Maternal Instincts

I saw this film one night when I was sleeping during the day and was awake through the night. I think I was about 14 when I saw it and I have to say that even now, three years later when I think about it I feel completely sick. It was just completely twisted as far as I am concerned and I watch horror movies all the time with no problem.

The whole thing of this calculating character, her motives weren't set up effectively and stalking her gynecologist was just all completely wrong and you could see the contrivance behind the whole thing. I really wouldn't recommend watching this film unless you have a really strong constitution because it's completely sick and demented.

Delta Burke pulls quite a Jekyll & Hyde in this TV-made rip-off of "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle". A childless woman, desperate to have a baby, must undergo an emergency hysterectomy to save her life; upon recovery, she feels her chances at having a family have been stolen and goes after the female doctor who performed the surgery, systematically ruining the woman's life and career. Exploitation of real-life horrors is played to the hilt by Burke, twinkling like an evil, overgrown pixie. Still, it's shameful swill, and one is almost embarrassed to get caught up in the outrageous plot contrivances, amusing as they are. That said, the climactic showdown doesn't quite work (it's the only sequence which is awkwardly staged) and the "Psycho"-inspired tag at the end pushes the seriousness of the subject (revenge, kidnapping, etc.) into camp territory that renders the rest of the movie cartoonish.

This is a revenge on all those who wronged me film, this one starring the wonderful Delta Burke. I doubt anyone involved took this movie very seriously. Delta is totally over the top, intentionally, I think, as a woman who goes nuts after a hysterectomy is performed to save her life. Her husband and best friend were part of the decision to do the surgery. Tracy, the main character, goes after everyone involved, her husband, the friend, the doctor, the doctor's husband, determined to destroy them. It's a long list. The phrase "I wouldn't want to run into her in a dark alley" does not apply here. You don't want to run into this woman while she's in a car, a field, a building, your office, her house, your house - no place. There is an especially funny scene where Tracy, eye makeup smeared, watches her doctor on television. You can just see the madness in her eyes.

Delta Burke wears her own designs for plus-size women in the film, and she looks great. She has an Elizabeth Taylor face - to me, she always exudes beauty. She plays this role for all its worth. It's right on the edge of camp - actually, maybe it slid to the other side.

Executive produced by Delta Burke, she is a pregnant woman who loses her baby when it is discovered she has cancer of the left ovary, and her doctor Eva Warden (Beth Broderick) performs a hysterectomy rather than remove the ovary. Burke then seeks vengence on Dr Warden - her home, her practice, her husband, her baby, and her life. Burke throws herself into all this with abandon, playing along with the campy direction by George Kaczender. Styled in her own Design wardrobe, she looks beautiful, a bit like Roseanne, particularly when wearing a red seductress dress with plunging neckline. Burke is very funny whether having a tantrum in a toilet stall or throwing pencils over her shoulder after she stubs out the point. The teleplay by Lisa Friedman Bloch and Kathy Kirtland Silverman makes Burke infantile in her anger, with a large doll collection, the kind of person who yells when they attack. That she has such good fortune in carrying out her plans makes the denouement disappointing,and the end definitely suggests a sequel was contemplated.

Just shown or re-shown on cable tv here, I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful melo-drama. Deranged patient takes revenge on her doctor and the star of this film is without doubt the "wicked witch" villainess. Her performance is in the mould of Bett Davis and she has great screen presence and is a star for sure. With an excellent supporting cast the movie is hilarious yet highly watchable; why is it that the "baddies" always seem more interesting than the "goodies"? Hopefully we can at same date have a Maternal Instinct 2......with of course the same wicked witch in the lead.....!