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[tab title="Movie Review"]
Answering Roger Waters' questions in Pink Floyd's "Mother" comes Flesh-Eating Mothers, an over-the-top horror-comedy that encourages the local police department to shoot all mothers on the spot. Do not EVEN try to bring them in alive!
Nothing is supposed to go wrong in suburbia. With all the comforts of home - including the white picket fence - what could possibly go wrong? Suburbia, after all, IS the place to be . . . especially circa 1986, which is when this horror/comedy was originally made. Surely the safest of all environments, right? Usually, but when a rabies-like virus turns bored housewives into serial-killing cannibals, there will be hell to pay for everyone in and outside the nuclear family.
Imagine it. A young boy comes home from school. He’s hungry. His mother, a stay at home mom, is busy fisting a messy sandwich stuffed with all sorts of meat right into her mouth. She’s been craving a lot of meat lately. The boy harmlessly asks, “what’s for dinner, Mom?” He stops short, looking at the mess dribbling from her mouth. Suddenly, she stands up and shrieks, “you are!” And then charges poor, little Billy, ripping off his baseball gloved arm in the process and pouring the blood right into her mouth as if his arm was actually a cup.{googleads}
Welcome to the strange and screwball-like world of Flesh-Eating Mothers, a direct-to-video B-flick from the era of short shorts, crop tops, windbreakers, and polo shirts which stars Robert Lee Oliver, Donatella Hecht, Neal Rosen, Valorie Hubbard. The film is not for everyone, but cult cinema enthusiasts will want to check it out thanks to the involvement of Splatter University’s Peter Iich as the film documents what could go wrong when husbands cheat and mothers go without food for far too long. Not even the cats are safe!
Thanks to the work of Carl Sorensen (Child’s Play, Tremors) the cheesy gore is laid on thick and heavy and makes for a slippery time at the movies as mother’s encourage their kids to have more and more milk before biting their skulls open. This title is absolutely bonkers in tone and amatuer acting, creating a film that is both otherworldly and off its rocker. Completely.
Flesh-Eating Mothers, thanks to Vinegar Syndrome, takes bloody jabs at the domesticated life as satire turns ravenous with quickies, bullies, and gallons of junk food thanks to daily drive-by of the ice cream man. If the kids aren’t beating each other up or blaming their fathers for cheating on their mothers, then they are running for their lives . . . away from their crazed mothers.
Written, directed, edited, and produced by James Martin, the film opens with a hunting accident in which a man gets his arm ripped off by a bear. At least, that’s the report turned in. The truth is far stranger than that because the hunter, who usually goes it alone, actually took his wife with him and she - turning down card games with the gossip girls and the tupperware party - is nowhere to be seen. Could she be responsible? From these humble beginnings, an entire small community is terrorized as, one by one, moms become murderers.
Absurd and operating with its tongue planted firmly in its cheek, Flesh-Eating Mothers almost tops Dead Alive when it comes to hilarious gore-fests and out of control mothers. No one is safe in this neighborhood of spousal abuse, drunk fathers, and mothers who want to eat their kids’ meat AND their potatoes, as well as thir arms and legs and ears and BRAINS.
Newly scanned & restored in 2k from its 16mm archival elements, Flesh-Eating Mothers is back on the prowl.
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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]
Blu-ray Details:
Home Video Distributor: Vinegar Syndrome
Available on Blu-ray - February 25, 2020
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set; DVD copy
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A
A decidedly absurd and tongue-in-cheek mix of zombie film and Cronenberg-esque body horror, James Martin's direct-to-video 80s cult classic, Flesh-Eating Mothers offers a non-stop barrage of over-the-top splatter, courtesy of special effects wizard Carl Sorensen (Child's Play, Tremors), and pitch black humor. Co-produced by Peter Ilich (Splatter University) and photographed by future VFX guru, Harry Eisenstein, Vinegar Syndrome presents Flesh-Eating Mothers in its North American Blu-ray debut, freshly restored in 2K and featuring a new batch of exclusive extra features. A special limited edition embossed slipcover (designed by Earl Kessler Jr.) is limited to 2,000 units and is only available here at VinegarSyndrome.com.
Visual:
The film is dominated with reds and greens that sparks with strong colors. It’s a cheap film, for sure, but the simple backgrounds burst with new details and a nice level of clarity. Black levels are solid and skin tones are natural. This is, after all, a dark film. There are lots of night scenes; thankfully, the lines hold their edges. Shadows are defined and the film has a new depth previously unseen.
Audio:
- Audio-wise, the DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo soundtrack is included. The dialogue is clear and the score/effects are never lost or hard to hear.
Special Features:
Fans get three new supplemental items to help them make sense of this trippy take on parents. One is a brand-new commentary track with director James Martin, moderated by film historian and author Michael Gingold, an interview with James Martin, and an interview with Peter IIich.
- James Martin Commentary
- Blood and Laughs
- Hungry to Make Movies
Blu-ray Rating:
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[tab title="Film Details"]
MPAA Rating: PG-13 on appeal for crude sexual content and language.
Runtime: 89 mins
Director: James Aviles Martin
Writer: James Aviles Martin, Zev Shlasinger
Cast: Robert Lee Oliver, Donatella Hecht, Neal Rosen
Genre: Comedy | Horror
Tagline: Mom Always Said "No Snacks Between Meals," But What If You Were The Next Meal?
Memorable Movie Quote: "What are we supposed to do? Stay here and have our asses chewed out by our mothers?"
Theatrical Distributor:
Official Site:
Release Date: September 16, 1988
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: February 25, 2020.
Synopsis: Something strange is happening to the mothers in a small town in upstate New York... Small and subtle changes appear at first, but soon the women are transformed into deranged, demented, and cannibalistic FLESH-EATING MOTHERS. With no one safe from ending up as a key ingredient in the next tupperware party luncheon, it's up to the town's young people to uncover the shocking truth behind the carnage and put an end to it once and for all, especially as dinner time approaches.
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