I am not a fan of Troma films. For the most part, anyway. I couldn’t stand Terror Firmer and I hated Class of Nuke’em High. However, strangely enough I loved Toxic Avenger 4 and Poultrygeist looks like it’ll be a blast. But usually, if the box art carries the mark of Troma I will stay far away. They don’t make my type of films, and I’ve grown to accept that. Perhaps that’s why, in the wild days of the video store era, I always seemed to pass up renting Mother’s Day. In my burgeoning horror fan days (my formative years) I saw it every damn time I went to rent something. I may have even picked it up once in a while. But there was something about it that made me put it down…ALWAYS!

It disappeared from my memory for a long stretch of time until recently when horror director Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel) started programming some double-features for the New Beverly in California. It was paired with Creepshow, which I went to see, deciding to bite the bullet and finally see Mother's Day as well.

Directed by Lloyd’s brother Charles Kaufman, (who was in attendance, and had later chosen to go into the bakery business instead of the film business) this film is considered to be Troma’s first horror film. And even in these early stages, this movie shows you how Troma began developing its brand of humor. Essentially, this film is a rip-off (homage) to Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

A trio of 80s-chic girls head into the woods for their annual get-together. Even after having been warned by the crazy general store owner, they continue to camp out and inhabit the same woods that Ma and her boys, Ike and Addley, call home. After bonding in classic chick-flick fashion, the girls are kidnapped by the boys and are summarily tied up, tied down, and made to entertain mother. I won’t go into much detail, because this is one of those movies that has to be seen to be believed. It isn’t incredibly gory and Troma had only begun to hit its outlandish factor. But this is definitely a film worth watching, whether you like Troma or not, because they do a fine job with the crazies-in-the-woods story.

At 90-some minutes the film moves along quickly, except for a few lame scenes in the beginning featuring the girls talking about themselves (character development is overrated, I say!). But with a few great performances, namely Beatrice Pons as Mother, a very realistic and disturbing rope burn sequence and a great axe to the nutsack scene this film redeems itself, becoming a solid horror flick with a dash of intentional humor. This one almost makes Troma look good…ALMOST!

- Jose Prendes