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Postal parents lose the plot
You don’t expect much subtlety from the director of the insane Crank movies and risible 2009 dud Gamer – and boy, Brian Taylor doesn’t let us down.
For his latest ‘what’s going on in that man’s head’ outing, the New Yorker presents his most controversial subject matter yet; what if parents suddenly lost the plot and tried to start brutally murdering their children?
It’s a clear B-movie premise – rammed home by the vintage, Grindhouse-inspired opening credits – that could have worked in more secure, not so eager to smash things up hands.
Sadly, Taylor’s script forgot to include any likeable characters on either side of the generational divide, with Selma Blair’s (Kendall) initially nurturing mother the closest thing his film has to someone to root for; before even she emotionally falls off a cliff.
The reason for parents turning into oneman and woman wrecking crews is never fully explained, beyond hints that a signal embedded in mobile phones or TV sets could be to blame.
But mums are referring to their daughters as “b***hes” even before the hysteria sets in and an early example of Taylor’s tact-free writing sees a kitchen chat that manages to combine racism, hashtags and period jokes.
What the director does do well, though, is shoot in a hyperactive style – ironically much like a kid would – that helps distract from the wafer-thin plot; there’s shots from high above, extreme close-ups on a series of wildly emotive faces and on-screen mobile phone graphics.
Herds of zombie-like parents on the hunt also leaves a visual mark and Mom and Dad delivers the most disturbing movie birth scene since gruesome 2007 French horror Inside.
The sound design – led by a John Carpenteresque electronic score – is an effective mix of time-honoured tunes, chilling build-up and ear-bashing carnage.
And who better to head up such a crazy flick than Mr OTT himself, Nicolas Cage (Brent)? His manic style may suit his character but it’s a real shame to see a man who has proved he has real acting talent – witness Wild at Heart, Adaptation and Lord of War – become a parody of his newly formed wild man persona seemingly destined to star in schlock like this from now on; the best that can be said for him here is at least this hasn’t suffered the straightto-DVD fate of most of his last dozen or so movies.
Taylor devotes nearly three minutes to Cage constructing a pool table and while his subsequent rant about aging registers, scenes where he cries and adopts a saw-themed catchphrase – yes, really – are downright embarrassing.
Ace 2008 Brit horror The Children covered a similarly touchy central premise with more class and slow-burn tension; Mom and Dad is like the uncool parents your 13-year-old self wouldn’t want to hang out with in comparison.