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MOTHER'S DAY (1980)
Directed by Charles Kaufman
Troma DVD
Reviewed 02.07.08
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILM
There's a lot to like about Mother's
Day. There's also a lot not
to like. Nobody ever said the rape-revenge
business was easy.
I get it. Really, I do. Sarcastic
pessimism, abstract pop culture
references, heavy breathing POVs,
somebody stepping in an enormous
pile of shit; Mother's Day
is a walk on the wild side. That
is, if "wild" can be interpreted
as "somewhat comedic".
And so it shall. After all, this
is 1980. The notion of adding some
straight-up yuks to a slasher was
still an infantile, pre-Student
Bodies concept. Initially,
Mother's Day scoots along
like an early 80s version of H.G.
Lewis's The
Gruesome Twosome. Crazy
mom. Wacky offspring. A little grisly,
a lot goofy, and entirely unconvincing.
In other words, plenty of fun.
Then, a woman is demeaned, beaten,
and raped. Outside. In the dirt.
Mother's Day, you almost
had it.
Siphoning the lovingly familiar
"folks on a trip get caught
by a nasty family and brought to
a house for various repugnancies"
through a hoop of vague satire,
Mother's Day doesn't fully
gel. The good stuff is accounted
for. Enormous synths. Fruitful character
development. Creative photography.
An incredibly fierce climax. But,
the two prevailing sentiments --
cynical sass and malicious exploitation
-- don't mingle. They pull hair.
They scratch. They gouge. And they
do it to a standstill.
As the "rape-revenge"
forerunner, The Last House On
The Left didn't futz around.
It was drunk with anger and confidence.
Krug & Company made no allusions
towards anything else. Even the
kooky cops, who only bolstered the
unnatural air with their odd antics,
fell right in line. Mother's
Day, while not as tactless
as God's
Bloody Acre, another Last
House adherent, frustrates
in its inability to take sides.
It's neither frequently funny nor
constantly offensive. It's just
inconsistent. In the end, that inconsistency
prevents total success, despite
a number of primo backwoods-slasher
distinctions. Well, that, and fifteen
minutes of needless padding.
Apparently, the potato-chip-eating
scenes in The Gruesome Twosome
failed to make a lasting impression.
Such is life.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Now out of production, ye olde Troma
DVD looks quite nice. The full frame
print is clean, exceptionally crisp,
and loaded with bold colors. Vintage
grain and an apt mono soundtrack
cap it all off. I noticed a small
amount of compression during busy
moments, but that didn't detract
from all of the gigantic eyeglasses
on display. Also, judging from what
Dan
B. tells us, it appears that
this "director's cut"
utilizes the same master as the
VHS.
EXTRAS
Troma makes it easy for us. Go ahead
and skip every supplement while
en route to the terrific commentary
track. Ready?
Director Charles Kaufman (brother
of Troma President Lloyd) and an
unspecified Mother's Day
crew'er (his name is Rex) sit down
for a thorough, consistent, and
all-around enjoyable 90 minutes
of early 80s retrospection. A few
seconds of silence crop up her and
there, but on the whole, anything
you've ever wanted to know about
this film will be revealed. Charles
even speaks at length on the pro-feminist
slant, which was utilized "Because
it was popular at the time".
I believe him.
As for the other stuff, a couple
of two minute interviews with Kaufman
are more than covered in the commentary,
the "Troma's Edge TV"
segment feels like a "Rock"
Nelson outtake (but not as good),
and there isn't a trailer for the
feature.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Aw, Ma. Mother's Day is
tug of war between two competing
tastes that don't go so great together.
However, there's enough of that
early slasher ardor to provide some
satisfaction. See it, but don't
get too riled up beforehand. |
We are laughing yet?
Scum mask
The morning after
Out of the pink
|
