Horror Movie Review: Mother’s Day Massacre (2007)

Jim (Adam Scarimbolo) is a shy suburban teen under the ruling thumb of his over-bearing and abusive father (Greg Travis). With his mother having left when he was a young child, Jim’s father takes all his redneck frustrations out on the lad.

Things get to much for Jim and along with his friends, he sets out to track his mother down. His search leads him into the backwoods. Where him and his friends end up running into blood-thirsty hillbillies.

It sounds simple enough as a story but for some reason Mother’s Day Massacre tells it in a confusing and messy manner. The writing for this movie is an absolute mess with inept attempts at misdirection. There is no tension building before a mass of blood-letting and a narrative that slows down to the point of boredom on multiple occasions.

It could have been recoverable had it excelled in other areas but it just doesn’t. The acting is very hit and miss. Adam Scarimbolo is decent, his character Jim is a likeable lad and Greg Travis as his abusive father is entertainingly sleazy. Those are the only two of note unless you count Mel Gorham’s overacting as the twisted and evil mother Dolores. She throws her all into her role but falls flat on her face, coming across cheesy more than scary.

Mother’s Day Massacre has a certain grittiness and griminess about it. To get that across it relies heavily on attempts to shock with perverse humour. That’s not a problem as we’ve seen much worse. However, the shaky cinematography and rubbish dialogue takes away from these scenes rather than enhance them.

It is a silly horror movie and played for laughs most of the time. If it didn’t have such slow moments, it would be far more enjoyable. Instead once the credits role the only thing you’re likely to remember is the shrill voice of Mel Gorham shrieking at you.