Mother's Day (2010)

53% of critics liked it
(30 reviews)
56% of users liked it
(3,529 ratings)

Veteran Saw franchise helmer Darren Lynn Bousman continues his foray into the macabre with this remake of the 1989 Troma B-film classic Mother's Day. The revamp will still center on a demented mother (Rebecca De Mornay) and her two sons, but will focus on them terrorizing a couple that is residing… More Veteran Saw franchise helmer Darren Lynn Bousman continues his foray into the macabre with this remake of the 1989 Troma B-film classic Mother's Day. The revamp will still center on a demented mother (Rebecca De Mornay) and her two sons, but will focus on them terrorizing a couple that is residing in their old home rather than the original's theme of a group of hikers being tortured in the woods. Jaime King, Shawn Ashmore, Briana Evigan, and Deborah Ann Woll topline the cast. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 46 min.
Directed By: Darren Lynn Bousman
Genres: Horror

Critic Reviews

Joseph Proimakis, Movies for the Masses
full review at Movies for the Masses
Brian Orndorf, BrianOrndorf.com
The production overstuffs the script, making one wish not for the hostages to gradually squirm their way to freedom, but for Mother to hurry up and just kill everyone.
Jeremy Heilman, MovieMartyr.com
By the film's climax, it's laid waste to the majority of its cast, which will repulse some viewers, but stand as something of an attraction to others.
Lisa Giles-Keddie, Real.com
Rebecca De Mornay proves she's still got the superior chill factor to scare the living daylights out of you.
Alistair Harkness, Scotsman
Better than it has any right to be.
Henry Fitzherbert, Daily Express
There are moments of tension but it's too long, no one to like and the ending is pointlessly grim.
Philip French, Guardian [UK]
It is sad to see De Mornay in something so - how should one put it? - cheesy.
Graham Young, Birmingham Mail
An often mind-numbing exploration of what it takes to be violent towards your fellow human beings.
Derek Malcolm, This is London
You have to like this sort of thing, and I don't.
Caroline Jowett, Daily Express
Too many characters and plot twists dilute the intensity of Mother's Day but there is no denying the effectiveness of De Mornay's ferocious performance.
Jason Best, Movie Talk
Speaking in a tone of calm reason as she ratchets the terror up another notch, De Mornay's Mother hovers on the edge of pitch-dark black comedy without ever descending into camp. A screen psycho to match The Hand That Rocks the Cradle's nanny-from-hell.
Alex Zane, Sun Online
It's not hard to see the hand of director Darren Lynn Bousman at work here. Having directed three of the Saw sequels, he knows his way around the infliction of pain.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
An ingenious idea for a suspense thriller - or maybe even an old-fashioned, Wait Until Dark-style stage play - turns out instead to be the pretext for a crass, over-long and tiresome splatter nightmare.
Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph
It's sheer nastiness that lets the film leapfrog genres from home-invasion hostage drama to hysterical schlock.
Alan Jones, Radio Times
[DeMornay] delights and startles with a vicious portrayal of familial cruelty and wanton bloodlust.
Matt Glasby, Little White Lies
Mommie dreariest.
Roz Laws, Birmingham Post
The brutality is hard to stomach, the characters are paper thin and unlikeable and the camerawork is often annoyingly shaky.
Nigel Andrews, Financial Times
[DeMornay transforms] a dodgily wired script into something that at least crackles when she is on screen.

Read all 18 critic reviews

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A.D. V

Another RINO (Remake In Name Only) but what makes it a rarity is that in it's own right is a damn fine film. There's some carryovers from the original but this truly stands on its own merits. Lots of drama, lots of violence, some surprising twists and some great performances… More
Another RINO (Remake In Name Only) but what makes it a rarity is that in it's own right is a damn fine film. There's some carryovers from the original but this truly stands on its own merits. Lots of drama, lots of violence, some surprising twists and some great performances from the cast, De Mornay being the stand out. A worthwhile reimagining that is a little too long but highly thrilling none the less.
Daniel P

Sporadically interesting but ultimately deadening, shrill, misogynistic, overlong and unnecessarily sadistic, Mother's Day has a couple of interesting things going for it - namely Rebecca De Mornay's eye-rolling performance and some early promise in the… More
Sporadically interesting but ultimately deadening, shrill, misogynistic, overlong and unnecessarily sadistic, Mother's Day has a couple of interesting things going for it - namely Rebecca De Mornay's eye-rolling performance and some early promise in the initial setup. In the end though, the film is clearly the work of Darren Lynn Bousman, who helmed Saw II through IV, and here attempts to overlay a Saw blueprint clumsily onto what could otherwise have been an efficient thriller. The scene where one of the family members forces two young girls to decide which will live, and another where "Mother" forces two men to fight over which of their 'women' will have the honour of deflowering her virgin son, are just two examples that have the no-brain 'logic' of the late Saw films. Aside from De Mornay, the only other performances of any interest are Shawn Ashmore (one of the few cast members who are able to believably attempt to fight back), and Deborah Ann Woll who has a nice line in vulnerability. A wraparound twist seems designed to bed in the possibility of a sequel (what a shocker) but one hour in the film has already played most of its cards and there's simply nowhere else to go, hence increasingly silly splatter, bickering and unsympathetic characters (which applies to both the victims and the criminals), and nonsensical twists.
ernest e

Boring one dimensional little variation same beat throughout the movie. My mother and mother in law can do it better.
John M

"Mother's Day" is not exactly a remake. This re-imagination just kept the sadistic family with the same name and borrows some elements of the original, these similarities aside, the movie has a complete new plot and motivation for their insane behavior. I don't… More
"Mother's Day" is not exactly a remake. This re-imagination just kept the sadistic family with the same name and borrows some elements of the original, these similarities aside, the movie has a complete new plot and motivation for their insane behavior. I don't mean there is anything wrong for having a different story because despite a few slow spots here and there (this is why I didn't give it 1/2 star more) this version stands up well enough on its own with its moments full of tension, violence, gore and torture to make this movie a pleasant view for horror fans. The acting was good by the whole cast but Rebecca De Mornay excels in her role as a sophisticated, cold hearted and psychotic mother. In MOTHER'S DAY, Mother is so proud for her boys again. They never forget their momma.