Loving sons always do what their mothers tell them to...even if it's to kill. Directed by Charles Kaufman (brother of Troma President Lloyd Kaufman), the classic Mother?s Day delivers laughs and chills with liberal doses ... more »of nail-biting suspense. When three college buddies decide to rekindle their comraderie with a camping trip, they become the unwitting prey of a very dysfunctional family. As unforgettable as Deliverance, as terrifying as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with a twisted statirical humor in the Kaufman vein, this Mother's Day will leave you feeling frightened and amazed!« less
"Wow! Words can hardly express how much I love this movie! This is a true 80's horror classic, with a little bit of camp thrown in for fun! I can't say enough about this under seen little gem! For it's time and genre, the gore and killings are just fantastic. I really dig the script as well. I won't say much about the plot, as it is described in other reviews. I will say that in my opinion, the acting is absolutely fantastic(contrary to other reviews).
The three actresses (Nancy Hendrickson, Deborah Luce, Tiana Pierce)that star in this movie seem to have a great chemistry amongst themselves. Their laughing and playing comes off smoothly and they are quite convincing as old college pals. Their scenes together flow naturally throughout the film and do not come off as contrived in the slightest bit.
The brothers Ike (Holden McGuire) and Addley (Michael McCleery) are SUPERB in their roles!! They truly give off the creepiest vibe with such ease that it's hard to tell that they are acting. Lastly, Rose Ross is fantastic in her role as Momma. She can be sweet, demanding, scary, demented, and creepy without batting an eyelash. People have criticized this film for years but it is a film that really entertains the serious horror fan. I have been watching these movies for 25 years and this is definitely one in my top 5!
Mother's Day achieves what it sets out to do!! It scares its audience first, and then successfully makes you care about its characters before terrifying you all over again!!
Do you root for killers, do you root for the victims, or do you root for Queeenie?? ;-)
Hell .. I root for them ALL every time I watch it!!
I am thrilled that Troma realeased this on DVD! Good job guys!"
A Tromatic 80's Classic!
Christopher W. Curry | Indianapolis, IN | 11/23/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Mother's Day is a classic piece of early 80's cinema that demandingly pelts the viewer with violence, gore, black humor and wit. This is more than a low budget splatter-fest and if you keep your eyes and ears peeled you'll catch all kinds of sub-texts and social commentaries that this type of picture is usually devoid of. Not surprisingly, Mother's Day remains as caustic and telling 25 years after its release as it was in 1980.
The storyline is simple, three former college co-eds escape the city for a weekend of relaxation in the woods. Of course relaxation is the last thing that these city twits are gonna get because brothers Ike and Adly are hell bent on having their way with them, and rest is certainly not on the menu.
The girls are dragged unmercifully to the inbreds' shack and are formally introduced to Mother. Mother approves of their latest earmarks, "Boys, you've made your mother very proud." From here on out the girls are tortured and raped, humiliated and debased in a variety of savage ways.
All the while Ike and Adly spout sound bytes from movies, music and television. They almost have their own language that only they can understand-like they're speaking in code. To the girls' dismay part of their torture includes pantomiming scenes from the clan's favorite movies. This type of behavior somehow validates these red-necks and they come away thinking that they are normal; or better yet, "citified."
This brood of backwards hill-jacks are a poisoned by-product of heartless, soulless Pop culture. They've O.D.'d on saccharine soaked cinema and gimmicky bullsh*t rock. Ike and Adly are intellectually incapable of recognizing fiction from nonfiction. They are violent and impulsive because that is exactly what they see and hear day in and day out on the tube. It's interesting to note that Mother's Day appears to be reacting to the very type of film that it is-though I don't think that was the directors intent.
Eventually one of the girls dies and it's up to the other two to avenge her death and boy do they! Axes to the groin, multiple stabbings and a gullet full of Drano do the boys in, but Mother gets extra special treatment as she is suffocated by a transparent inflatable pillow shaped like a pair of C cup breasts. Fantastic!
Unfortunately Mother's Day has yet to find its real footing in horror movie history, but in time it most surely will. What it lacks in plot and character development, is more than made up for with charm, cleverness and extensive bloodletting. Mother's Day could be considered the first Troma film, though in 1980 Troma was only a glimmer in the eye of Lloyd Kaufman. It would be 6 more years before Tromaville begat its gut buster of a splatter pic-The Toxic Avenger.
