MovieChat Forums > Mother's Day (1980) Discussion > Phony FX guy beheaded in car

Phony FX guy beheaded in car

posted 17 years ago by saint-21
9 replies | jump to latest

dag, was that some phony looking beheading. should have got tom savini to do that one. (i know, he was across the lake doing friday 13th). But man, it even looked phony a big time dummy used...

[–] theroberthawleyexperienc 17 years ago

It would have looked alot better if they did not have that long shot of the dummy in the car while Addley snuck up on him with the machete. While i am no director i would have just had the actor still in that shot, then cut to the dummy...and not have the blood spray first on the actress in the front as well! However then Mother's Day would not the way that i have grown to love it!

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] sistermorphine71 17 years ago

Yeah, it's fake as all get-out, but that's part of its charm!

[–] BugisStreetAnnie (1294) 6 years ago

It would have looked alot better if they did not have that long shot of the dummy in the car while Addley snuck up on him with the machete

I know, that's what I was thinking also. You could certainly tell that was a dummy sitting there and not an actual person.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] phoenixandrew 11 years ago

The movie operated on a budget of only $115,000. Even in 1980, that is very cheap! Explains why most of the blood and gore in this film looked fake.

[–] AceRoccola 11 years ago

Halloween had a budget of 300k and they still managed a high quality of film, fantastic cinematography, music, effects, and a stellar cast. It easily looks better than films with ten times the budget.

I'm not suggesting that Halloween's effective use of funds was the norm, but Mother's Day doesn't look anywhere near 1/3rd as good as Carpenter's film (nor one thirtieth). It's not always about the budget. It also has to do with skill, talent, and so on. Sometimes you just make shlock because you're a no-talent shlock artist. That's...sort of Troma's thing. It doesn't take money to make basic, reasonable decisions about filmmaking. Mother's Day is just a crappy movie. That is, of course, part of the charm - as other posters have pointed out. It's not quite as bad as some of the really horrible early 80s forest slashers (e.g. The Forest, Don't Go In The Woods) but it's still pretty dire.

Although films like this do make one appreciate the real gems of the genre that much more. The Burning has never been so enjoyable as when viewed after this junk.

[–] bleuhawaii19 11 years ago

Just watched the movie for the first time and the version I saw must have been edited since this part never happened. It shows the beginning with the mother offering the couple a ride home and then goes to where we see the opening montage of the girls talking over the photos which I found rather strange. It also cuts the part where the blonde opens the closest and finds the Lady Gaga look-alike. It shows her open the closet but doesn't show who is in it. I just guessed it was one of the two from the beginning.

[–] smerd_70 8 years ago

You watched a chopped version.

I collect dead pigeons then I press them between the pages of a book.