- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
- Subtitles: English SDH
- Subtitles Color: White
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Rating: Not Rated
- Run Time: 90 Mins.
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Digital Copies: N/A
- Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: September 4, 2012
- List Price: $24.99
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Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:1.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:2.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:1.5/5]
As far as cult films go, perhaps only the original I Spit on Your Grave is arguably as infamous as 1980’s Mother’s Day. This 1980 film from cult horror production company Troma (who are also responsible for such high quality fare as Class of Nuke ‘Em High and Surf Nazis Must Die) garnered a lot of controversy and attention from feminists for its violent depictions of rape towards women, yet it still managed to build up a rather large cult following after its initial run. The story follows three close friends, former college roommates Abbey (Nancy Hendrickson), Jackie (Deborah Luce), and Trina (Tiana Pierce), who get together for their annual reunion and head into the woods of New Jersey for a relaxing camping trip. There they are accosted by two sub-human brothers Ike (Holden McGuire) and Addley (Billy Ray McQuade) who drag them back to their ramshackle house where they live with their controlling, elderly mother who spurs them on to perform violent sex acts and murderous deeds towards the women. When one of the women dies as a result of the inhumane treatment, the remaining two escape and plot their violent revenge. While this film is filled with an odd mixture of gore, exploitative sex, and dark comedy (the two numb-skulled brothers gorge on sugary snacks and argue over which is better, disco or punk), this movie is just plain ridiculous, even by Troma standards. While one could argue against the anti-feminist allegations by the mere fact that the victims rise up and lay down some serious whoop-ass on their abductors, it is still ultimately aimless and far more stupid than it is horrific or funny.
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
As far as a low budget Troma production goes, this Anchor Bay Entertainment release of Mother’s Day looks about as good as it can get in this AVC/MPEG-4 1080p encodement. The image quality does vary and is heavily-grained, but that has more to do with the production than the transfer. Source damage could perhaps have been cleaned up more than it is here, as there are some scratches and things that can be seen throughout, but one can hardly complain. This is the best this film has ever looked.
Audio Quality
[Rating:2.5/5]
Only a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track is offered, which isn’t exactly high quality. I don’t know how much this boxy sounding soundtrack would have benefited from a lossless encodement, but it certainly couldn’t have hurt.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
There’s not really anything new provided here, even if the production feautrettes offer up an interesting amount of information for fans.
The supplements:
- Filmmaker Audio Commentary
- Super 8: Behind the Scenes of the Original Mother’s Day (1.33:1; SD; 00:10:02)
- Original Mother’s Day Trailer (1.33:1; 1080p/24)
- “Ike, Adley, and Eli” Eli Roth on the Subversive Political Subtext of Mother’s Day (1.78:1; SD; 00:23:07)
- Mother’s Day at Comic-Con 2010 (1.78:1; SD; 00:08:08)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:2.5/5]
Mother’s Day is one of the most infamous cult films around, but frankly, viewed through the lens of time, it just seems downright awful. Bad acting, filled with stereotypes and hardly as controversial as you think it’s going to be.
Additional Screen Captures
[amazon-product]B008DL4HNO[/amazon-product]
Purchase Mother’s Day on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
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[amazon-product]B008DL4HNO[/amazon-product]
Purchase Mother’s Day on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:1.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:2.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
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