Flesh Eating Mothers 1989 Elite Entertainment   Buy It Now

When you hear a title like Flesh Eating Mothers, well, let's just say that you get a certain mental picture of what you might be in for.  You know one thing right off the bat; this film is not going to be some highly polished Hollywood fare that keeps you on the edge of your seat with terror and tension.  Chances are good it won't feature the best actors in the world, and in fact it most likely features actors from over a decade ago that aren't even active in the business anymore.  There will be some horrible dialog forced on you, but the awesomely gross gore effects will more than make up for it. 

But all of these assumptions would be wrong in the case of Flesh Eating Mothers; wrong enough to challenge my own certainties of what I know about horror films.  I expected something along the lines of a Troma film, but what I got was something along the lines of...well...something not as good.  Imagine if Bad Taste wasn't made by the amazing now-talent, Peter Jackson, but was instead was a poorly handled first project from a director the likes of Mark Jones (Leprechaun).

The premise is not to blame as the basics are of the so-bad-they-must-be-good variety.  Several mothers in a small town have all been sleeping around with a philandering husband who apparently has a mighty libido; but this guy also carries an even mightier sexually transmitted disease.  But this infection is not your usual STD and instead of causing some severe discomfort to its victims, it causes females to succumb to cannibalistic desires...on whomever they are closest too at the time.

One at a time, these mothers move through the members of their families trying to decide whether to start with an arm or an ear as the fiendish hunger overtakes their bodies.  One mother even goes so far as to attempt "softening" her boy up before the big meal, as if he was so much veal!

When husbands and children begin turning up dead and devoured, it is up to the surviving children of these maternal maniacs to put an end to the madness.  A corrupt cop with a secret in his past stands like a blockade in their way, but the youths can expect some help from a so-so scientist and his beautiful, blonde and brilliant sidekick in unraveling the history of this disease and a possible solution to the wildfire epidemic of epidermal hunger!

What actually transpires in the next hour and a half is a cluster of horrible acting, boring interludes, terribly handled gore and the worst dialog you have ever heard in your entire life.  Every actor seems like they are being fed their lines from somewhere just off screen the entire flick and I swear to you that you can see the actual feelings of surprise present whenever one of these "actors" happens to get a scene somewhat correct.

In a surprising twist of usual events the adults act far worse than the youths, but I suppose I am not expecting greatness from any age group when you consider that neither the writer, nor director, nor nearly every one of the acting ensemble ever went on to make another appearance in film...and not a one of those who did showed up in anything memorable or even decent.  One exception to Flesh Eating Mothers' kiss of career death would be make-up man Ralph Cordero who would go on to create makeup effects for The Toxic Avenger!

Elite has dug up some real gems that I had either long forgotten about or had simply never heard of in the first place, and this is one company which has carved out its own niche in the scheme of DVD release.  I have to say that I am a bit disappointed with this one, although I can definitely see why they sought this title out.  With this kind of horrible finished product, a film is almost assured a certain level of cult status...and if Elite knows one thing, it is cult flicks.

However, Elite also has a way of finding films that aren't cult classics UNTIL they release it and spread it amongst a wider audience (i.e. Thirst, Dark Forces, etc).  This one I think might miss the target just a little bit, as I don't see fans clamoring to find this particular disc.  For those who may be looking however, I imagine this will be a treat to find.

There is one thing I must ask about this film, and that is the following:  Where else are you going to hear the following lines delivered completely straightfaced, and with many stutters and mess ups which were LEFT IN the final version?  Nowhere...that's where.

"What are we gonna do?"

"There's only one thing left for us to do...we have to destroy our mothers."

"I love my mother, but I don't like seeing her like this.  She's suffering...they're ALL suffering.  We have to kill them...we have to put them out of their misery!

This film isn't great.  In fact, it isn't even good.  In fact, it is barely tolerable, and only then it is because it is so bad that you are mesmerized by what is transpiring before you.  I shudder however, because those of you who are going to buy this disc were going to do so the very second that you heard the words Flesh Eating Mothers, and you don't care in the slightest what else I had to say in this review.  To these guys I say...Bon Apetit!

-aaron-
 

Directed By: James Aviles Martin   Written By: Zev Schlasinger   Cast: Robert Lee Oliver Donatella Hecht Neal Rosen Valorie Hubbard Terry Hayes Katherine Mayfield Suzanne Ehrlich Louis Homvak Ken Eaton

DVD Features: Widescreen Presentation Theatrical Trailer