Picture Mommy Dead (1966)

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

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

I have a strange and inexplicable fondness for horror movies that feature eerie & sinister nursery rhymes… So, in spite of the mediocre rating and overall negative reviews around here, I already knew I was going to love "Picture Mommy Dead" from the very first minutes, because it opens with grim images of a woman's bedroom on fire and Zsa Zsa Gabor lying dead amidst the flames, and we simultaneously hear a kids' choir gently singing: "The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out… in your stomach and out your mouth!" All this happens even before the equally macabre opening credits appear on screen. To me personally, there aren't many better ways to begin a horror movie. Furthermore I also shamelessly admit being an admirer of director Bert I. Gordon, even though he's widely considered as one of the worst in the genre and frequently the target of mockery in popular shows like MST3K. Although his oversized animal attack movies ("Food of the Gods", "Empire of the Ants") are undeniably more entertaining, "Picture Mommy Dead" might very well be Mr. BIG's finest achievements. Sure it's still a little rough around the edges, with some very inept editing and far too many dialogs that are overlong and laughably melodramatic, but nevertheless also an atmospheric film with seriously sick & disturbing themes and several powerfully uncomfortable sequences. Edward Shelley goes to pick up his teenage daughter Susan in the secluded convent where she spent several years in order to process the traumatizing death of her mother. Susan is the primary heiress of her mother's fortune, which unwarily brings her in a lot of danger. Daddy got married again, with Susan's former governess Francine. She's a totally immoral and money-hungry woman who constantly manipulates Susans as well as her own husband, and she even non-stop suggests calling a head-doctor in order to accelerate Susan's return to the madhouse. There's also creepy Uncle Anthony, a nastily scarred freak who whispers in Susan's ear – in great detail – how her mother slowly and painfully burned to death. Even her own beloved daddy behaves mysteriously, because he's completely broke and only has access to the inheritance in case Susan dies or gets declared insane again. The poor girl soon begins to suffer from awful nightmares and vivid hallucinations, but are they real or inflicted on her by her hypocrite family members? Martha Hyer truly gives a remarkable performance as the wicked stepmother! Her exaggeratedly phony and hypocrite attempts to help Susan remember the whereabouts of a valuable necklace definitely form the highlights of the film! Also impressive are the numerous hallucination sequences, which are quite perverse and shocking for 1966. We have bleeding paintings, diabolical dolls, accusing furry animals and even a spontaneously combusting Zsa Zsa Gabor! In order to quickly cash in on the huge contemporary success of "The Birds", Bert I. Gordon is even clever enough to insert a couple of fierce falcon-attack sequences. The climax is deliciously demented and I daresay even somewhat romantic (in a sick and perverted kind of way). Apart from the aforementioned Martha Hyer and Zsa Zsa Gabor, "Picture Mommy Dead" also features notable and atypical performances from Don Ameche and Bert's own daughter Susan Gordon. Recommended, of course, what else did you think?

Picture Mommy Dead (1966) * 1/2 (out of 4)Boring horror film about a teen (Susan Gordon) who gets released from a mental hospital a short time after seeing her mom (Zsa Zsa Gabor) burned to death. Upon her release, her father (Don Ameche) and his new wife (Martha Hyer) appear to be trying to help the girl before she starts to unravel after seeing visions of her mother. Is the teen cracking up or is something trying to drive her crazy? This was directed by Bert I. Gordon, the man behind those giant bug movies and it's clear to see early on that he wasn't the right man for the job. I'm not going to place all of the blame on Gordon but there's no doubt that he adds very little to the material but then again the material itself is rather weak. The majority of the movie consists of two people standing around talking about the past, present and the future. The two people scenario is constant throughout the film with the only thing changing is which two people are doing the talking. These dialogue scenes are so poorly shot that you can't help but grow tired of them very quickly. Gordon doesn't add any life to them as the camera just stays flat and never doing anything. The entire surprise of what actually happened reaches the point where you really don't care and that's never good for a film like this. The performances aren't that bad with Ameche at least trying to deliver something worth while. I thought Gordon was also good in her part but the screenplay certainly didn't offer her much. Hyer and Maxwell Reed are also good in their roles. PICTURE MOMMY DEAD has a good title but that's pretty much it. It's another one of those horror-thrillers that followed PSYCHO but could never reach as high.

This is one of schlock producer Bert I Gordon's best films. After watching her mother Jessica (Zsa Zsa Gabor) die in a mysterious fire, young Susan Shelley (Susan Gordon) is sent to a convent/mental hospital where she remains for three years. In the meantime, her father Edward (Don Ameche) has married Susan's former governess, Francene (Martha Hyer) who is also his former mistress. After Susan's release from the hospital, she returns with her father and stepmother to the family estate. Immediately, the familiar surroundings bring back visions of her dead mother, as well as a gnawing suspicion that it was she herself who is responsible for her mother's death. Meanwhile, the money-hungry Francene, who has exhausted her husband's share of his late wife's bequest, begins a campaign to return Susan to the hospital for good--thereby gaining the half million dollar inheritance held in trust for her. Enlisting the help of Susan's cousin Anthony (British actor Maxwell Reed and former husband of Joan Collins), Francene also seeks to learn the whereabouts of a magnificent diamond necklace she is sure Susan has hidden. An atmospheric production, filmed at the old Doheny estate in Beverly Hills, the scene of many subsequent films, an attractive musical score by Robert Drasnin, and fine acting by all (including Miss Gordon, the director's daughter) give this murder mystery spice. And the beautiful Martha Hyer gives it class. Look for screen veterans Signe Hasso (as a nun) Wendell Corey (as the family lawyer) and Anna Lee (as a friend of Jessica). A very good novelization of the screenplay was written by screenwriter Robert Sherman. Incidentally, the pressbook synopsis has a different ending!

This is one of those movies I saw as a young kid back in the late 60's that always stuck with me, so creepy when I was little and now that I am older it is just plain campy!!!! Susan Gordon overacts playing the demented daughter of Don Ameche and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Seems Susan comes out of a convent or was it a mental institution? Anyway, she's got major issues since her Mom burned to death in the family mansion. Now Daddy Warbucks has married her former nanny, sleazily played to the hilt by Martha Hyer. The nanny wants all of Daddy's money and is willing to do anything and anyone in order to get it. I love the scene where the toys are coming alive, pretty creepy stuff when you are 8 years old and not too bad now that I'm 43. Lot's of fun to watch and the ending comes as somewhat of a surprise. Enjoy.