Mother's Day (2010)

Mother’s Day: Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman. With Rebecca De Mornay, Jaime King, Patrick John Flueger, Warren Kole. The sadistic members of a villainous family return to their childhood home to terrorize the new home owners and their guests.

“Now THIS is the type of horror movie remake that I – and surely many other avid genre fanatics with me – certainly donu0026#39;t mind seeing! The new film by Darren Lynn Bousman, who should have turned his back on the u0026quot;Sawu0026quot; franchise much sooner, is loosely based on a 1980 flick with the same title. The original u0026quot;Motheru0026#39;s Dayu0026quot; is an extremely low-budgeted and trashy production from the infamous Troma Studios. That film is obscure and totally insignificant, but at least the basic premise shows enough potential to entertain audiences even 30 years later. I really wished this is how horror remakes were usually handled. Thereu0026#39;s absolutely no necessity to recycle near-perfect classics such as u0026quot;A Nightmare on Elm Streetu0026quot; or u0026quot;The Fogu0026quot;. We need more directors who dig up forgotten gems and unleash an updated and vastly superior version! u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Motheru0026#39;s Dayu0026quot; basically your average thriller about a bunch of people getting home jacked and then subsequently submitted to humiliation, torture and emotional agony. The difference here, however, lies with the entire cast of characters. The homejackers are a totally unseen kind of dysfunctional family and yet the victims are often even more antipathetic. You know, the type of obnoxious and cowardly people prepared to sacrifice their so-called friends in order to save themselves. On the same night a tornado is about to pass through the area and cause a lot of damage, three brothers are on the lam after a failed bank robbery. The youngest one has a lethal bullet wound in his stomach and the three seek shelter in their nearby parental house. Unfortunately, their mother and sister were evicted a couple of months earlier and the house now belongs to Dan and Beth Sohapi, whou0026#39;re just having their friends over for a party. The Koffin brothers take the entire bunch hostage, but then their mommy arrives… Mother Koffin is an intelligent and sophisticated mature woman but, as to be expected, also a deeply disturbed and dangerous psychopath. The homejackers will not hesitate to kill, but the large amount of lies and deceits between the owners and their guests threatens to destroy them even sooner. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Motheru0026#39;s Dayu0026quot; is an exciting and occasionally even suspenseful horror tale full of gruesome torture/murder sequences and pitch black humor. It has to be said that, with a running time of 112 minutes, the film is a tad overlong and suffers from a few tedious moments near the finale. By that time, even the remarks and behavioral ticks of the mother are becoming a bit derivative. Speaking of which, the titular role means an awesome comeback for early 90u0026#39;s vixen Rebecca De Mornay. She was hot in that period thanks to popular thrillers like u0026quot;Guilty as Sinu0026quot;, u0026quot;Never Talk to Strangersu0026quot; and especially u0026quot;The Hand that Rocks the Cradleu0026quot; in which she already portrayed a lunatic nanny. De Mornay hasnu0026#39;t starred in anything significant in nearly 15 years, but now sheu0026#39;s back and she looks more ravishing than ever. u0026quot;Motheru0026#39;s Dayu0026quot; contains numerous bloody and hard-to-stomach images, including the eerie intro set in a hospital and a couple of excruciatingly painful confrontations between victims and kidnappers, so it will definitely be popular amongst young horror fanatics. The film does lack that typically raw and brutal edge, but you can hardly blame Darren Lynn Bousman for that, because true exploitation films are nearly impossible to come by these days. As stated before, this is the second film in which the young director showcases his exceptionally talented skills. This and particularly u0026quot;Repo! The Genetic Operau0026quot; are really cool movies and I hope Bousman doesnu0026#39;t return to the long-extinct u0026quot;Sawu0026quot; series.”