order to identify himself as the uncredited moderator (there’s also the aforementioned intro- duction by the director and the ubiquitous Lloyd Kaufman pre- amble to be had). Charles Kauf- man also supplies commentary for a sampling of Super-8 behind- the-scenes footage, and is seen with Darren Lynn Bousman as the then-upcoming remake is discussed at the 2010 Comic- Con (brother Lloyd manages to crash the party here as well). In another new supplement, direc- tor Eli Roth discusses the impact that his “favorite horror film” MOTHER’S DAY had on his youth (he screened it for his friends at his own Bar Mitzvah party!) and the significance he believes it has maintained over the decades. The original theatrical trailer is also included, while the 30s TV spot (neither can resist blowing the ending) plays before the menu loads. Anchor Bay sells the same package on standard DVD for $19.98.
Unsurprisingly, the well-re- membered film served as the inspiration for a 21st century “re- make,” though Scott Milam’s debut screenplay essentially pays lip service to the original while it finds its own way across well-trodden ground. Mother (Rebecca DeMornay) is now fully identified as Natalie Koffin (sigh), and her boys Ike (Patrick Flueger) and Addley (Warren Kole) now have two additional siblings: sis- ter Lydia (Deborah Ann Woll) and brother Johnny (Matt O’Leary), who was badly wounded in a botched bank robbery attempt. Desperate to avoid the police (and with Johnny howling in the back seat in a scene straight out of RESERVOIR DOGS), the younger Koffins flee to what they believe is their family home. They’re unaware, however, that said suburban domicile has re- cently been foreclosed and that
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Jason Miller followed THE EXORCIST with another introspective performance in THE NICKEL RIDE.
they’re walking in on a party hosted by the new owners (Jaime King and Frank Grillo as Beth and Daniel “Sohapi” (I wish I were making this up!). An emergency phone call forces an angry Mother to take charge of the situ- ation: she initially treats the terri- fied hostages (including Briana Evigan, Shawn Ashmore and Lyriq Bent) with soothing kind- ness, but that’s not going to last for long. Johnny needs medical attention (not to mention a girl- friend, Mother determines) and the Koffin clan needs to flee the country. These details, along with convincing evidence that the Sohapis are hiding a small cash fortune which rightly belongs to Mother, set the stage for a series of brutal interrogations and a variety of sadistic games. And herein lies the problem. These “games,” instigated with glee by the various Koffins, have nothing to do with minds dead- ened by a lifetime of televised pop: they’re merely inspired by the Saw movies, of which di- rector Darren Lynn Bousman helmed the second, third and fourth installments. Just as Jig- saw challenged his victims to prove their worthiness of the gift of life itself in the latter, Natalie has a similarly judgmental
outlook when it comes to the privilege of motherhood. How- ever, that limits her to only one significant character on which to focus: the Koffins just happen to “luck” into a houseful of support- ing players bursting with juicy se- crets for them to exploit as they pit them against each other for the majority of the running time. All the while, the film itself struggles to reach the only pos- sible finale (which is conveniently telegraphed during the pre-cred- its sequence). Fidelity to Kauf- man’s original is limited to character names, a derogatory crack about disco music and a reference to “Queenie” that goes absolutely nowhere—and yes, someone is eventually treated to a big swig of Drano. Charles and Lloyd Kaufman are afforded cameos, as is Alexa Vega from Bousman’s REPO! THE GE- NETIC OPERA. The experi- enced cast and director make a professional effort, but
the
new MOTHER’S DAY remains an exercise in pointless, overlong unpleasantness. Speaking of “overlong,” direc- tor Bousman and actor Shawn Ashmore allude, during their fea- ture commentary, to an original four-hour assembly which, natu- rally, required drastic editing.
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