Mum and Dad

Anchor Bay Entertainment / Starz

R4 DVD

Reviewer: Debra Wilkinson

This is a nasty little film. Rather than build up gently to the main theme we are dropped into it very quickly. When Lena misses her bus late one night Birdy offers her a bed for the night. She meets Birdy’s mum and dad in an unexpected way. Dad is bashing a girl’s head in with a hammer. Mum explains that he gets a bit agitated sometimes.

Lena is chained up and she discovers Mum’s sadistic hobby of carving patterns into peoples skins. Lena soon realizes that she must play along with their deadly games and appear to become part of the family if she is to survive. Her main job apart from housekeeping is sorting through the stolen luggage that Dad brings home from the Heathrow baggage handling facility where he works. Lena, Birdy and their “brother” (another victim) are expected to support the family as well by minor shoplifting and theft. With the threat of Dad and his hammer hanging over them they must fit into the lifestyle or die. Birdy and her “brother” have been brainwashed and brutalised long enough that they now accept this lifestyle, but Lena must appear to fit in while keeping her feelings to herself.

This works for a while until she is trusted enough that she manages to escape. Now it’s time for revenge, and it will be as bloody as Mum and Dad’s own habits.

The film is not particularly well acted because the writer did not give the characters much development and the actors don’t have much to work with. Particularly with Mum and Dad, they just appear on the scene fully developed. Why did they become homicidal maniacs? How have they got away with it for so long? The moody atmosphere of the sets, the poor lighting and dingy rooms, suits the film’s theme.

This is a film for those with strong stomachs and gore fans will love it. I would have liked it more had the plot been developed better, but it is certainly going to stick in my memory.

Editor’s Note: Mum and Dad is certainly a strange film, some have argued it is some sort of commentary on the dangers of extreme family values. It has a strong patriarchal father figure who rules the family with a rod of iron and strong (if not disturbed) religious overtones. It is a favourite with the cult horror crowd as it is such an extreme film, presented in such a way that you must think hard to decode to its message. Nothing is given by the way of storyline and you must work out the message (if there is one) for yourself. Some has seen Mum and Dad as yet another example of the modern trend towards extreme meaningless violence in film, while others have held it up as new blood in an old genre. Whatever you think it is a controversial film and worth seeing, if only to make up your own mind.

BTW: Welcome Debra to our review team !

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This review will appear in Volume 3 No. 3 of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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