User reviews

I introduced this Troma gem to my partner when we first started dating. She is a wonderful mom and an avid horror movie fan. We now watch it every year on Mother's Day. It's just the right mix of funny, gory and '80s cheese.

MORD39 RATING: *** out of ****

Let's get something straight: This movie is offensive. It features an old mom urging her two misfit sons to brutally rape, torture, abuse, and murder young women for her entertainment. BUT IT'S BRILLIANT, AND WELL DONE FOR ITS TYPE.

With a shlocky piece of exploitation like this, we rarely if ever get a story and character development in the mix. The story of a group of young women planning a weekend getaway for their reunion celebration first provides us with background history detailing their personalities and personal problems. We get to know these girls...and once they get "caught" by the family of crazies, we share their dilemma.

I might also say that the surprise beginning really grabbed me (I first saw the movie in a theatre in 1980 and had no clue what was going to happen), and the ending is also pretty good.

As gruesome as these killers are in the film, you almost feel for them too. You sense that the imbecile sons are victims of their overbearring mother, and have had no proper upbringing to keep them from being such animals. Even mother is pathetic in a pitiful way.

MOTHER'S DAY will probably never be respected, and it is not for everybody. But I respect it and feel it stands out far in front of zillions of other exploitation/slasher knock-off's.

This movie is completely insane.

It has every single idea and the kitchen sink shoved into a script. It is so unhinged it just seems to bounce around from scene to scene franticly. It is so fun to watch.

I also think there are bones of a great story buried in here somewhere. The relationship between the main characters is heartwarming sometimes, it just needs polishing up.

The villains however, Jesus Christ. They are like evil cartoon characters that may also be stunt men but also amateur actors?? They are the most bizarre horror villains I have ever seen. They have no purpose for what they do, the things they do are just insane and I don't mean like killing people.

This movie is a slasher/horror but it has like comedy/coming of age flashbacks that feel like they are out of a totally different movie. This is honestly one of the most insane films, it has a mind of its own.

And I didn't know if it knew what it was doing was going to make people laugh. One of the final parts is the most bizarre thing Iv seen but from my understanding it's meant to be serious? But it's hilarious.

Watch this movie but be warned there is one very uncomfortable scene that I really wish wasn't in this movie because it's gross and takes away from this camp disaster.

Just a trashy B-movie movie from the '80s. Funny and problematic o the right point, it works a lot if you're looking for 1h30m of cheap thrills. Troma's simply the best!

I was expecting a pretty trashy early 80s Rape & Revenge flick, and that's exactly what I got. But honestly I thought it was made better than I thought it was gonna be. Rape and revenge films is the only type of horror genre I hate so it's no surprise this one disgusted me like many others. But compared to others I've seen it wasn't the most graphic. Don't get me wrong it's pretty graphic & a lot of scenes with the girls getting assaulted was hard to watch almost, but I think I've seen much more violent movies than this. My favorite thing about the movie though was the friendship and bond between the three girls. They're pretty likeable and it was heartbreaking to see them tortured so rough. But we all know movies like this the Killers always get what they deserve and it is very much satisfying. The mother and the two brothers while cartoonish play their parts pretty well. Although I didn't laugh at any humor cuz I don't think movies like this should have humor. And I must say I didn't expect the mother to meet her end like that 😐. Their house was also quite something to look at. Piles of trash in every corner you have no problem believing this is a crazy redneck house. The movie has themes of consumerism and it's all throughout with stuff like a box of Trix cereal and a Sesame Street clock. I must also say while the ending had a bit of a setup it came off pretty out of place and ridiculous.

What more can I say it's definitely an experience for sure & definitely had effort put into it. But again as someone who hates seeing women get assaulted it's not for me.

A trio of girlfriends go into the woods for a camping getaway and end up kidnapped and terrorized by a deranged woman and her two vicious sons.

