Welcome back to my usual table in the International House of Horror! With SCARY PERRY! absent today due to a bout with some The Stuff related food poisoning, (Check out our latest episode to hear our review of The Stuff) it's nice to have some company other than Delores' icy stare as she waits impatiently for me to finish my flapjacks as I type the latest Short Stack. The nerve of some people. And she wonders why I don't leave a tip. But you didn't come here to listen to me gripe about J-Bones' lackluster servers, so on to my Short Stack review of 1991's Mom.
Or is it 1990? Tubi lists it as 1990 but after scouring the internet, or, more accurately, the first page results of a search engine, it seems the movie was released in 1991. In fact, there was very little on this one and it lacked a Wikipedia page too, so maybe Tubi just goofed. Anyways, the cast includes Jeanne Bates as Mom. I'm not too familiar with her other roles (she did play an airplane passenger in Die Hard 2), but she did star in David Lynch's Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive. Speaking of Die Hard 2, Art Evans has a minor role as a police lieutenant. Next up, we have veteran villain Brion James, who I last saw in Nightmare at Noon. Another of his big horror roles is as the serial killer facing off against Lance Hendrikson in The Horror Show aka House 3. Rounding out the cast is Mark Thomas Miller as the son, Clay, and Mary Elizabeth McDonough as his girlfriend. She also had the distinction of staring as the protagonist in 1983's Mortuary. If you haven't seen that one, check it out. It stars husband and wife Christopher and Lynda Day George, plus a young Bill Paxton. Finally, this is the only film directed by Patrick Rand, although he has several editor credits to his name.
The film opens with a pregnant woman being dropped off at a bus station in the middle of nowhere by her disapproving father, who has kicked her to the curb. While waiting for the bus, she tries to spark a conversation with a shady looking Brion James. But wouldn't you know it, he's your typical monster and decides to make her his midnight snack. It turns out this is just the latest in a string of serial killings, as reporter Clay fills us in with some TV news update exposition.
Clay's Mom decides it's time to rent out his old room, so of course she rents it out to Brion James' character, Nestor, who poses as a blind man with sunglasses. But we quickly find out that the sunglasses he wears hide his true nature and his animal like eyes. Unfortunately for Mom, she accidentally knocks off the glasses, so Nestor has no choice but to convert her to his kind.
Before moving on, the Tubi description made this one sound like a werewolf movie, and it seems that it may have been marketed that way too. But they aren't werewolves in the traditional sense, as Nestor points out that you can call them vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghouls, etc. Basically, it is a disease passed on in a similar way to vampirism and lycanthropy, and the only way to satiate their hunger is with human meat. It's more a combination of several superstitions into something simpler, which is an interesting and unique take on the myths.
Anyways, Clay comes to visit but Mom is "sick", so he leaves. He comes back later only to find that Mom and Nestor are going out for a night on the town, and after tailing them to Hobo Alley, he discovers his mother devouring a hobo. If I was a bum fight kingpin like one of my college classmates thought, I guess I'd have to cross him off the fight card. (Note, that's a deep cut. Listen to our C.H.U.D. episode to get the backstory. But don't actually watch C.H.U.D., unless you want to be bored to death. Also, I don't condone or participate in bum fights, just to keep the record straight.)
Back at Mom's, Clay confronts his mother and Nestor over the killings, and attacks Nestor. But Nestor has that super strength and immortality thing going on from his condition, or so he thinks until Clay sets him on fire and he burns up faster than Ben Tramer (RIP).
The rest of the film plays out with Clay trying to prevent his mother from feeding on anyone else by locking her in her room, while also trying to keep her safe from the police. It goes about as well as you would thin and Clay starts to lose sleep and becomes more irritable having to deal with his mother's constant breakout attempts, which alienates him from his girlfriend. Mom slowly loses control of her urges, culminating in her eating her own daughter after tricking Clay into thinking the disease went away. Clay eventually discovers his sister's remains and realizes that he can no longer help and protect his mother and must destroy her. But will he be able to stop her before she can make his girlfriend her next meal?
Mom is an entertaining film that kept me engaged throughout and moves at a good pace. The actors all give solid performances in portraying their characters and making them likeable, or sleazy in the case if Brion James' Nestor. Hey, he plays a good bad guy! This one isn't a gore fest, but there are definitely some gruesome moments and respectable effects. The story is quite compelling with Clay's struggle to protect his mother that he loves, but also having to be stern with her to do so, and the resulting frustration from her not listening to him. This is often something that we the audience have experienced with our parents; as they get older, the roles reverse and we have to be the parents and try to get them to accept the physical limitations that often accompany old age. Also, the pseudo-werewolf disease could be interpreted as an allegory for terminal illness, with Clay trying everything he can to help his mother with her illness, but ultimately being helpless to do anything about it.
Ultimately, Mom is an interesting and enjoyable film that even provokes some deep thought about old age. It isn't going to blow you away, but it's good for the ole 90 minutes or so of entertainment.
One last thing. Tubi also bills it as a horror comedy. While I think the film is hard to categorize in the traditional sense, and does have elements of comedy and horror, it has a lot of drama in it as well. But hey, they also tried to call it a werewolf movie, so Tubi's 0 for 2. They also ran during the same ad break, back-to-back ads for eHarmony and Trojan condoms. Then, they followed it up with the Sheetz condom buying commercial and ended with a virtual casino ad. I'm not sure what they are trying to suggest there; I guess I need to step up my dating game? Although... maybe Delores might be staring at me for... other reasons. I better get out of here quick before she gets any ideas. Time to dine and dash! Maybe I can go hit up the virtual slots and win it big so I can find a classier place to hang out. See you next time, flapjacks!
Overall Rating: 3 Pancakes
