mother's day remake

Saw series helmer Darren Lynn Bousman will direct a remake of the 1980 Troma cult classic exploitation slasher film Mother’s Day. You might remember, Bousman told Brendon at Frightfest that his next film would be Mother’s Day. Well now it’s official.

The original Charles Kaufman film told the story of three women who go on a camping trip and encounter two brothers who rape and kill to impress their deranged mother. The Scott Milam-scripted remake sees the messed-up family return to their childhood home to terrorize the new owners and their guests.

“She lost her house, and her boys are going to get it back to her,” producer Richard Saperstein tells THR. Apparently the plan is to set this home invasion in a very realistic setting, with the “high-concept overlay” of “this punishing maternal figure.” I know a lot of people like to write-off the Saw films as nothing more than torture-porn, but I’ve always believed that Bousman has a great visual eye. He sometimes becomes hampered by MTV-style editing, but I’m interested to see what he can do with a project set in a more realistic tone.

The original film was made on a very low budget of only $150,000, and wasn’t well received at the time of its release. The movie gained a cult following on home video, and to this day is still banned in the UK. And if you’re wondering, yes, Charles Kaufman is the brother of Troma Entertainment co-founder and Toxic Avenger director Lloyd Kaufman. The remake is aiming to begin production in July with Mother’s Day 2010 release (of course).

  • Grover Cleavland
    Fuck him. So what.

    First thought. Sorry.
  • I loved Repo so I'll see this definately.

    Strange that this is official now. Back in January I asked him and he said Mother's Day. Wonder why it took so long to be official.

    And I wasn't like he had to think about it. He knew what it was and just straight out told me
  • OH THIS IS A GREAT IDEA.... YEAH! BRING IT!
  • haha nice! I've never even heard of this so I'm adding Mother's Day to my netflix! Aahh long live 80s horror cinema.
  • I just received email confirmation from Lloyd Kaufman that this is definitely happening. I had actually just watched Mother's Day on Wednesday night and thought that it was a good candidate for a remake. It'll be interesting to see what they do with this.
  • PACO
    I find it hard to imagine that troma movies can be remade. There is something about their low-budget feel that just gives them a unique feeling. Take that away and you probably just get another crappy horror movie remake.
  • I don't see the point in this per se. It's not like Mother's Day is a masterpiece, but it is what it is, and that is far removed from Bousman's quick cutting "Saw/Repo" style. Granted, he could make it a whole different beast, but I won't expect anything memorable from it.
  • Ugh, this brings back bad memories.

    The girl who was the main star in this movie back in the day now teaches the WORST class I've ever attended at the Los Angeles Film School. She is a horrible wretch of a woman whose face appears to be melting from years of plastic surgery. She actually taught (and continues to teach) SCREENWRITING! That's right, the girl from Mother's Day is one of the screenwriting teachers at the Los Angeles Film School. That's how much of a joke that "school" is.
  • Just curious, muffin: which star was it? Nancy Hendrickson? She was the blond one, right? As I recall, she wasn't exactly a blow-me-away actor, either.
  • Exactly. Nancy. I hate that little dwarf woman with a passion.
  • Darren Lynn Bousman looks a bit like JJ Abrams... No flame intended, as I would never compare the talent of the two... Maybe it's just the glasses.
  • As a horror buff, I saw this one as a kid (on VHS) a few years after it was released. Yeah, it's really not a good movie at all. It predates a lot of the Troma tongue-in-cheek stuff, and for that reason it's kinda better than those films (it takes itself seriously, for the most part) and yet a whole lot worse (it's not scary, not suspenseful, it's not... well...anything good). There's no satire or winking at the camera--it's not that kind of Troma film. The only humor is that Mother's "boys" are kinda buffoons.

    All of that said, the basic premise is right up Bousman's alley. He can find some stylish ways to stage the violence both against the trio of female victims (at least that's the group in the original movie) and against the killers. Might be worth a look, but I'd proceed with caution.
  • Jessegouldsbury
    I really don't like him. He as a person might be cool and all but his movies are just bad.

    I watched saw II hoping it would at least be close to the first one, but i found it to be just boring and nothing interesting.

    I then got excited when I saw the Repo trailer and thought "maybe he does have some talent and will deliver a cool movie" I got all excited but then just found the movie to be obnoxious. The style was cool but got old after the first half hour.

    I rarely feel this way about movies, but with both of those while watching them I just wanted them to end. Repo was one of the worst movies I've seen all year and the Saw series is unwatchable. I do not look forward to this movie at all. Odds are it will just be another let down.
  • cvhristine
    Go fuck yourself, Mr. Bousman.
  • JimmyD
    Is this a remake? Sounds more like a sequel.
    Drain-o must make a cameo!!
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