Today is Mother's Day and when we think of Mother's Day movies, I can guarantee you that horror movies are the last genre to come to mind. Most movies about mothers tend to focus on the love-filled, sometimes slightly broken relationships mothers have with their children, what with all the drama and the tears that ensue.
But not these movies. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there but Horror Junket is going to go in another direction for Mother's Day and that's mostly due to the fact that we are a horror website. In celebration of mothers everywhere, Horror Junket presents:
The Top Mothers of Horror
Pamela Voorhees/ Friday the 13th
When her son Jason died due to the negligence of camp counselors, Pamela Voorhees was grief-stricken and hellbent on murder. Though it wouldn't be revealed until the end, Pamela Voorhees was an effective killer. Betsy Palmer would portray the revenge seeking mother and when it comes to getting even, a few unlucky camp counselors, Kevin Bacon included, would find out just how strong a mother's love could be. Jason seriously owes his murderin' mommy one big Mother's Day gift. A bouquet of machetes, maybe?
Woman/ The People Under the Stairs
You've never seen a creepier mother than the one portrayed by Wendy Robie in The People Under the Stairs. Through out the movie, Robie's character takes extreme measures to 'protect' her daughter from the young intruder who has invaded the family's small house of horrors. Soft spoken and then fierce and vile a split second later, Woman is clearly not the kind of mother anyone should seek to be. Originally sought out because of her work in David Lynch's eerie television series Twin Peaks, Wendy Robie and her television husband Everett McGill would star as Man and Woman in The People Under the Stairs, giving us the creepiest parent duo ever. This mother doesn't just need a day off, she needs a damn live-in caretaker. If not for mother's sake than for the sake of the daughter.
Chris MacNeil/ The Exorcist
This poor mother has seen some shit. She has looked the devil in the eye, through the eyes of her eleven year old daughter. When weird things started popping off around the house, Chris MacNeil was the mother who was jumping on the levitating bed to protect her daughter. She endured extreme cold and was witness to her daughter's horrible transformation, a transformation no child should ever have to go through. Chris MacNeil doesn't just need a day of celebration, she needs a goddamn year. Academy Award winning actress Ellen Burstyn portrayed the distressed mother of a young girl in the grasps of a demon, with such depth, such exhaustion, you felt you had gone through the whole possession ordeal right next to her. Like I said earlier, this Mother's Day should be a Mother's Year for Chris MacNeil.
Katherine Thorn/ The Omen (1976)
It's not easy being a mother, and it's really not easy being the mother to the Antichrist, just ask Katherine Thorn. On top of having a creepy kid, she also has to endure an even more creepy nanny who shows up shortly after the first nanny hangs herself at a birthday party for the devil son. What could be worse, right? What more darkness could there possibly be in store for this mother who already feels detached from her son? How about if that devil son tries to kill mother, put her in the hospital -full body cast and all- where she is later 'suicided' by the creepy nanny. Lee Remick did a fantastic job of bringing the plight and terrors of Katherine Thorn alive and if any mother deserves an apology and Mother's Day coupons from her son, then it has to be the unknowing mother of the Antichrist.
Norma Bates/ Psycho & Bates Motel
Norma Bates once told her son Norman, "A son's best friend is his mother." Now I don't know if this was before or after they slept with each other but it can explain why Norman Bates is now a household name when talking about 'momma's boys' who become creeps or psychopaths. A mother's love, extreme as it is in this case, was not a large plot line in the Psycho movies. It wouldn't be until Vera Farmiga's turn as Norma Bates in AMC's Bates Motel, that we would get a more fleshed out mother-of-all-murderers. Farmiga's portrayal of the dotting mother who clearly plays favorites with her sons, brings a down to earth, stressed mother feel to the character who constantly faces difficulty and hate from the members of her community. Hint for Norman, how about this Mother's Day, instead of being around mother all the time, send her to a day spa. That's a good Norman.
Emma/ The Last House on the Left (2009)
When one thinks of badass mothers the usual names thrown around are 'Sarah Connor' and 'Beatrix Kiddo' but one badass mom is always forgotten. Emma was a mother and wife who had a perfect life until one night her family is visited by strangers, who unknown to Emma at the time, raped her daughter and left her for dead. When Emma's daughter Mari, played perfectly by Sara Paxton, later reappears, Emma goes into survival/fight mode becoming an ultimate badass who kills Aaron Paul pre-Jessie Pinkman. Portrayed so brilliantly by Monica Potter, the mother of all badass mothers, Emma, shows that she has two sides to her, 'nice mom' and 'mama-will-slit-yo-throat.' This Mother's Day maybe Mari should consider an Escape Room for mother. Something that is light and fun. If all else fails, Emma will surely get them out.
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