After a brief hiatus, I'm glad to say that VSG is back and once again I'll be pontificating on the subject of cult filmdom. I've watched quite a bit of good stuff in the interim since I last posted a review, and I'll need to play catch up on those, but for now I have to go ahead and do a write-up of a movie I watched tonight. The flick in question is fellow-Kansan Darren Lynn Bousman's remake of the Troma classic(k) from 1980, Mother's Day.
The original has long been a favorite in exploitation and horror fandom, and especially in the realm of Troma fans, mainly due to it's depraved sense of humor and a shocking level of sleaze. While Bousman's film shares the name of the earlier film, it certainly is a different beast altogether. This new one is deathly serious, playing with some very heavy themes of human nature and the will to survive, and does so with biting wit, a bit of satire, and some very graphic violence.
The new take on Mother's Day tells the story of a group of 3 brothers on the run after a bank robbery, one of whom is fatally wounded. Scared, with no place else to go, they return to their home expecting to find their mother, but instead find a happy couple who have gathered a group of friends to celebrate their remodeling. It turns out Mom's house was foreclosed upon a few months prior, but with no place to go, the brothers hold the party hostage and their twisted nature starts becoming apparent, but the real fun begins once Mother arrives.
Placed in this live-or-die situation, the group of thirty-something partygoers start realizing they are going to have to do whatever it takes to survive this situation, especially once the tension starts getting ratcheted up. Panicked captives are dangerous enough, but combine that with panicked captors and you have a very volatile situation.
Now, I'll be the first to admit that I was skeptical upon throwing this disc in my player; remakes are very shaky ground. The cold hard fact of the matter is that most of the remakes have been godawful, with very few exceptions. Going in with low expectations, I have to say that I was beyond pleasantly surprised by this one. Simply put, this is what good exploitation and horror movies should be. This film delivers the horror goods in spades, there are some VERY suspenseful moments and some extremely gory scenes, but it also has some smart ideas, and raises some very interesting questions.
The great and classic exploitation films have always done more than just, "delivered the goods." They may not have been heavy-handed message movies, but they usually made us take a step back and really take a strong look at the human condition. This one could arguably fall into that canon of exploitation history. The screenplay is definitely a smart one, one that hammers on the expectations and emotional triggers of the audience much like the demented family torment the minds of their victims.
Don't get me wrong, there is some graphic physical torment in this movie, but this is not the focus of the film, and it does not dwell on it. This film is far more interested in emotional and psychological torture, and it does it with intelligence and some truly biting satirical wit. The subjects of loyalty, duty, family, instinct, morality, and the will to survive ALL come into play in this film, and it handles each of them interestingly and without a heavy hand. For a film so gory, many aspects of it are quite subtle.
This script could have easily fallen flat but luckily the cast and the director were up to the task. Rebecca DeMornay takes the lead as Natalie "Mother" Koffin, and she attacks the role with relish. DeMornay is still a striking beauty, and her calm demeanor in the face (and in the act) of horrible deeds is electrifying on the screen. A fantastic performance, and one that will sadly be overlooked simply because this genre is refused any form of merit in mainstream film criticism, which is a damn shame because DeMornay's psychotic performance is up there with Bette Davis' in films like The Anniversary from Hammer. DeMornay is playing an absolute psychopath, and you can tell she's having a blast in the process.
The rest of the cast acquit themselves surprisingly well, Jaime King, especially. Bousman's direction is tight and focused, creating a strong sense of place and a definite order to the chaos. Even with the multitude of characters and constant plot shifts he manages to keep the whole film from becoming muddled, keeping a laser-sharp eye on the suspense and tension. While keeping knuckles white and asses on the edge of seats, Bousman also has the Magician's gift that many old Horror film directors had: he strings you along and hits you when you don't expect it, and it actually works. Many try this trick, but fail miserably…he nails it quite a few times.
And last, but not least, the film itself takes place near Wichita, Kansas and Kansas City is mentioned in a news report. It does indeed warm my heart that Bousman gave a shout-out to his hometown areas in this flick, and I'd be lying if I said that didn't at least boost my enjoyment a bit.
Overall, this is just a flat-out quality exploitation/horror flick. It eschews the camp of the original and instead goes for the Last House on the Left-style jugular. This shouldn't be surprising, in quite a few interviews Bousman has expressed his love for that particular film. As that is one of my favorite films of all-time as well, I can see that the influence is apparent. Not to say that this is a blatant rip-off, because it is not, but in tone and execution it is quite similar. Like Wes Craven's classic, Bousman's Mother's Day delivers all that you would want in an exploitation/horror flick, but it does it with a straight face, and shows some truth of the human condition in the realm of fiction. Both make a strong statement on the fact that we are animals, and in the right situations we are capable of the worst things.
Oh, and one last thing for the fans of the original flick, one kill in particular will have you smiling. That is all I will say.
