Mother's Day (1980)

Director:

Charles Kaufman

Writers:

Charles Kaufman (writer)
Warren Leight (writer)

Release Date:

September 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

If you go down to the woods today.

Plot:

When you go into the woods today, you're in for a big surprise. When you go into the woods today you're not going to believe your eyes...

Plot Keywords:

Reunion | Murder | Rape | Female Psychopath | Hatred

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Nancy Hendrickson	...	Abbey
Deborah Luce	...	Jackie
Tiana Pierce	...	Trina
Frederick Coffin	...	Ike (as Holden McGuire)
Michael McCleery	...	Addley (as Billy Ray McQuade)
Beatrice Pons	...	Mother (as Rose Ross)
Robert Collins	...	Ernie
Peter Fox	...	The 'Dobber' (as Karl Sandys)
Marsella Davidson	...	Terry
Kevin Lowe	...	Ted
Scott Lucas	...	Storekeeper
Ed Battle	...	Doorman
Robert Carnegie	...	Tex
Silas Davis
Stanley Kaufman	...	Older man at Pool Party

Runtime:

90 min | Australia:98 min | Germany:76 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 (TV rating) | Australia:(Banned) (1985 re-rating) | Australia:R (original rating) | West Germany:18 (heavily cut) | Germany:Not Rated (uncut) | Netherlands:16 | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:K-18 | Portugal:M/18 | UK:R | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Connecticut, USA

Company:

Duty Productions

Trivia:

In the director's commentary, Charles Kaufman said that while shooting a scene Billy Ray McQuade (Addley) was so hung-over from drinking the night before that he threw up on Rose Ross (Mother). Naturally, shooting the scene had to be postponed.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning, when the couple are attacked in Mother's car, there is blood on the woman's clothes before the guy is attacked.

Quotes:

Older man at Pool Party: There are three rules in the film business - Distribution, distribution, distribution.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Violent Shit II (1992)

Soundtrack:

I think we're alone now

Definitely a classic

"Mother's Day" is great. It works as a horror film, as an exploitation film, and as a satire. It's definitely one of those movies that doesn't seem to have the ability or care to decide on whether it's feminist or misogynistic, but it is a sleazy horror movie and that's where the fanbase for this cult favorite lies. Still, I'm part of this film's following, and that means I like sleazy horror movies that are done right. So many lump things together in these black-and-white perspectives. If it's a sleazy horror movie, it seems that nothing good can be said about it unless it's an overrated bandwagon movie like "TCM". In this, we do have killer rednecks, but that doesn't make it a rip-off of "TCM". These people seem to have more in common with the guys from "Deliverance" than the guys in "TCM", and that's just one of the many differences. As many people have already said, this is about some pretty women camping in the wrong woods before getting abducted by some psychos who are following the orders of their wacked-out mother. The two brothers are amoral rapists/killers who know only what their demented mom and TV have taught them. The mother is possessive and domineering, making sure that she manipulates her already screwed-up kids into never leaving her side. They live in a run-down house in the woods, where the mother teaches them the ways of a "respectable life", which, in her twisted mind, is rape, torture, and murder. This is a deceptive movie because there is some important social commentary going on here, no matter how gory and sleazy the excesses that eclipse such commentaries are. TV serves as these people's window to the world. There is almost always a TV heard going in the background of an environment where a madwoman has been sheltering her children, who have been raised by her to her sick specifications. I was expecting to see plenty of reviews with people calling this a "TCM" rip-off/piece of trash, etc., etc., and my expectations were rightful ones. But what a sorry state things are in when people judge a movie by how little a budget could possibly be afforded by the filmmakers, the name of the production company on the box, or the very basic similarities it has to inferior and less thought-out moneymakers like "TCM". Even as derivative as movies like "House of 1,000 Corpses" are, that movie itself even had more brains than the original "TCM". I hate to burst a lot of people's bubbles, but Tobe Hooper's big, little movie was not the first movie (or even the first horror movie) about killer rednecks. Also, it has been said that "TCM 2" ripped off ideas from "Mother's Day"! "Mother's Day" has more going for it than any of the "Texas Chainsaw" movies I've seen. It may be trashy, but it's well-done trash. The acting is excellent, and it amazes me how many people will trash on good actors when the movie doesn't have a great reputation. I may sound pretty agitated, but that would be fitting because this kind of small-mindedness does agitate me. I understand that everyone should have their own tastes, but if you're going to trash on a movie's reputation, you might as well do it for the right reasons. I would give this no less than a 9 out of a scale of 1 to 10.