This DVD version contains gobs of extras including; Audio commentary by the director, an interview with the director, trailers and sneak peeks."
"MY BOYS NEVER FORGET THEIR MAMA"
BUB13 | NM | 05/01/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This movie is one of Tromas very best! This movie is in the tradition of HILLS HAVE EYES and TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. This film didnt feel to much like a Troma movie, Because it didnt have to much of the usual Comedy mixed with horror style. It was basically a straight horror movie. BUY THIS DVD."
A great movie! One of my favorite 80's horror movies.
Peter | Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada | 10/31/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'm obsessed with this movie! When i first saw it in the theatres back in the 80's, this movie was severely cut due to the graphic violence. I love everything about this movie, from the casting, to the location shots, to the storyline and acting. For those unfamilar with the Troma movies, Troma is a company that specializes in grade B horror/sci-fi exploitation flicks. Many of the Troma movies have a very dark and twisted sense of humor to them, in additon to the drama and suspense or horror. Mother's Day is no exception. The story is about three girls who were best friends in college, who go on yearly reunions where they camp in the woods. This time they have chosen to camp out in an area where a demented family of hillbilly rednecks are living. Mother is the head of this strange family. She is living with her two backwoods sons and schooling them in the art and specialty of attacking and rapeing and killing of young women. This whole premise sounds totally sick and demented, and it is....as only the Troma team can present it. You have to see this movie to believe how incredibly over-the-top it is. The performances are excellent, especially the two sons. They are both adults, but behave like children due to their backwards upbringing. All that these boys want to do is make their Mother proud and be the best killers possible. The chemistry and interaction between Mother and her two sons makes for fun viewing. Even the three girls who eventually get kidnapped give credible performances. A lot of the female victims in horror movies are disposable characters that you really don't care if they get killed off or not, but there's enough character development here that you'll find yourself caring about the girls in Mother's Day. The final climactic showdown scene between the girls and the sons is exciting and memorable, mostly for the creative use of weapons. The only cheesy part of that scene was when one of the girls was shown holding a television set over her head as a murder weapon. You'll have to suspend your disbelief on that one. I guess tv sets were really light way back then (i'm being sarcastic!).The dvd extras include commercials for other Troma films, a few comedy skits about Troma that are so-so, and other stuff about Troma Studios. The best extra has to be the director's commentary because it is one of the best i've heard for a grade B horror movie since the commentary for The Evil Dead. I learned so much trivia and interesting info on the making of Mother's Day from the commentary. Fans of the movie will love the commentary!This movie has elements of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Last House On The Left, and i highly recommend this movie if you're a fan. Please keep in mind that Mother's Day is a dark comedy horror movie. It IS a horror movie, there's no denying that, BUT there are enough elements of twisted dark comedy to it involving the personalities of the two sons and their interaction with each other that it reminds us we're not watching a totally serious horror movie such as The Exorcist. Mother's Day is not for everyone, and many of the reviewers here on Amazon have said it's the worst film they have ever seen, blah blah blah. Anyone who says that is not a true fan of Troma films because they obviously don't understand the genre. You'll need to watch more than one Troma film to understand that statement. Just watch the trailers for the other films on this dvd and you'll know what i mean. This movie is excellent and i'm glad to see the dvd is the director's cut with all the violence and gore that was cut from the theatrical print lovingly put back in. If you loved Motel Hell (and i DO!!), you'll love Mother's Day."
Troma's Finest
lisa r griffin | Houston,Texas | 04/18/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I had the privaledge of seeing this Troma in a theater . I was 13 visiting my Aunt in Wharton Texas , a small town , my sis and I were the only 2 people there to see the movie . Twenty years later I recommended it to a Troma collecter , we watched this movie together and we both agree that it is one of Troma's best ever made.I like to catch mistakes and the best one in this movie is in Mother's car when she is giving the Ugly looking couple a ride and her car stalls . If you look at the blonde girl in the front seat she is wearing a yellow blouse and when her boyfriend in the back seat gets his head cut off , right before he is beheaded she already has splattered blood all over her blouse . The beating of that same chick was pretty brutal . I liked this movie , what do expect for a Troma ?"