More Last House on the Left than Friday the 13th, Mother's Day is a sick and twisted film that still has a decent sense of humor most of the time. The three leads are likable enough to root for them to break out of the hell they're going through and the three villains are admirably evil and disgusting enough to give you the creeps and pray that the three leads will give them a taste of their own medicine.

Mother's Day is sick, twisted and demented but this is a Troma movie and they wouldn't want it any other way! Falling somewhere between a regular slasher of the 1980's and early tropes of what a Troma movie has come to represent (exploitation, graphic gore, cartoon violence, surreal ideas, dark humour and of course a very low budget) this early effort from founder and producer Lloyd Kaufman and his kid brother director Charles Kaufman find their way into the horror market with quite a well made and albeit controversial film that I was ready to dislike but found strangely compelling.

Later Troma movies feel more tacky, more self deprecating, silly and shoddy but Mother's Day wants to earn it's horror chops so it's not quite as extreme or as exploitative as later output from the studio however this is still an uncomfortable watch as it effortlessly sucks you into a world of depravity.

A group of girl friends go camping for their annual meet up only to be violently attacked by two strange feral like men who rape, kill and torture just for fun, with the twist here being they are doing it to gain their Mother's approval and for her amusement. The family are clearly insane and should be locked up but they are on the loose for our entertainment and it's up to the group of friends to survive the ordeal and fight back.

Veteran actress Beatrice Pons, best known for being in the 1960's TV sitcom Car 54, Where Are You hams it up to chilling effect as the sick Mother who demands more depravity from her sons who are more than willing to please her every whim. The characters are not as one dimensional as you might expect from a movie like this and it has some shocking moments of gore to keep horror fans happy but the overall feel of hopeless dread, decay and filth is where it's most effective with tense moments and consistent nastiness of the brothers played with terrifying glee by Michael McCleery and Gary Pollard.

Troma would go on to develop cult characters, be more extreme with horror and violence and add a dark cartoonish humour to the likes of The Toxic Avenger (1984), Sgt Kabukiman N. Y. P. D. (1990) and Class of Nuke 'em High (1986) to name of few. Followed by a remake in 2010.

When I saw that Troma produced this, I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch this. While I enjoy their films, I wasn't in the mood for something as silly as those usually are. Mother's Day, thankfully, isn't quite like any other Troma film I've seen. It's mean, bleak, and nasty at times, but also has just enough of a sense of humor to keep the movie from being unbearable.

In the film, three girlfriends reconnect for a weekend of camping and are captured by two redneck brothers and their psychotic mother who want to use them for their own sick and twisted games.

When Mother's Day wants to get nasty, it goes all the way in. The disturbing moments stick with you and make you feel lousy and disgusted. You really root for these girls to overcome their troubles and get revenge which makes the final act so much more satisfying.

Mother's Day (1980) is currently available on Tubi. The storyline follows three young ladies off on a camping trip. Little do they know a mother and her two boys live in the woods looking to torture and have their way with young ladies. Can they band together and survive their attackers or will they be their next victims?

This movie is directed by icon Charles Kaufman (Jakarta) and stars Tiana Pierce (The Concrete Jungle), Nancy Hendrickson (Boomers), Deborah Luce, Beatrice Pons (Car 54, Where Are You?), Robert Carnegie (Knight Rider) and Robert Collins (The Ref).

This is a movie that's horror element relies on the characters and circumstances more than gore and brutal kills. Most of the good kills are at the very beginning and very end. I will say the opening car scene is very well done and was probably my favorite scene in the movie. The cast delivers entertaining performances. The dialogue is hilarious and well written and the circumstances are random and fun. The mother and her two sons are perfectly depicted and the victims/torture scene had a "I Spit on Your Grave" feel to it. The opening party made me wish I was there. That had to be a fun scene to create.

Overall, this is far from perfect but an absolute must watch for horror enthusiasts. I would score this a 7/10 and strongly recommend it.

