Three friends since high school known as The Rat Pack plan a weekend camping vacation to Deep Barrens in New Jersey. They are suddenly captured by two hillbillies who take the three women home to their demented mother who detains them and plans to torture and kill them one by one.

I first learnt of Mother’s Day as it was included in John McCarty’s excellent book, The Modern American Horror Film. I finally got to see the film when I first visited Los Angeles and found a DVD copy in Amoeba Records.

The wait was worth it. Mother’s Day is brutal, funny, perceptive and completely mental. In other words, great cinema.

I love how the victims suddenly seize the reins of power and change the film from a straightforward horror flick into being a tale of revenge for the death of one of the trio.

I also love how the hillbillies house resembles a kind of shrine to pop culture with the Big Bird alarm clock, the John Travolta poster and Happy Days lunchbox being three such objects adorning their abode. The TV is always on in the house and the TV will feature prominently in one of the film’s later scenes. I also love how their house is decorated with the son’s graffiti. They have a great idea of how to furnish a house.

Mother’s Day also features some of the most innovative kills I’ve ever seen. Death by Drano is a first and I love the fact that there’s death by suffocation with the aid of a huge pair of inflatable breasts. In fact, this scene harks back to an earlier scene which I thought was inventive as with the scene featuring a fake knife sticking out of one of the women’s backs.

Mother’s Day was directed by Charles Kaufman and distributed by his brother Lloyd as one of the first titles for his Troma label. It was unfortunately banned outright by the BBFC when submitted for cinema release. It took decades for the film to be eventually released uncut on Blu-Ray in the UK.

The film was also remade as a Hollywood film decades later. My advice to you is to stick with the 1980 original.

Mother’s Day is an absolute hoot and one of my favourite Troma movies.

4.5 out of 5 stars