by Saintmort Guilty Pleasures: Mother’s Day (1980)

I love Troma. This is not an unknown fact. I’ve always loved Troma, since I was a young kid and watched Toxic Crusaders. The first thing that truly scared the shit out of me was when I was a little kid at my uncle’s house and I saw the cover of Toxic Avenger and immediately recognized Toxie. I put it on and was terrified by the mutation sequence as well as a scene where Toxie pokes someone’s eyeballs out.

In Junior High I rediscovered Troma when I borrowed my friend’s copy of the movie and watched the entire film. It was great. Tits, Gore… really nothing to not love. I began collecting all the Troma titles I could, buying all the Lloyd Kaufman books and on a couple occasions met Lloyd (I even had him as a guest on my podcast The Saint Mort Show).

That being said even I can say that their films aren’t all winners. Kaufman has a pretty flawless career, but most of the films that they acquire don’t reach the bar of excellence that Lloyd is able to achieve. For every Cannibal the Musical there’s a ten Newlydeads.

However one of the most impressive films in their collection is Mother’s Day, directed by Kaufman’s brother Charlie. The film is a demented backwoods slasher film made in 1980 talks about a road trip from hell.

Three college friends take their yearly trip together. This year their trip is a camping trip, however it’s quickly ruined when they’re kidnapped by two boys and their demented mother. The rest of the film is the two brothers beating and raping the women based on their mother’s demands and guidance.

While the film was released after rape revenge films like Last House on the Left and I Spit on Your Grave, it was released the same year as Friday the 13th (ironically filmed at the same time and at the same location). Both films pushed the limits of slasher film gore at the time, however Friday the 13th’s wider release has lead to it being hailed as a masterpiece while the far more disturbing Mother’s Day has become nothing more than a unknown masterpiece in the Troma Library.

It’s definitely not for everybody, but if horror is for you, this is a must-see. Lloyd and the rest of the Troma team have also been praising the remake which comes to DVD tomorrow.