I saw this film in its theatre release. I have never viewed any movie with more gratuitous violence. The plot was meant to deliver suspense, when all the viewer gets is more senseless violence.

The 2 male lead actors are repulsive morons who kidnap 3 young women, for the sole purpose of tieing them up and repeatedly raping them -- all to the apparent delight of their elderly (yet no less deranged) mother. Eventually the victims turn tables on their captors.

What a wonderful Mother's Day present! Disgusting and sick. This film is an embarrassment to the industry! What message is such a women-hating film sending to adolescent males (who likely comprise almost the entire target audience). Is rape cool? Do women ask for it? Is violence fun? These are the images shown in this so called piece of "entertainment". And we wonder why we are such a violent society.

This film is certainly not for everybody, but it is actually so refreshing to see a movie that is done in this way. It is exploitation at it's finest. It is comedy at it's most tragic! A simple plot mixed with darn good acting, and impressive makeup effects...you really can't go wrong.

In my opinion, while still in the same vein as Last House on the Left and I Spit on your Grave, it is not as good. Spit being the best of the 3, but each of them has something to offer.

If you're not sure you can watch it, let me give you this scene as an example...one deranged man rapes a woman while his brother takes Kodak Polaroids, and their mother instructs them and leads them on...sound bad, yeah, but take it for what it is. Silly, odd disturbing nonsense. But it was more a "mood" movie, based around the characters and settings vs. the horror of rape and disturbing shots. This kind of horror sound like your thing? Then you're in luck, it's worth it.

This movie left me feeling dirty. It's not "scary" exactly, nor is it suspenseful...nor, for that matter, does it really have a plot to speak of. It's basically a home video of rednecks raping city girls (who later get revenge, but that doesn't seem to be the real point of the movie). It's not sexy enough to be porn and not scary enough to be horror; instead, when it's not boring, it's just sick.

My score: 3/10. Watchable perhaps for students of feminism, cultural studies, or for die-hard horror fans. Perhaps also doable at 4am when nothing else is on. Otherwise, too exploitive to register.

As a fan of Troma and Lloyd Kaufman, I must say that this film is excellent in the horror genre. When I first saw this, I was 15 and it was in June. I thought of it as a good, but "meh" film. Just recently, I picked up the DVD at Barnes & Noble (the DVD has excellent transfer, by the way), I gave it another watch, and I totally LOVED IT!!! Firstly, I love the idea of not just one crazy psychotic killer, but a whole family of them. Ike and Addley (the two sons) are very underrated killers in horror, and should be recognized more. My favorite scene has got to be the opening scene where the man gets killed with a machete. It creates the mood for this film, and both the setup and execution are excellent. A great use of slow-mo for this scene.

Second, the characters are wonderful. I feel bad for Jackie. All her life, she has been pushed over and used. I'm not gonna give anything away, but I feel bad for what happens to her.

Finally, I love how we get to see how the killers spend their days. I love how Ike and Addley live and act like children. I can certainly feel something when Ike says "You killed my brother!" It sounds just like something a little boy would say, and the way he says it is child-like, too.

Overall, this movie is wonderful. Definitely a movie I don't regret picking up at Barnes and Noble (unlike the Wayne's World 2-for-1 pack, which had no special features, whereas the separate DVDs had tons). But sadly, this is one of those movies where people like to look at it as an abomination of some sort to the world of film. I think people should learn to have fun with this film. Just go in to this film with a fun mood.

And oh yeah, the remake. Well, I've heard bad reviews on this one (but that doesn't stop me from seeing a movie), and judging by the cover, it doesn't have the charm that the original one had. It looks like one of those horror movies where everything is serious, everyone is cranky, and there are cuss words up the butt. But then, I saw the special features on the Mother's Day (1980) DVD, and a majority of them feature the director of the remake. He seemed really passionate about the original and seemed like a guy who wouldn't want to screw up the original when it comes to a remake. I don't really plan on seeing this remake in the future, but I might for curiosity's sake, and the enthusiasm of the director. I must say, he is really energetic about the original film. He tried looking for the actors who played Ike and Addley (but couldn't find them, since the names of the actors were supposedly aliases), has interviewed the director, and has told his life story about his interest in the film. I like this guy.

