Mother's Day(1980)
1980 · Charles Kaufman · 91 min
Three girls discover that two men are willing to do anything to impress Mother and what impresses Mother is watching her sons commit acts of rape and murder. Now these women are prisoners and lowered to pawns in the game of checkers between two dim wits and their Maniac Mommy and the question becomes, can any of them escape, alive?
Action · Horror · Comedy
5.5157 votes
TMDB score
4/5
Intensity
4/5
Gore
3/5
Stays with you
How scary is Mother's Day?
There's a nasty, uncomfortable energy running through this one, mixing backwoods cruelty with weird, dark jokes that make the whole thing feel even more off. It moves like a survival nightmare once the danger kicks in, with long stretches of dread and control before things turn physically brutal. The threat here is all too human, twisted family members with no supernatural excuse, and the violence is shown plainly rather than hidden. This is for viewers who like their horror rough, mean-spirited, and laced with a sick sense of humor, not for anyone looking for something fun or polished.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, Mother's Day rates psychological 2/5, visceral 5/5, gore 4/5, lingering effect 3/5, and overall intensity 4/5.
- Psychological: 2 of 5
- Visceral: 5 of 5
- Gore: 4 of 5
- Lingering: 3 of 5
- Intensity: 4 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 25 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 92 of 100 — leans Real-world
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 70 of 100 — leans Disturbing
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
A loose, jokey setup gives way to a brutal, sustained middle assault before settling into a tense back-and-forth chase through to the end.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 3, 4, 3.
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