MOTHER'S DAY (1980)
Director: Charles Kaufman
Troma Team Video

According to director Kaufman, MOTHER'S DAY was filmed at the same time as the original FRIDAY THE 13th, and not very far away. All I know is that even though I am a true Jason Voorhees follower, not one single FRIDAY film can match the brilliance that is MOTHER'S DAY. Read no further if you don't want the ingenious surprise opening revealed to you...

The film starts at a seminar for soul searchers looking to get in touch with their inner selves. At the end of the event, a shady-looking teenage couple from the class approach a sweet old lady and manage to convince her to give them a ride in her car.

Throughout the ride, it's obvious that the two young passengers are up to no good. When the automobile breaks down in the middle of nowhere, the old woman gets out and lifts the hood to inspect the trouble, as our sneaky kids exchange evil glances and prepare to reach for the dashboard, apparently to run the lady down as she leans over the engine. At the last second, though, we are relieved to find out that all this plotting was merely for the kids to get up the nerve to turn the radio on!

It's at this precise moment that two figures from the woods rush out from nowhere: one chops the guy's head off, the other pulls the girl from the vehicle and brutally rapes her, simultaneously bashing her face in with his bare hands. Most bizarre of all, while all this carnage is occurring, the old woman is smiling and cheering the brutes on. She puts the final touch on the grisly proceedings herself, strangling the battered young girl to death and beaming to her two "sons" that she's very proud of them. Welcome to MOTHER'S DAY, folks!

From there we go to the stories of three young women, each with her own problems: One of them is a classy bitch, the second is a poor soul mistreated by an endless series of uncaring boyfriends, the third is a frustrated girl taking care of an annoying sick mother. Their mediocre lives get a well-deserved break when they decide to go on a college reunion weekend together to forget their troubles and remember the good times.

The girls wind up on a classic camp-out in the woods and eventually get caught by the two crazy brothers from earlier, who drag the victims to Mother's house, which is essentially a demented shack of depravity, in the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE tradition. The girls are set up as helpless target practice pawns, tortured and abused right in front of Mom, who acts as a sick and twisted coach/referee.

The unfortunate girl who never caught a break from her abusive boyfriends turns out to be the first tragic casualty, but her two companions manage to get away and vow revenge on the crazed family for what they did to their friend. They return to the house and turn the tables on the sickos, managing to shove a clawed hammer into one guy's genitals, and making his brother swallow a can of Drano before having his head electrocuted inside a television set. As for Mother, she gets her just reward by getting smothered with a pair of inflatable boobs, served appropriately enough by the frustrated girl whose own annoying mom always drove her nuts!

Make no mistake...MOTHER'S DAY is not for everyone. It's a demented and revolting exercise in sadism that makes you feel very uncomfortable, yet it's done with such brains and heart that it stands tall above its many comparable knock-off's. It's tight, fast-paced, and very well done for its type. You become very concerned for the three heroines of the story, and for me this alone makes it a winner. These are characters with short but potent personal histories, and you CARE what happens to them. As for the warped family, there ARE insane people in this world like that, and its great to see them get what they deserve at the climax of the movie. There is also a twist ending, which I won't reveal but which I feel is unnecessary and takes a little away from the feature.

The DVD is presented full frame, and I think I might have liked to see a 1.85:1 letterboxed version instead. I don't know if it would have matted off too much info, but during the director's commentary he points out some plastic wrap on the ceiling of the car early on, and says you didn't see it in the 1.85 version. The picture itself is very clear and nice, but I thought it took on a slight greenish hue at times. Well, once you're watching the movie you don't notice it anyway. The sound is very good, in mono.

Extra features include the director's commentary, which is sometimes revealing and sometimes frustrating, since Charles Kaufman often starts a story but gets sidetracked by what's happening on the screen. There is also a very short interview with him, presented amidst a distracting montage of scenes from the film (Troma releases are aimed at the younger audience who I presume don't have the attention span to endure a straight discussion without MTV tricks). Other extras might be fun if you're under 21, but for me they're kind of juvenile. These include self-indulgent "bits" from Troma chief Lloyd Kaufman, and his team.

In summary, this is a fine DVD release of a classy class-less splatter film that surpasses its contemporaries. It's the best presentation this title has ever had, and probably ever will have. (Joe Lozowsky)

 

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