Mother's Day

Back in the glory days of eighties horror video here in the UK, a visit to the local video store always brought some new unseen delight to my attention. New horror video titles were appearing on a weekly basis and although it was always a gamble renting out one of the myriad of releases in the hope of finding a gem, it was always fun checking them out (unless of course it was 'Raiders of the Living Dead!) During this time one of those wonderful finds was the Charles Kaufman shocker 'Mothers Day'. I have to confess that one of the main reasons I initially rented it was because the directors name was Kaufman, and though the video box made no link to Troma Films I was hopeful that this indeed would possibly be 90 minutes of low budget horror fun. Much to my delight it exceeded my expectations and years down the line when the DVD format came to the fore 'Mothers Day' was one of those retro gems that I longed to see again.

The film opens at one of those feel good self help seminars, where a sweet old lady attending offers two creepy hippie types a lift in her car. En route it looks as though the two hippies are going jump the old dear and mug her (or worse) but when her car breaks down and she goes to check out the engine, two masked assailants come from nowhere and after slicing off the head of the young hippie male, they pull the young woman from the car and start raping her but the sweet old dear intervenes. You see, the old lady is in fact the masked attackers mother and she delights in making the kill by strangling the young woman with a cord whilst her deranged sons look on! Cue the opening titles...

Sure this is just the setting-opening scene but it pretty much lays out the map for the rest of this vastly underrated shock classic. When the film starts proper we meet three ex college girls who drop everything their doing once a year to go on a reunion road trip. This year though they unfortunately choose to go camping in the vicinity of our prologues demented family. Do I need to explain what happens next? I don't think so...

Yes, inevitably 'Mothers Day' plays on many genre films concepts and ideas that have been used countless times before, but what makes this film so individually outstanding that it delivers what it means to with an engrossing and shocking slice of sleaze horror exploitation fun. The first half of the film introduces us to the three main female characters, showing us their lives now and how it was back when they where at college - with director Kaufman handling the teen school/buddy template with aces in a very strong delivery that shows the other similar genre movies how to do this sort of scenario just right. And once you've settled in and warmed to the female leads the film turns on its heels with the introduction of the psycho brothers who come out of nowhere and seize the girls for their own deranged pleasure. The next section of the film builds on the terror and degradation placed on the captives while we meet properly the delightfully backward family of the witless brothers (who disagree continually about the merits of disco and punk music) whilst being controlled by their insane sweet old mother (who derives great pleasure from training them in various methods of sexual assault). Will the girls survive their impending ordeal or will the twisted family use their new playthings until they can scream no more?

'Mothers Day' is a delight of sick black cinema and has been mostly ignored around the horror scene for some time, mostly hovering around the fringes of fan favourite selections when it really should take place amongst the best of its genre. Twisted, sick and wickedly humorous, Kaufman's production is a strong presentation that delights in its demented nature and comes across as a far higher production than its actual low budget origins could have shown. Also, the film doesn't really feel like a Troma movie (from whence this new version originates, via 'American Shock'), but has the feel of other such vintage gems as Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Last House on the Left and Motel Hell (another film that screams out for the DVD treatment).

The disc from 'American Shock' (a division of Japan Shock) is a pretty solid and presentable welcome package also. The content on the main is pretty similar to Troma's own US release but this version still has its own merits. The film print itself is decent enough, obviously using Troma's own source material it's going to be pretty much identical to the US release - the image is solid, detailed and colourful with a few scenes showing a sheen of NTSC grain which you should be able to live with. Same with the audio, clear and audible with no noticeable room for complaint. The audio commentary (with director Kaufman) from the US release has also been ported over which is a welcome inclusion, though the start jumps in mid sentence due to the Troma intro at the movies start being omitted from this release (only a few seconds though) and the commentary on the whole is fascinating for those interested in low budget cinema. There's a short but sweet on screen interview with director Kaufman that's summarises a few of the titbits from his audio commentary and one of those 'Tromas Edge' (ahem) comedy shorts with main man Lloyd Kaufman and his mutated entourage doing a skit with Lloyd dressed up as a granny! And as ever there's a decent enough stills gallery to keep stills fans appeased!?

Last but by no means least though included in this package is a second DVD which includes nothing but a ten minute short film curiously titled 'Staplerfahrer Klaus' (which I reckon translates as Forklift Driver Klaus!) What this film seems to be is one of those educational shorts about the health and safety do's and don'ts of driving and operating a forklift truck in the workplace. We follow keen new boy Klaus as he eagerly goes about his business, but each job he does in his forklift truck leads to a tragic accident and with each incident they become progressively more chaotic and violent. 'Staplerfahrer Klaus' is most definitely one of the funniest and shockingly gory films I've seen in quite some time. Two things here that pleased me most - firstly I haven't laughed so openly in ages (so much so that I wiped a tear or three from my eyes I laughed so hard), secondly the whole delivery was just perfect - the pacing was great, the film was wickedly humorous with an excellent script and a delivery that perfectly ripped into the whole educational short theme and the gore effects were a very welcome addition making a (very) bloody bonus to the feature. In fact the only disappointing thing about this excellent little movie is the fact that it's all over far too soon - ten minutes of pure joy and essential viewing for any genre fan worth their salt!

So, if you're a fan of the underrated sick shocker 'Mothers Day' and you've yet to add this to your DVD collection then now's the time to do it. The addition of the 'Staplerfahrer Klaus' short film DVD (which is also included on the Euro Shock fully uncut release of 'Rabid Grannies') is an excellent bonus and major kudos to the good folk at the 'Shock' line for making such a sterling effort. Get the beers in and have a fun night of genre fun - check it out!

Review by Alan Simpson