Mother’s Day (V)
| release date | May 8 2012 |
| studio | Anchor Bay |
| director | Darren Lynn Bousman |
| writer | Scott Milam |
| starring | Rebecca De Mornay, Jaime King, Deborah Ann Woll, Briana Evigan, Alexa Vega, Shawn Ashmore, Matt O'Leary, Lyriq Bent, Lisa Marcos, Patrick Flueger, AJ Cook, J. LaRose, Warren Kole, Frank Grillo |
| tagline | Don't misbehave.... |
| site | mothersdaythemovie.com |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
1 Comments
In my opinion, the family’s performances were the best. They were the highlight of the movie. But you’re right, i couldn’t give a shit about Jamie King’s character. AND THE ENDING! God, fucking terrible.
You must please remember that my score of 9/10 is coming from a person who has a passion for horror films, and particularly enjoys home invasion and slasher sub genres, and as “Mother’s Day” goes, it is probably not only one of the best home invasion films I’ve ever seen, but one of the best remakes and horror films I have ever seen. “Mother’s Day” was a huge surprise for me, I was expecting just a bit of fun really like the “Saw” films which I very much enjoy, and “Repo!” which I also liked a lot. I suppose what I was expecting was a fun seen-it-all-before slasher, and in a sense I did get that, but “Mother’s Day” is definitely a cut above the rest in the way it is executed. There is also a lot more to it than that anyway.
My first pleasant surprise was the set-up. At almost 1hr 50mins long I would expect there to be 20-30 minutes of breaking the audience in gently, have a bit of character building and generally get a build up of what is going to happen. This is usually the case in slasher films isn’t it? Wrong. “Mother’s Day” delves straight into the action straight away and doesn’t stop throughout the film, it is just 100 percent thrilling and intense horror which never gets boring. You’d expect their to be a bit of a lull now and then as well, but that doesn’t really happen either, the writers do the right thing by building the characters up throughout the film instead of doing most of it at the start, and we actually get to learn a lot about them as the story progresses, putting the audience more in the villains shoes than the heroes.
“Mother’s Day” has also confirmed Darren Lynn Bousmen to be one of the best modern horror directors because he simply knows his stuff. It’s obvious that he also has a passion for horror films and that certainly shines through in his directing. It’s sharp and tense, and he manages to squeeze a lot of suspense that seems to withhold throughout the whole film! It’s almost 1hr 50minutes of thrills and chills. Also, the gore used isn’t just put their for the sake of it, it does serve a purpose to the story and characters. It also makes the whole thing really fun to watch.
The characters are also quite brilliant. Rebecca De Mornay is absolutely superb as the psychotic and complicated “Mother” who actually is a really deep character to play. Rebecca is perfect and I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing her. You also get to learn a lot about the other characters as the story progresses, and so you do actually feel sympathy (or not) when a character gets killed. Although it is quite obvious who’s going to last until the end and who is not, but I suppose I’m just being a bit picky their, who cares it’s brilliant!
The film essentially all takes place in the house and so you feel enclosed, and their is a great relief when you actually do get to go outside. There is just so many thrills and intensity to watch, and because it lasts all the way through it feels like your watching an epic! “Mother’s Day” never gets boring and it also isn’t afraid to be sick and twisted. The acting is good, the story and characters are interesting and most importantly it is unforgettably compelling. Not many films grab you by the throat and never let go, and this is one of them. Don’t be put off because it’s an American remake. It is and it’s a damn good one!
Mother’s Day is one hell of a grisly ride from start to finish! It’s one of the best reboot of a horror film I’ve seen in years that took the idea and ran wild with it. The film is bold, terrifying, and intense and wickedly delivers what it promises in the trailers and then some. Mother’s Day is one of the best home invasion flicks ever that packs a heart pounding punch that will stay with you.
The performances were all solid and gripping, you’ll root for their characters and be disgusted with them. The two that standout the most are Rebecca De Mornay, who plays Natalie “Mother” Koffin, is amazing here and diabolically entertaining, she dug deep for this role. Jaime King is the other standout in this film and is always good in my books, but this has to be her best performance to date as Beth Sohapi and can’t wait to see her in Silent Night! This film has a great cast and one of the most memorable performances from a horror/thriller in recent years, which makes Mother’s Day effective.
The director, Darren Lynn Bousman has crafted his best movie since Saw 3. Hopefully he stays on this track, because this is solid, tensely suspenseful stuff. This is a huge leap compared to the very problematic 11-11-11 and builds the dread, discomfort, and shock value, intensity with staggering results. He has outdone the 1980 B-horror movie of the same name, which I also enjoyed but man this was something else. The director made it his own and created a new path for the story, that made it relevant today and raises questions of how would you act in that horrific situation. This is exactly how you remake a movie and guess what, they picked one that actually needed a reboot. You don’t see that often.
The gore is very graphic and hard to watch, but they went for it in a ballsy manner that’s not for the squeamish. Mother’s Day delivered the goods when it comes to horror/thrillers and will satisfy gore hounds. The kills are quite memorable and brutal to the extreme; there is constant panic and chaos, with the fight for survival. Characters turn on each other under extreme pressure; fight back with extreme force that will have you on the edge you seat, cheering the protagonists on. The bloody action comes when it should and wasn’t overdone.
The ending I think brought the film down a bit and was anti-climatic. This could mean a sequel, which I wouldn’t mind but I don’t know where they can go from there, I’m curious though. There was also not a lot of logic in some scenes that kind of bothered me, nothing that distracting though.
Overall, Mother’s Day mostly met my expectations and the wait was worth it. The film is clever where it counts, harrowing, dark, entertaining and a vicious good time. On top of that the performances were affecting and wickedly brilliant. The story twisted and the director delivered a film that wears its remake title proud and not in shame. Recommended!
THIS MOVIE IS GARBAGE. Good thing it was a free screening. Don’t watch it. Peace.
I haven’t seen the original so this is based solely on the remake. I think the area that this film is most successful is in its moral ambiguity. Yeah it’s nothing new in today’s tradition, but it’s something that is much more common; it’s through the film’s large amount of characters, each with pretty equivalent screen times, that this is able to be done. The film doesn’t waste time building character backgrounds the first 30 minutes; it does this intermittently throughout which I think is pretty rare for films today (or if films can do this, most suck at it). The torture is used sparingly, but it’s for a purpose which ties into the whole moral ambiguity thing: make the right choice and be successful at it, or pay the consequences. In a society where films mix messages with violence, this is a rare film which can accomplish both throughout an entire film, not just by an ending like most films (and I’m neutral about the ending in general, but that’s beside the point).
This movie surprised me. I thought it was just going to be a simple home invasion movie but it ended up being much more. Darren Lynn Bousman has proven himself as a very talented director and now that he’s done with SAW I’m looking forward to the new films he will make.. The plot always continued to surprise me in taking a directions that I wasn’t expecting. It was also interesting how the family made the group of friends turn on each other. The film is well acted and although they could have done more with characters in the sadistic family it is still worth watching and has and interesting concept.
Which mother is a better mother.
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