Movie Review: "Mother's Day"

When I got this movie, I could not watch it soon enough. Both my mother and myself have always loved to watch and joke about movies where the mother is a cold-blooded killer. "Serial Mom" and its many jocular moments have been a running joke in our family for years, so when I read the plot summary of "Mother's Day" I knew that this would quickly become another family favorite.

It certainly is now one of my favorites, though I don't think the rest of the family would agree. The movie begins with a group of adults celebrating a housewarming for a couple who recently lost their young son in a tragic accident. In the blink of an eye, the house is invaded by three criminals -- brothers -- who have just botched a robbery and are looking for their mother (the leader of their gang) to rectify the situation. What the brothers don't know: is that their mother had lost the house to foreclosure several months earlier. The brothers quickly subdue the party guests and finally get a call through to the mother to come for help.

What really shocked me about this movie, is that it took a route miles away from the more mainstream movies in the same vein... "Stepfather" sucked at the teat of popular thrillers and ended up being a terrible movie. "Mother's Day" -- however -- went to the extreme opposite and made itself an amazing movie. The scenes of violence put the "Saw" franchise to-shame. Several of the more gory and torturous scenes actually had me wondering if I could finish the movie.

The violence may have seemed over-the-top if it weren't for the incredibly strong plot and downright evil character of "Mother", played flawlessly by Rebecca De Mornay. In-fact, De Mornay's performance in this film may possibly be one of the finest of her career: chilling yet humorous, sadistic yet ethical, and motherly yet unconventional.

All-in-all... I would say that this is one of the best horror/thriller's I've seen in quite a while.

Definitely worth a watch on your day off.