EDIT: The director of the remake was only in one special feature, the actual person I was referring to was Eli Roth, and the movie he wanted Ike and Addley in was Cabin Fever, not Cabin in the Woods. Sorry about that.

I saw this movie yesterday night. And I didn't know the movie was gonna blow so hard. It's a total piece of sh*t. I couldn't believe how much it sucked. It was one of those 3 pretty and defenseless old college roommates who spend their little reunion in the woods. Of course there are some horny rapist rednecks and their deranged mom that try to kill them. Of course this was another one of those 80's horror/slasher movies. This was supposed to be scary but I almost fell asleep. You really should not see this movie but if you want to see a complete ripoff then be my guest. I give this 1/2 * out of *****.It was completely sh*tty.

Three women go out on their annual trip to the woods where they fish, talk, smoke and enjoy themselves. They are kidnapped by two moronic hillbilly men who bring them home for their mother. They rape, torture and beat one of the woman to death while the mother watches. The other two escape and plot their revenge.

This movie isn't as bad as it sounds. The violence and gore here is strong and disturbing but I found this a lot less offensive than "Last House on the Left" and "I Spit on Your Grave". Those two seemed to find some sort of pleasure out of showing innocent women being tortured, raped and beaten. This movie doesn't come off that way. We identify with the women from the very beginning and are rooting for them all the way through. The mother and her sons are shown as sick, repellent people from the beginning. The violence is, as I said, strong but this movie has very little nudity like the other two do. And the finale is certainly a rouser (in a sick sort of way).

The acting is surprisingly not bad. No one is fantastic, but no one is horrible either. The actress playing the mother is especially good. Also for a low budget picture this looks incredibly good--bright vivid colors and professionally shot. Good music score too which perfectly fits the mood of the picture.

It isn't perfect-it has its dull spots, the comedy is terrible and the ending was just lousy. Still, if you have a strong stomach and want a taste of good old graphic 80s horror, this is for you!

Leaves you with an awful, dreary feeling. Almost feels like a homemade video of some murderous inbreds. Frightening but trashy. Cheesy but believable. Corny but scary. I don't know how to describe it, I do know that I never want to see it again because of the horrible drearyness it left me with.

Mother's Day is not only one of the earliest productions from Troma Studios, but it is also one of their more accomplished efforts (which, to be honest, isn't difficult given some of the absolute tripe they have made since they began). Although the film at first appears to be your typical Kaufmann/Herz trash, with amateurish acting, cartoonish characters, and an occasional attempt at puerile humour (the scene with the gormless stud left naked in the baseball field is a good example of this), it gradually develops into an irresistible combination of dark satire and straight-up, nasty exploitation.

Part Texas Chainsaw Massacre, part Last House on the Left, and part Friday the 13th, with just a little bit of Deliverance thrown in for good measure, Mother's Day is a gleefully twisted take on the popular backwoods horror sub-genre. Deep in the wilderness, 'mother' can enjoy all that she considers good about the city (popular culture via TV, and cheap consumer goods) without actually having to live there; the only drawback is that she lives in constant fear of attack from her savage sister Queenie, who lives wild in the woods. Fortunately she is protected by her two devoted and demented homicidal sons, Ike (Holden McGuire) and Addley (Billy Ray McQuade).

In order to keep her boys in tip-top fighting condition, she has trained them in the art of combat, using abducted hitch-hikers and back-packers to practise their techniques on. The terrible twosome bite off more than they can chew, however, when they kidnap three young women who are spending their weekend camping in the area: after one of the girls is raped and murdered by the sicko siblings, the remaining pair plan their escape and wreak bloody vengeance on their captors (attacking them with a variety of objects, including an axe, a TV set, and some Drano!).

