Mother's Day and Making Momma Proud: A Movie Review

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman.

Writer: Scott Milan.

Unbelievably, Darren Lynn Bousman's (Saw III) Mother's Day never received a North American release; this film can only be found in the United Kingdom. That is a shame, because this is one of the better and most brutal films this reviewer has ever scene. Full of scenes of torture, Mother's Day is a hard watch. This is also a remake of the 1980 film from Charles Kaufman and Mother's Day has to be seen by fans of horror.

The story seems pretty simple, but the character's keep events complicated. This is a fight for survival after all. The Koffin family takes up residence in their old haunt after a bank robbery goes wrong. They ruin the new residents' party. Hostages are taken, torture ensues and the film turns into a bloody mess. You see, there is money at stake and mom does not like to be lied to: "where's the money!" A tornado on the horizon also keeps events tense.

Lots of sub-plots develop involving lost children, and stolen babies, but this reviewer enjoyed the moral dilemmas. Bousman brings some of this storytelling from the Saw franchise to create difficult situations for the hostages. At an automated teller robbery, Ike forces two girls to decide which of the two survives by giving them a knife and stating: "whoever kills the other lives." That is no easy task when you have to kill your best friend. Later, the survivors have to choose who will be raped by one of momma's boys. And Beth Sohapi (Jaime King) is later told to run over a police officer at gunpoint. The Stanley Milgram experiment would tell us that people really need very little provocation to torment their fellow human beings. So, it is surprising to see Beth spinning the wheel at the last possible moment. All of these scenarios keep the scenes compelling.

This reviewer really enjoyed this film over all. There are plenty of action scenes and the gore seems to fly about. So let this be your warning: if you do not like scenes of torture, then steer clear. As well, the film is very disturbing and some of the latter scenes are hard to watch. The adult material might have killed this film's chances of having a North American premiere. There are also lots of surprises here as survivor turns on survivor. One of the best scenes in the film involves a brawl between two men while country music plays in the background. You can almost see this same scenario happening in one of John Ford's westerns.

This reviewer would really encourage fans of horror to order this film from the United Kingdom. Mother's Day does not disappoint. Full of great lines from a sneering Rebecca de Mornay: "you always make such a mess," this film deserves a larger audience. Expect tragedy, expect difficult situations and expect to walk away from this film with a twisted smile on your face!

Overall: 8 out of 10 (good writing, lots of characters, complex scenarios, high production values).

*watching a woman strip for a man while his mom undid his pants was probably one of the strangest scenes this reviewer has seen.

The film's official website is here:

Mother's Day's Homepage

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Posted in: 2012,darren lynn bousman,moral dilemma,movie review,saw,torture,torture porn,united kingdom