I must admit that I went into this remake of “Mother’s Day” with very little expectations. In retrospect, I’m not quite sure why because I have actually enjoyed the majority of director Darren Lynn Bousman’s previous work. He was behind the best “Saw” film in the series, number 3 (he also did the very good second film, and quite average fourth film too) and was the co-creator of the insane rock-opera “Repo! The Genetic Opera”, but even after these films I was still hesitant. I think the fact that the film was finished a while ago and had yet to receive any distribution in the U.S (it has played throughout Europe, though), that I took that to signify that the film was a dud. It may have also been the fact that the original 1980 film that this is based on was made by schlock studio “Troma”, but whatever it was, when I finally did sit down to watch “Mother’s Day” (on mother’s day, no less), I was not expecting much, but the film ended up blowing me away. I was surprised at just how good and intense the film was (and by how idiotic U.S distributors are for not noticing the film’s worth and releasing it).
The film starts with three brothers on the run after a botched robbery attempt, which also led to one of the brothers receiving a life-threatening gunshot wound. The brothers are on their way to the house where their mother and sister reside, in the hope that their mother can clean up the mess they have created, by giving them money to flee the country. After bursting through the front door, it doesn’t take the three boys long to realize that their mother no longer lives at this address. In fact, a young married couple had recently purchased the place for a bargain a few months earlier, when it was foreclosed. At the moment of the break-in, the couple (Beth and Daniel) are hosting a party downstairs in their basement, for Daniel’s birthday. After hearing the commotion above, Daniel goes up to investigate, and is immediately set upon by the criminals. Soon after Beth heads up to see why Daniel is taking so long, and she too is held by gunpoint by the confused bandits. They want to know just how many people are downstairs and where the hell is their mother. After Beth explains the situation and how they came about owning the house, she also mentions that one of their guests is a doctor and may be able to help the injured robber. The doctor, George, is then dragged upstairs and is told that if he doesn’t save the life of their brother it will cost him his. Both Daniel and Beth are then sent downstairs with the rest of the guests who are then ordered to lay on their stomachs and to dispose of their phones and wallets. The atmosphere created by thieves is one of extreme tension and fear. However, it isn’t long until “Mother” arrives and she is not happy. She does calm the situation down somewhat, by treating her hostages with more respect than her son’s were doing, but that soon changes when it is realized that the money that her boys had been sending her at this address (and that she obviously hadn’t received) has disappeared, and the current residents swear that they never received any money what-so-ever. Unsure whether or not she can trust the couple, “Mother” decides to round up all the ATM cards from the wallets, get the pin numbers for them, and then makes Beth accompany one of her sons to the banks to help withdraw all of the money. She is told that if she tries anything, her husband would pay for it with his life, and vice-versa, if Daniel tries anything, “Mother” would order her son to assassinate Beth.
The relatively short running time of “Mother’s Day” means that the story is told very economically and that there is very little fat to it. Right from the get-go, we are thrown straight into the situation and the tension and suspense never lets up until the very end. Bousman does an excellent job setting up this atmosphere and he gets the tone of the film spot on. The film is much more realistic than most horror films (think along the lines of the recent remake of “Last House On The Left”) and does not have any “cool” or stylized murder scenes. When violence is portrayed in “Mother’s Day” it is painful and not just used to show off a cool gore gag. This is a nasty little horror film, and while there is violence, you wouldn’t call this a gory film, instead it is all about the tone.
I’ve read that some people think that “Mother’s Day” is a step backwards directorially for Bousman, mainly because they believe he has fallen back on themes that he has examined before in the “Saw” films. While it is true that the theme of humans doing anything, even to their friends, in an attempt to survive, is something he tackled in those “Saw” films, I believe that the way he tells this story is actually a step up for him as a director. With “Mother’s Day” he appears to have matured somewhat as he lets the story be told through performance and well composed shots that are traditionally edited together, as opposed to the overly hyper-kinetic cuts he used in his “Saw” films, where it is almost impossible to understand exactly what is going on all the time (and I often think is used to hide the deficiencies of a director). Here he lets the story itself by the star, without imposing a “style” onto it, and the film is all the better for it.
For a film of this sort, it is also impeccably acted with Rebecca De Mornay being the standout as the matriarch of this demented crime family. She is stunning in the role and equally terrifying but she does so without grandstanding or screaming her lines which you would assume so many actors would have chosen. Instead she delivers her lines in a quiet and calm manner which somehow makes it all the more chilling, because it is obvious that she is comfortable in all the madness that surrounds her, which really is quite disturbing. What is even more disturbing is the fact that she is the only character in the piece that truly understands what family really means. She would do anything for her children, as opposed to everyone else, who while initially they may stand up for their friends, end up only looking out for themselves and their own survival when push truly comes to shove.
The rest of the cast handle their roles admirably, with no one standing out due to a bad performance. Personally I loved seeing Deborah Ann Woll on screen because I am a huge fan of her work on “True Blood”. Here she plays Lydia, the sister of the boys, who always seems unsure of the things she is doing and whether or not she wants to follow in the footsteps of her murderous family. She is twitchy and nervous throughout and ends up bonding with the character of George, and may be the key to everyone’s survival.
Overall, this version of “Mother’s Day” turned out to be a massive surprise. While the film is not perfect (some of the character’s motivations and actions, especially Lydia’s, seem muddled), director Bousman does a lot right with this film. By surrounding himself with great talent both in front of and behind the camera, he has created a very tight and intense film that works (almost) right to the end (ok, that last scene is a little hokey), which would probably be more accurately described as a dark thriller rather than a horror film. Whatever it is, I definitely recommend it, and I now look forward to Bousman’s next film, the numerical horror film “11-11-11”, which is already in the can.
4 Stars.
Just thought that I should mention that I haven’t seen the original “Mother’s Day” so I cannot comment, as to how similar the two films are, but from just looking at the trailer for the 1980 Troma original, I can safely say that the two appear to be considerably different.
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