capacity to do the same. I wonder how much money was spent on such an abomination. Why do people feel compelled to make such pointless movies? I mean, really. They do indeed give out awards for "worst film", and this one should have gotten such a anti-meritorious award for 1980. This is, in all honesty, a film without a motive or a style. It depicts rape, violence towards woman, and a handful of other disposable psychopathic crap. Yes, I called it disturbing; but it did not disturb me. If a film disturbs me, then it is well-made and emotionally resonant. "Mother's Day" is neither, and frankly, it exists merely to garner a cult status that it does not deserve. It does not need to exist, and I'm sure that the remake releasing this year is going to be better. At least it has a DIRECTOR, a WRITER, and even a CINEMATOGRAPHER. "Mother's Day" does not have any of the three; and ends up being stupid, forgettable, and crafted without joy or skill. Perhaps now I have convinced you to give it the ol' "skip"? If not, then I am clearly not doing my job right.

I seem to be one of the only horror-admirers who thinks "Mother's Day is as bad as it truly is. Yes, some will admire it for being lesser-known and graphic. But I can't admire it JUST for that. I need more; a lot more. And I need a film with substance, style, and REASONS why I should watch it. I mean, gosh: I expected "Mother's Day" to be bad. But never could I have imagined it would be this bad. It's been a while since I've seen a film as poorly directed, poorly produced, poorly acted, and revolting as this film here; which is somewhat of a compliment and somewhat of an insult. If I remember "Mother's Day" for anything, then I will remember it as one of my least-favorite horror films in existence. I sat through it, tried to absorb it, and in turn it gave me nothing. Well, isn't that nice of the film? I guess "mother" is proud of her boys for "never forgetting their mama", but you'd have to be pretty damn inconsiderate to forget your audience. It's troubling to know that "Mother's Day" even has one.

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More Mother's Day (movie) reviews
review by . August 23, 2009
Mother's Day was Charles Kaufman's foray into horror film making. The story is about three girls who grew up and went to school together. They decide to go out on a camping trip in upstate New York. But they pick the wrong day yo go up because they run into a crazy mother and her two retarded children. The mother is training her two boys to fight against an entity named Queenie. Whilst the three women are reminiscing about old times, the two goons spoil their fun and drag the ladies off to their …
see all Mother's Day (movie) reviews (2)
About the reviewer
Ryan J. Marshall ()
Ranked #13
It's very likely that the only kind of reviews I'll ever post here are movie reviews. I'm very passionate about film; and at this point, it pretty much controls my life. Film gives us a purpose; … more
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About this movie

Wiki

Remake of the film is being released in 2010.

Charles Kaufman's first film as a director.
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Tags

Movies, Horror, Troma
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Details

Director: Charles Kaufman
Genre: Horror
Release Date: September, 1980
MPAA Rating: R
Runtime: 90 minutes
Studio: Troma
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First to Review

"Watch out for Queenie!"
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