Movies for Mother’s Day [LIST]

Happy Mother’s Day! Let’s celebrate how awesome Moms are with some freaky movies about moms.

The Others I remember seeing the film for the first time and being so completely blown away. The trailers under sold what ended up being one of the best horror movies of the early 2000s. For those unfamiliar with the film, Nicole Kidman plays widow and mother to two children who are allergic to sunlight. What follows is a ghost story for the ages.

Serial Mom is more of a black comedy than a horror comedy. But watching as Beverly causes mayhem and blood shed in suburban Baltimore is hysterical. John Waters completely subverts the archetype of the perfect mother in a way only the Pope of Filth could manage with such style.

Inside isn’t a feel good movie for Moms. It is however a completely terrifying movie for mothers. French Extremism and home invasion collide in a sparse minimal story of a woman, pregnant and recently widowed as she defends herself from a woman who is willing to do anything to get her hands on the unborn child.

Carrie wouldn’t be Carrie without Piper Laurie’s completely bat shit take on shut in religious fanatic Margaret White. Whether she is screaming about dirty pillows, throwing Sissy Spacek in closets or misquoting the Bible, she is the mom we are all glad we didn’t have. I mean imagine if Carrie had a cool mom?

The Babadook is equal parts modern fairy tale and character study as horror. A mother unravels as she is overwhelmed by the stresses of motherhood and her own darkness. Original as it is scary, there is a reason it topped so many best of lists when it dropped 2 years ago.

Goodnight Mommy got into my bones the first time I saw it. The cold aloof Mommy. The mischievous twins. The bugs. The way it plays with audience perception. It is a film that uses a slow and ever building sense of dread that bursts into horror while completely changing your view of the events depicted.

Rosemary’s Baby is any list complete without you? I think not. Mia Farrow is iconic as Rosemary as she slowly becomes convinced something isn’t right. With her apartment, her husband, neighbours and even her unborn child. Mother hood can be terrifying, let alone when you are mother to the Antichrist.

Friday The 13th Pamela will always be scarier than Jason. That hair. The sweater. The turtle neck. And most importantly the completely unhinged look in her eyes. A mother driven by grief and out for blood, even if it’s symbolic revenge. I mean come on, she brings her mentally handicapped son to camp, and he drowns cause horny teenagers weren’t paying attention. She has a pretty compelling reason for going crazy and massacring teens.

Aliens: The Director’s Cut, yes the director’s cut! Why? Well the original cut had WAY MORE MOM STUFF. One of the most important parts being a scene in the first act where Ripley finds out her daughter died two years ago at the age of 66. Ripley promised to be home for her 11th birthday. It makes Newt that much more important. Her parents are killed by Aliens. Aliens prevented Ripley from being a mom to her daughter. Not to mention Aliens has the Queen Xenomorph. It’s a theme you guys.

Psycho is the mother of all modern horror films. See what I did there? Norman and his Mommy Dearest are part of the greatest misdirect in film history. Hitchcock starts Psycho off as the story of a woman who stole some money from her boss, cause apparently she was dickmatized. But then suddenly the movie is peepholes, shower murders, cross dressing and mummified mothers. The perfect combination of classy and terrifying for Mother’s Day.

Neill Bloomkamp’s Alien [NEWS]

Neill Bloomkamp the director of District 9, Elysium and the upcoming Chappie has been brought on to produce his take on the Alien franchise according to Variety. Bloomkamp’s concept art for the project was released when the director realized he may never end up doing the film and released the art work online. He hadn’t been working with Fox and had done the conceptual work in his down time. Fan response to the art work and rumors that Sigourney Weaver would be game to reprise the role of Ellen Ripley from the original franchise. With a sequel to the proto-prequel Prometheus due out in 2016, the earliest this would see theatres would likely be 2017. Check out the mind blowing concept art that got Bloomkamp the job.

American Horror Story: Asylum [NETFLIX]

With only one episode left of everyone’s favourite horror anthology series’ third installment, what better time to revisit the Asylum? Netflix added the second installment to it’s streaming service for US customers back in December. Those of you outside the US of A can do a precursory Google search on how to get US Netflix content. It’s simple and definitely worth it for access to some of the titles. I’ve already got Asylum and Murder House on DVD and I have to say the rewatch value on this show does not diminish. There are so many delightful references and homages to classic horror. Not to mention the special effects, bat shit twists and turns and of course Jessica Lange as erstwhile Sister Jude and  Sarah Paulson as saphic reporter turned final girl Lana Winters. Throw in Bloody Face, the Devil, killer Santa, aliens, the Angel of Death and Nazi Scientists and you have yourself the kind of hermetic couch bound Netflix marathon you’ll feel justified in watching 13 hours of TV straight.

AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM [RECOMMENDATIONS]

In it’s second season American Horror Story introduced the concept that each season would feature different settings, characters and plots. The second season dubbed Asylum told the story of a TB ward turned Church run mental hospital. As we met Lana, Sister Jude, Kit, and the other inhabitants and proprietors of Briarcliff we would be introduced to a whole new world. And much like Murder House, Asylum was chock full of references to famous films. So I present to you 13 films you might just enjoy. From alien abduction to serial killers and the Devil himself.

Session 9 A man hired to remove asbestos from an old rotting mental institution becomes engrossed when he discovers 9 tapes of sessions with one of the patients from 1974. Shot on location in a real abandoned asylum with minimal set dressing done to the set.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre A van full of teens encounter a family of cannibals. The lead antagonist of the film is Leatherface who wears the faces of his victims as a mask. He also makes simple furniture out of the flesh and bones of his various victims. Inspired by Ed Gein a real life serial killer who also inspired two of the other antagonists on this list.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo A journalist is hired by a man under the pretense of writing a biography before being informed he has actually been hired to investigate the disappearance of his niece several decades earlier. Uncovering that a series of murders, a family history of Nazism and a secret basement torture chamber.

The Silence Of The Lambs A young FBI trainee is asked to interview notorious cannibal Hannibal Lecter in hopes he can provide insight into murderer “Buffalo Bill” who has been killing and skinning women.

Pyscho Hitchcock’s greatest film tells the story of a woman who falls victim to a serial killer whose violent acts are a result of his relationship with his mother.

Silent Night, Deadly Night After watching his parents murdered on Christmas by a man in a Santa suit, a young man grows up troubled. He eventually becomes a spree killer who dons a Santa Claus outfit.

The Exorcist A single mother seeks the help of the church when left with no other options after her daughter becomes increasingly violent and seems to have supernatural powers. Two priests then battle the forces of evil for the soul of the little girl.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest A man is sent to an mental institution while he is serving time for statutory rape of a 15 year old. While there he is subjected to the cruelty of Nurse Ratched who uses humiliation, unpleasant medical techniques and electroshock to keep patients in line.

Freaks A story about the lives of a group of circus performers many of whom make up the side show. Best known for using actual sideshow performers including the micro-cephalic Schlitzie.

The Devils A story of a nun who harbours a deep sexual desire for a priest. Features nuns masturbating, having orgies and having sex with a life size Jesus on the cross.

Fire In The Sky After a friend disapears during a UFO sighting a group of men are suspected of foul play despite their insistence that their friend was taken by extra terrestrials. When he is returned the abducted man experiences flash backs to violent medical examinations.

The Bad Seed Rhoda Penmark will do anything to get what she wants.The little girl uses her perfect image to mask the fact that she is capable of terrible things.

Jacob’s Ladder A soldier in Vietnam is injured during an attack. He wakes up on the NYC Subway and begins to experience increasingly more bizarre and violent hallucinations beginning to loose touch of what is real and what is only a figment of his imagination.

Dark Skies [REVIEW]

They are a fact of life. Like death and taxes. – Edwin Pollard

When people ask me what scares me in horror, my usual go to is usually home invasion. But after watching Dark Skies I am reminded that the other type of movie that scares the fuck out of me is alien abduction. The X-Files gave me nightmares when I was little. I nearly pissed myself during The Fourth Kind (yeah it was kind of terrible but it still scared me hard.).And while I wasn’t emotionally scared by it, the scene in The Forgotten where the woman tells Julianne Moore she believes her son was abducted is still one of the most shocking scenes I have seen.

I don’t want to give much away about Dark Skies. The film got kind of shitty reviews, and currently holes a 31% on Rotten Tomatoes. Bloody Disgusting also gave it a shitty review. But as someone who finds the subject matter terrifying I have to say I enjoyed it’s very slow burn. There are cliche moments, but I have to say I didn’t mind. All in all, reading reviews I am surprised just how hard everyone has been on it. It isn’t perfect, but it was nice to see an abduction movie that wasn’t a lot of lights in the skies, flashes of probes on space ships. I say check it out, you might be disappointed. Or you could end up like me as I finish writing this. Watching cartoons to try and avoid nightmares while desperately wishing my cats offered better protection from aliens. I look forward to more films from Blumhouse Productions the company that has brought us Sinister, Paranormal Activity, and the upcoming The Purge and Insidious: Chapter 2. Look for it on DVD and BluRay on May 28th.