Mother's Day (1980 film)
| Mother's Day | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Charles Kaufman |
| Written by | Charles Kaufman Warren Leight |
| Produced by | Michael Herz Charles Kaufman |
| Starring | Nancy Hendrickson Deborah Luce Tiana Pierce Rose Ross |
| Cinematography | Joseph Mangine |
| Edited by | Daniel Loewenthal |
| Music by | Phil Gallo Clem Vicari, Jr. |
Production companies | Mach Studios, Inc. |
| Distributed by | Troma Entertainment United Film Distribution Company |
Release date |
|
Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $115,000[1] |
Mother's Day is a 1980 American horror-thriller film, directed, co-written and produced by Charles Kaufman, brother of Troma Entertainment co-founder Lloyd Kaufman, who served as an associate producer for the film.
A particular scene in the film is soundtracked by "I Think We're Alone Now" by 1960s bubblegum pop band Tommy James and the Shondells.
Plot
The plot begins with the long-time friendship of three women, Abbey (Nancy Hendrickson), Jackie (Deborah Luce), and Trina (Tiana Pierce), who reunite every year to take a camping trip. Once while setting up their vacation in the woods, they find their trip turns into their worst nightmare when they are captured by a group of two partially insane punk/"hillbilly" hybrids: Ike (Holden McGuire) and Addley (Billy Ray McQuade). The punks lead a comfortable life, living along with their mentally abnormal mother (Rose Ross) in an occult hovel situated amidst the wood. All through the movie, their mother goads her sons into acts of rape, violence, and murder. Eventually one of the women is severely brutalized by Ike and Addley, and the remaining two escape before the first dies from her sustained injuries. They soon regroup, arm themselves, and set out for bloody revenge against Ike, Addley, and Mother. After the girls take their revenge at the end of the film, as they are about to leave the woods they are attacked by the mother's deformed sister, Queenie.
Cast
- Nancy Hendrickson as Abbey
- Deborah Luce as Jackie
- Tiana Pierce as Trina
- Beatrice Pons as Mother (credited as Rose Ross)
- Holden McGuire as Ike
- Billy Ray McQuade as Addley
- Robert Collins as Ernie
- Karl Sandys as The 'Dobber'
Release
Due to its scenes of violence and rape, Mother's Day is often considered an exploitation film. Although not particularly successful at the time of the release, it has since garnered a cult following among horror/exploitation fans.[citation needed]
The United Kingdom's film rating board (BBFC) rejected the film in 1980, banning it from distribution.[2] The film was shown several times on the Horror Channel between 2006–08, with no cuts[citation needed] but it was not passed for release on home media until 2015.[3]
In Australia, the film was originally passed uncut with an R 18+ in 1983 by the Australian censors but was later banned when reviewed in 1985.[4]
Reception
The film received mixed reviews; it currently holds a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[5] Roger Ebert famously despised the film, giving it zero stars in a review and saying how disgusted he was at its violence, gore, rape and torture during "Sneak Previews", writing "The question of why anyone of any age would possibly want to see this movie remains without an answer."[6]
Home media
Mother's Day received a VHS release in the mid-80s by Media Home Entertainment, and later by Video Treasures. It was released on DVD in 2000[7] by Troma Entertainment. The Blu-ray was released September 4, 2012 by Anchor Bay Entertainment.[8]
The film was released for the first time in the United Kingdom as Number 02 of 88 Films "Slasher's Classics Collection" series on Blu-ray on February 23 2015.
Remake
A remake of Mother's Day has been completed. The new version is directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and produced by Brett Ratner.[9] The remake was released at Fantastic Fest in September 2010 and in the United Kingdom in June 2011. The film received several push backs, but was released on DVD, and Blu-ray, March 8, 2012.
References
- ^ "Mother's Day (1980) - Trivia". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
- ^ "Mother's Day (R)". British Board of Film Classification. 1980-10-12. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
- ^ "Mother's Day". British Board of Film Classification. 2015-02-23. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
- ^ "Mother's Day". Refused Classification. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
- ^ Mother's Day at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ Ebert, Roger (1980-12-01). "Mother's Day Movie Review & Film Summary (1980)". Roger Ebert. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
- ^ Mother's Day. "Mother's Day: Tiana Pierce, Nancy Hendrickson, Deborah Luce, Frederick Coffin, Michael McCleery, Beatrice Pons, Robert Collins, Peter Fox, Marsella Davidson, Kevin Lowe, Scott Lucas, Ed Battle, Charles Kaufman, Alexander Beck, Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Herz, Michael Kravitz, Warren Leight: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
- ^ Dee, Jake (2012-06-08). "Exclusive: Anchor Bay remasters original Mother's Day on DVD & finally releases it on Blu-ray this fall! - Horror Movie News | Arrow in the Head". Joblo.com. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
- ^ "He Finally Hit Puberty! 'The Toxic Avenger' Remake Confirmed | News Article". FEARnet. 2010-04-07. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
External links
- Mother's Day at IMDb
- Template:Allrovi movie
- Mother's Day at Rotten Tomatoes
- Mother's Day – on the Troma Entertainment movie database
- Overview in New York Times