Mother’s Day

Although Mother’s Day (1980) pre-dates the creative peak of Troma Films - which fans would probably target as 1984’s The Toxic Avenger - it firmly establishes producer Lloyd Kaufman’s sick sense of humor, anything-for-a-buck mentality and all-in-good-fun attitude. And that’s no mean feat considering Mother’s Day, directed by Lloyd’s brother, Charlie Kaufman, features equal amounts of rape, dismemberments and random violence. This ain’t no knock-knock joke, people.

Holed up in the New Jersey wilderness, Mother and her two sons – Ike and Addley – take great pride in their murderous pastime. And when three sorority sisters on a reunion vacation fall right into their laps, they proceed with their usual routine of torture, torment and eventual death with great enthusiasm. All with Mother’s seal of approval, of course. The only question is, who will survive…and what will be left of them?

If you didn’t catch the reference, that last bit is a tagline from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, one of several films that Mother’s Day rips off along the way to a conclusion straight outta Friday the 13th. In fact, the only thing original about Charlie Kauffman’s film is its injection of dark comedy to the already dark proceedings. And even serious gore-hounds would second guess laughing after some of the Last House on the Left tortures perpetrated by Ike and Addley.

Yet, as with many exploitation films, with a bit of cinematic history behind it Mother’s Day plays better now as a cult-retro item than it probably did when it was new. And it certainly looks better, sporting an absolutely jaw-dropping hi-def transfer along with an entertaining commentary by Kauffman about working fast and cheap during the slasher era.