“Mother’s Day” (1980)
Studio: Troma
Starring: Nancy Hendrickson, Deborah Luce, Tiana Pierce
Directed by: Charles Kaufman
Rated: Unrated
Running Time: 90 min.
Synopsis: Three city girls go on a camping trip but are kidnapped by two crazy brothers who bring the girls back to their insane mother.
REVIEW
Chris Woods
This campy horror film that came out in 1980 is from the Troma group (Pre-Toxic Avenger days). Lloyd’s brother Charles Kaufman directed this wacked out horror flick. It starts off with two hippies bumming a ride from an old lady they meet at this self-help group. As they drive through the backwoods, the car breaks down. The two plan on killing the old lady but the tables are turned when the lady’s two crazy sons kill the two hippies along with their mother’s help. The story then cuts to three women who live on opposite ends of country but are old college roommates with each other, decide to go on their annual reunion getaway somewhere in the woods of New Jersey. As they camp out and trade old college memories, the three girls are kidnapped by the two crazy sons and bring them back to their insane mother. One of the girls is tortured and killed while the others escape and vow revenge on the crazy family.
Although this may not be one of the best films to come out of the early 80’s it still is very entertaining, cool scary moments, and twisted parts all through out. The Troma team mixed comedy with horror, most of the time I’m not a big fan of that, but here it works. It also follows the crazy family trend that started with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but the film has a face of its own. I first saw this film back in the early 90’s and just recently seen it again and I still enjoy watching it. The characters in the film are very believable. The three city girls do a good job in their roles and come back fighting in the end against the family. The brothers are good as well, especially the actor who plays Ike the older brother. The mother is good as well. There are also lots of things the represent the time the film was made. The house and brothers room is filled with posters from that era, like a poster of John Travolta. The two brothers have 70’s and 80’s toys all over. Mostly Sesame Street, they also have a Big Bird alarm clock. There’s also the mystery of the crazy mother’s sister Queenie, who roams the forest like an animal for years waiting to get back at her sister. The film is worth a look and a cool indie film from that era.