Mother's Day Massacre (2010)

- written February 4th, 2011

Summary: Jim Cavanaugh is a shy suburban New Jersey teenager. His mom left when he was a child and his father is an ass. The unrelenting psychotic domination of his redneck dad forces Jim to search out his long lost mother. His quest takes him to the backwoods of Jersey where he encounters semi-retarded hillbillies who have a taste for DIY circumcisions and Peterbilt trucks. Nobody escapes the bloodletting in this heartwarming tale of a family reunited. Sure to be a holiday classic.           Overall: I have some big criticisms but also some big supporting statements.           Firstly, the bad stuff. One of the few things that bug me is a film that shows ya something then give you “10 years later” (or something resembling that. Once, is fine. Twice is “iffy.” Bt the 3rd time, you figure it’s flat out poor writing. If you can’t tell the story without 4-5-6 major jumps in timeframes, maybe your story is the problem!           In addition, because of this,..you lose continuity in what’s happened. We get so much details as our 5 friends end up in the abandoned town and fight for their lives. Then magically it’s a week later and we assume they’re completely safe and things have simply progressed…without our knowledge. The film’s point is to get you the big climax but instead they’;ve skipped over the connecting materials and have made you fill-in the blanks.           And what the hell does this even have to with “Mother’s Day”???? Misleading title!           And CGI that is this obvious…is never a good thing. Even worse when you have a DVD extra showing you how poorly it was done. Not good.           Now to the positive aspects of the film…It was notr predictable at all!!!! This film had me guessing every step of the way – from the friend of Jim’s and he motives, to the bad guys, to climax, etc. You won’t have any idea some of this stuiff is coming!           And for the most part, I really liked the acting. The charactes were well created and I was buying into their emotions and the like.           Lots of positive and negatives for the film, but frankly, it’s not boring. And therefore it’s worth a viewing!           Comparison: Cabin Fever meets The Hills Have Eyes

Links to other sites at The Sinning Room

Horror Films L-Z Review Page

Horror Films Review Page