Mother's Day (2010)

Wonderful character development!

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

When I saw that Darren Lynn Bousman (director of 'Saw 2, 3 & 4') had done another horror/thriller film which had been received well I knew I had to see it. I have to say it was a very different film to that which I was expecting, but I certainly enjoyed it nonetheless. The opening scene of the film (a very well done scene by the way) heavily implies that the tone will lean very much in the direction of horror. In reality though this plays out much more like a situational thriller, and only really some strong moments of violence put it in any way into the horror category.The film's biggest strength is its story arc. With the exception of the opening scene the story starts out very mild tempered and even gets into a bit of a lull at about the halfway point. Then things pick up slowly and evenly and it all builds to an electric final 30 minutes. I really liked this way of telling the story because it makes everything that happens in the end that much more satisfying.There's actually a lot going on here. I was surprised how strong some of the characters turned out to be. That's very rare in these types of films. The character of 'Mother' in particular was quite brilliant and acted like a glue to hold the entire film together. I was thoroughly impressed by 'Mother's Day' and would definitely recommend it if you get the chance to see it.

This isn't a straight remake of Charles Kaufman's 1980 cult favorite Mother's Day. Bousman & his Co. what did here is sometimes what we can regard as "re-imagining" an idea or plot. The premise and even the characters are almost significantly different here as the redneck family in the woods replaced by an extended family of criminals under the influence of a psycho-Mom and instead of having just 2 boys, this time mommy dearest got three sons and a daughter! So it all started when after a bank robbery gone wrong, three brothers on the run from the law head for home, not knowing that their mother has already been evicted from the house. The new owners and their guests, gathered for an ill-timed birthday party, become the brothers' accidental hostages. As one of the brothers is already wounded; one of the hostages, a doctor, he is forced to treat him. And later the brothers' mother, the cold blooded gang leader, and their sister arrive. The way Bousman's version quickly set off to unfold the whole scenario I really started to appreciate & like the film as it progress with good pace & violence. But then, probably after the first-third or half, to make more than an 1 & half hour long film out of a hardly 60 minute story line, it really becomes an excuse to pit the hostages against one another. Forcing them to fight among themselves under imposed scenarios along the lines like "we will kill you both unless one of you kills the other first" not only grows tedious within the confines of the film, but it reminds that even when Mr. Bousman already left the SAW franchise, the tired Jigsaw twisty-tricks are still, intentionally or not, pretty much alive on his mind with the same old question..."what would you do or how far you would go to survive?" Thus, although having a fine premise & cast, it becomes bit annoying in few funny & stupid moments. And last but not the least, the ending! And that was the major disappointment. Overall, only considering the gore, violence & the pace of the film it was fairly entertaining. Worth a watch.

After an attempted bank robbery, 3 brothers head to their home to take refuge. However, as they arrive, they realise that it's not their house anymore and it now belongs to someone else. They take the house owners & their friends hostage, and call their mother. Mother arrives, and after some back & forth explaining, she informs their hostages that they will be let go...as long as they obey her rules and allow her to get what she came for. However, Mother's rules start to get broken one by one, so she is forced to teach them a lesson. As tensions start to build, the hostages become more & more desperate to find a way to escape before Mother & her boys decide to teach them one final lesson.Mother's Day is a really good psychological thriller filled with a good amount of tension and suspense. It doesn't take long to get going either, which is good because I've seen home invasion movies before where they just seem to drag on before anything of note really happens. That definitely isn't the case with Mother's Day. There honestly isn't a slow part in the movie as the pace is kept up really well, and there's a nice wee twist at the end also.Some people have said it was "poorly acted". My behind it was poorly acted as the whole cast do a stand-up job, especially Rebecca De Mornay as Mother, who is basically like an evil Martha Stewart. Patrick John Flueger, Warren Kole, and Matt O'Leary all do great jobs playing the sons, especially Kole who is just plain vicious. The majority of the characters are quite likable (apart from the obvious ones), but you do start to feel less sorry for some of them because of what some of them do and have done.The only thing that's a bit over-the-top is the amount of times that people get battered over the head with heavy objects and still get up as if nothing was wrong. Apart from that, Mother's Day is a very enjoyable ride.Great movie, well filmed, and well acted. Definitely recommended.

Three imbeciles are running from the law after a bank robbery and head to the house where they used to live that is now occupied by Beth and Daniel Sohapi. A party comes to a sickening halt when the bank robbers crash the party and threaten everybody's lives when Mother demands to know where the hidden money is, giving out a few harsh lessons in the process. This is a nominal remake of the original. Considering I didn't care for the original, my expectations were minimal for this one. I ended up being pleasantly surprised with this suspenseful and brutal thriller. This one isn't just about vulgarity and shock value like Troma's Mother's Day, this one has many interesting subplots at play, ranging from the loss of a child, adultery, betrayal, fabrication, among other things. It is a much more well-rounded script and let me just say that it will hit you with all the tension and violence. We get a pool ball smashed on someone's hand a few times, nasty wounds from the result of a face bashing. We also get vicious stabbings, but the worst might just be a face that is blown off with a shotgun. The acting is very good. Everyone is flawed in some fashion and far better looking than the Troma version, since it is very modernized and not set in the woods. Rebecca De Mornay is chilling as Mother. What I loved about her character the most was the clever ambiguity. She's a polarizing figure that alternates between sweet and sadistic. It always kept me on my toes. Rebecca is no stranger to crazy roles. Jaime King is excellent as our heroine. Her vulnerability was just perfect and she was easy to root for. Frank Grillo is a bit of a scumbag, but he played his part well. Shawn Ashmore does the nice guy routine very well. Briana Evigan doesn't have as much to do, but she's solid. There is an "Are you kidding me" moment at around 85 minutes in, but the thing that knocked me on my ass the most was the ending. It was downright cruel, but extremely effectiveFinal Thoughts: This one has a mean streak like no other. You'll wince a few times, even if you're a huge horror fan like I am. I personally thought it was a solid movie and much better than the Troma version. Speaking of the Troma version, I'm gonna have to revisit that one. It's been quite a while7.6/10