Greetings, and welcome back to October Horror Fest! Today marks our one week special! That’s right everyone, it seems so little time went by, but we are already a week into the challenge. Crazy isn’t it? Today, I honestly planned on watching one of the classics. A Friday the 13th, a Halloween, a Nightmare on Elm Street. But no. No. I watched a much, MUCH different film. And today’s review is honestly just gonna be fun. This movie was so insane that I couldn’t not have fun writing it. I saw this with two good friends, and I literally was just laughing for half of it, and had no clue what was going on. In this review, that’s the type of vibe I want you guys to have. Here’s to one week, and buckle up. It’s time for Mom and Dad. Without further ado, sit back, relax, turn off the lights, grab some Candy and Popcorn, and let’s review…
Mom and Dad
I’m not even joking, I’m having a hard time writing this because of the lack of words to describe this movie. It’s… it’s just wow. Let’s actually get into it. We start our film in a pretty dysfunctional household, and we meet Mom and Dad. Dad is played by none other than Nic Cage, and my god, does he sell this movie. The family of four consists of Brent (Dad), Kendall (Mom), Carly (The Daughter), and Joshua (The Son). Carly is a daughter full of angst, blah blah blah, you know the rest of that story. She bickers with her mom constantly, and even steals from her. Joshua is a good kid, but is often subject to the temper of Nic Cage.
Not going to lie, nothing that happens in the first 45 minutes of this film is really important. This happens a lot. After we meet our family, we learn a bit more about them. Brent is EXTREMELY disgruntled with his life. He is very out of it, and really just wants to leave. Carly has a boyfriend named Damon, who is very unpopular with Dad. But all in all, they are just a typical family. Although a bit dysfunctional.
At school, we really start to pick up steam. Carly sits in class, eagerly texting with her friend in one of the funniest moments in the film. (Please, please watch this with a few friends and a big bowl of popcorn. It’s amazing.) And, at school, like I said, it all really begins. Static begins to play on every screen in the building, and we cut back to the house of the family. Joshua watches as the housekeeper, almost in a trancelike state, kills her daughter in front of him. At the school, parents are lined up, staring at their children. And as a few unlucky kids get near, they are killed by their own families. This begins a mad dash towards the exit, where Carly and her friend Riley are able to escape. Chaos is brewing.
Once at Riley’s house, Carly immediately switches on the news, and we get the shocking (but also hilarious, I can’t even describe it just please watch this absolute masterpiece) reveal that parents around the nation are murdering their own children. Riley goes up to her mom’s room, and is strangled to death by her. Carly makes her way upstairs, and sees the scene. She runs, not pursued by the other parent. At Damon’s house, his father makes an attempt on his life. Damon is able to get his father to land on a broken glass bottle and slit his own throat, but not at the expense of a good cut across his arm. This is Damon’s first injury out of MANY.
We cut to Kendall in the hospital, as she helps her sister deliver her baby. And, now, the scene in this movie that actually had my heart racing. The newborn is given to Kendall’s sister, as static hits the screen behind her. What unfollows is a fight for the child, which eventually results in it getting away safely. But, we see more unsettling images of new parents watching their babies with looks of rage and horrible intent. Kendall drives home, and the biggest section of the movie begins. The house fight.
Carly gets home with Damon, and she immediately finds her brother. Carly and Joshua try to make a break for it, when Brent gets home. He attacks his children, only to be stopped by Damon (for now). He is fought by Brent, dropped to the floor, and KO’D with an absolutely amazing slow motion backhand by Brent. (once again asking. It’s so funny.) Brent tries to get his kids, but falls on one of Joshua’s toys, knocking himself out. The kids, instead of fleeing the house, run to the basement and hide, deadbolting the door. Kendall gets home, and immediately falls into hysteria. The parents try their first set of plans to get into the basement. Kendall gets a sawzall (which saws all. 10/10 dialogue.) and tries to get into the room. It does not work, and the next plan comes into action. Brent runs up into his room to get his gun, but it’s gone. We find that Joshua actually has the gun, and shoots through the door, wounding his mom. With this happening, they activate the final plan. The parents attach a carbon monoxide hose to the basement, letting the gas slowly fill it up. They want to poison the kids. Carly somehow notices the colorless, flavorless, basically invisible gas, and sets up a trap at the door. When it opens, fire will explode into her parent’s faces. The kids make their way out of a ventilation shaft in the basement, and the trap goes off.
At the same time, Damon (who isn’t dead) gets back up. The explosion put Brent out of the count for a while, but Kendall is still swinging. Damon helps the kids avoid their mother, until she knocks him out AGAIN, and he falls from the upstairs balcony all the way down to the bottom. Finally, Brent gets back up, and the kids are cornered. This is where our third act twist comes in, and my god, is it glorious. The door opens, and Brent’s parents enter. THEY BEGIN TO ATTACK THE PARENTS. The next amazing fight begins, as the parents and the grandparents duke it out. (Fourth time. It’s on Prime Video and Hulu. It’s so funny guys.)
Brent is finally able to get to his car and take out both of his parents, but not without being repeatedly stabbed, being sent out of commission once again. Kendall attacks Carly once again, but is knocked out by Damon, who is still somehow alive, and extremely injured. Mom and Dad wake up in the basement, tied up by the kids. They don’t let them out. The movie ends in the middle of a sentence. “But sometimes we just want to-”… and we are hit with our title card…
Guys, I know this was an unconventional one, but happy one week! I am telling you, I did not do this movie justice. It is so, so, so unintentionally funny, and it can be creepy when it wants to be. It’s just, it’s so funny. And yes, tomorrow we’ll be back on track. Thank you all for reading, and happy one week once again! And remember everyone, don’t trust Mom and Dad…
This installment of Horror Fest is dedicated to Andrew and Rocco Parisi. Thank you boys for watching this absolute masterpiece with me.
