Mom (1991) Review

Mom (1991).

Starring Brion James, Mark Thomas Miller, and Jeanne Bates as "Mom."

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED OCTOBER 7, 2011

Three Stars.

SPOILERS

While dozens of horror films had been made on the subject of cannibalism (i.e. Jungle Holocaust, Cannibal Ferox), very few have ever truly captured the nauseating essence of what makes the topic taboo. One movie that accomplished this is the 1989 film, Parents. In that picture, Randy Quaid plays a man-eating 1950s dad, whose son is still in denial that he has been raised on human flesh. However, Parents had the fortune of being released at a time when little controversy was in the news regarding the film.  

The film Mom shows a partial influence from Parents. However, the film is more akin to a dark horror film rather than comedy.  The plot revolves around the transformation of a sweet old lady into a ravenous monster.  Further, Mom suffered from poor timing, as it was withdrawn from video stores for several months due to the emergence of the Jeffrey Dahmer story.  

Emily Dwyer (Jeanne Bates), is a Beverly Clever type woman, neglected by her daughter but taken care of by her son Clay (Mark Thomas Miller). However, Emily's trusting nature leads her to take on a dangerous lodger named Nestor (played by the late Brion James). During a dinner mishap, Nestor reveals his existence as a demonic-flesh eating ghoul and transmits his condition to Emily.  After Clay discovers Nestors dealings with his mother, he kills the psychopath.  It is too late for Emily though, because shes already running around the neighborhood, turning homeless people into goulash and burying body parts in the back yard.  Pretty soon, Clay realizes his mother is out of control and must save his pregnant wife from the madness.

Because of its obscurity, Mom will likely remain so without a DVD/Blu-Ray or digital release for sometime.  While the title was briefly available through Netflixs streaming content, the title will most likely be found on the rare VHS tapes, bootlegs or bit torrents throughout the internet.  Once you see this film, its easy to see why it was pulled from shelves after the discoveries in Milwaukee. Overall, this is a solid horror film, but the content may render repeat viewings too hard to stomach for less than abnormal viewers.