With its wicked parody of consumerism (the hideous family greedily devour junk food and collect mass-produced merchandising), wry swipes at new-age thinking and motherhood, and a fun 'surprise' ending, this film manages to be smarter than your average Troma tat, whilst still delivering the raw violence and sleaze that fans demand.

What a shame Troma didn't continue in this vein, rather than resorting to churning out countless Z-grade B-movies designed to appeal to undiscerning adolescents.

Er...what can i say about Mother's Day. I just watched it last night after being desperate to see it for ages. I had the DVD imported from the US to the UK and was it worth it. Certainly not, but on the brighter side at least now my mind is put at rest and i can forget about this movie. What we have here is just what i expected from a Troma movie, lots of wacky bad humour, over the top gore scenes and alot of time wasting to make up the 90 minutes. Can someone tell me what happened in the final scene just as it goes to the credits. It was stupid and i still don't know what happened. I want to say at least one nice thing so here it is, there is a scene early in the movie where the blonde takes off her shoes to walk barefoot through a dirtroad and steps right on a big piece of dung. That scene was funny and i had a good laugh, the only time i laughed through the whole movie. Because of this one good scene i will be generous and rate Mother's Day 2/10. You will get the impression this movie is a comedic version of Last house on the left, so if that sounds good to you, give it a go but i think Troma movies were made to be bad.

A horror comedy that pulled it off.

Three college chums, all ladies, head to the woods for a reunion and step into a low-budget, female version of 'Deliverance.'

A young Fred Coffin and 'Billy Ray McQuade' (he was one of Dudley Smith's sycophants in L.A. Confidential too) play a couple of backwoods cretins that torture, humiliate, and kill for their mama.

The title was nothing more than an attempt to cash in on all the holiday based slasher flicks that were all the rage at the time.

Did anyone notice the subversiveness? The anti-consumerism message that sneaked in there years before the late great Bill Hicks was doing it.

This movie won't go away. That's a good thing. It deserves to be as famous as Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street. If you find it, check it out.

You don't expect much when you are about to watch a movie as notorious as this one. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised how good this movie is. First of all, our three heroines are more interesting and likable than more than half of the characters that appear in the genre. Their chemistry is great and first half an hour of the movie look like a comfy girl road trip movie. Then they get captured by the crazy family and we actually care for them. But, the thing is, girls are smart and capable of taking care of themselves and it's such a refreshment from helpless heroines or over the top ones on the other hand. The rest of the movie is filled with a lot of tension and thrills, until the girl decide to bring the fight back to the family. There is a lot of humour in the movie and I genuinely laughed on some of the scenes. All in all, it is what it is. It's satirical, it's over the top, it's exploitative (features an infamous rape scene) and the cheap ending scene can go to hell, but all taken into account, "Mother's Day" is a movie made with love and care and despite it's low budget it manages to be an entertaining ride. I recommend to horror movie fans and to casuals who can stomach some brutality because the movie is far from a travesty and pure mindless violence as some make it to be.

I like this movie. When I was a teenager and I first saw it I loved it. Of course then I was enthralled with gore fests. This movie is definitely gory but when I was 13 the satirical vibe was somewhat lost on me. You see Mother moves her two "mama's boys" to the woods. Where she can take what is good from the city and leave the rest behind. What is "good" are all the things you see on TV from Fonzie to breakfest cereals. The house they live in is a marvel of production values. Two thirds of the budget alone had to have gone into decorating the house. It certainly didn't go into the Special effects. Such as the shoddy moment of blood spattering before decapitation occurs. As early 80's slice and dice goes this far outshines the typical camper in peril scenerio. We are introduced to the three main (victims) characters and we even get meaningful flashbacks in their lives. This makes it a little harder to take when they are brutalized. All in all Mother's Day ain't Life is Beautiful but why would you be that aisle of the video store unless you wanted to see some inbred choke on Drano.