Playing an older, more tight-lipped version of the psychotic nanny she embodied in “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” (1992), Rebecca De Mornay still knows how to twist maternal instincts into grotesque shapes. As the malevolent matriarch in “Mother’s Day” — an unnecessary remake of an unremarkable 1980 shocker — she soothes and sneers with commendable conviction. Unfortunately her cinematic offspring never come close to keeping up.
A home-invasion thriller for housing-bubble victims, this latest chunk of throwaway sadism from Darren Lynn Bousman (who directed “Saw II” through “Saw IV”) sends three adult brothers racing home after bungling a bank robbery, only to find their property foreclosed and their mama gone. Meanwhile, the home’s new owners (Frank Grillo and Jaime King) and assorted yuppie friends are enjoying a birthday party in the basement. Let’s count the ways we can torture them before Mother arrives!
Crisply shot and surprisingly well acted, “Mother’s Day” suffers from an overly long script (a tornado hovers off screen to no apparent purpose) and annoying glitches in continuity. Stuffed with secrets and characters who can’t wait to betray one another, the film offers no one to root for except Mother, whose perverted family values at least remain consistent.
In any case, who wouldn’t love a parent who, when confronted with a son dying from a gaping stomach wound, decides that curing his virginity is task No. 1?
“Mother’s Day” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Death by nail gun, lye, filing cabinet and chopping board, as well as humiliation by hairpiece removal.
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