Mother's Day . Weekly Alibi . 03-23-98

Mother's Day

DIRECTED BY: Charles Kaufman

REVIEWED: 03-23-98

This odd little flick came out in the heyday of the "slasher" genre, and I've been a fan of it since I saw it in its theatrical run (remember when low-budget horror flicks could get released theatrically?). Three women in their 30s, old college pals, get together every year for a "mystery vacation"--but this time around they make the mistake of going on a camping trip, and you know what that means. As the women settle down for the night, two psychos leap out of the dark woods and, using the gals' sleeping bags as convenient carrying cases, drag the women off to their run-down homestead, where their nutty mother awaits. Y'see, mama has trained her boys to be good little rapists and killers, and she loves to watch them practice on unsuspecting woodland girlies. The movie pretty much follows the example set by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as the boys, Ike and Addley, torment the women in various ways while mom critiques their skills. After a long night torturing one of the women, the boys let off steam by roughhousing on the lawn, and the women escape. The flick makes a U-turn when one of the girls dies and the other two go all Rambo and shit, strapping on headbands and arming themselves with makeshift weapons before making an assault on mom's house. While it's a little light on the nudity and gore, Mother's Day is still pretty entertaining, especially when Ike (who kinda reminded me of a young Lee Marvin) and Addley are on screen. The boys fight about everything, including the merits of Punk vs. Disco, and their arguments invariably come to blows, leading to some pad-the-running-time wrasslin' matches that are nonetheless fun to watch. When they're not fighting, they're eating bucketloads of Trix cereal and promising mom they'll never leave. And hey, there's also that telegraphed-days-in-advance Surprise Ending! An overlooked piece of cinematic sleaze that's definitely worth checking out. (Media)

--Scott Phillips

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