MOTHER'S DAY

I am a proud devotee to Troma... "Toxie's Movie Group" is even a reference to them. In 1980 they made a movie called Mother's Day. It was a ripper of a flick too. Sadistic, depraved and quirky... and now over 30 years later we have the remake. I oppose most remakes, but there was a weird sense of gratification knowing that a Troma film was being given the attention of being remade. I have just watched it and the verdict is that this bares little resemblance to the original. This new version tells of a group of friends taking shelter in a suburban basement during an imminant tornado. While partying down stairs a family of hardened criminals busts into the house, injured and pissed off. This is their old house and while out of state, they were unaware that their mother lost it to the IRS. Mother turns up and the brutality begins. She's a psychotic, controlling woman with strong morals and convictions... we've seen similar characters before. The original film was set in the woods with a family of redneck hillbilly's holding 3 girls hostage. The mother in that film was simply mental and coaxed her children to rape, torture and murder. Again, the two movies are apples and oranges. Lloyd Kaufman of Troma produced this redo but I imagine it was a financial decision. The pay cheque may have funded a new Troma classic.... this new version ain't bad. Just another home invasion movie... but made well enough to hold me until the end. Rebecca DeMornay overdoes the mother character, however, and the movie is about 20 minutes too long. I've come to expect style from director Darren Lynn Bousman and he delivers that!