Parental Violence
MOM AND DAD | Nicolas Cage is at his nutso best as a dad driven to kill his kids in the Crank director’s insane satire…
You may love your little ’un but, as any parent can attest, sometimes you want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Mom And Dad, an unabashed B-movie in which the compulsion to commit filicide spreads across America like a zombie virus, should offer recognisable catharsis. “People ask, ‘What was the motivation for the movie?’” says writer/ director Brian Taylor. “Only half-joking I say, ‘Well, you know, I’m a parent!’”
A gleefully unhinged grindhouse horror, Mom And Dad sees kids Carly and Josh (Anne Winters and Zackary Arthur) do all they can to survive a domestic onslaught when their parents (Nicolas Cage and Selma Blair) suddenly turn into psycho killers. High concept it may be, but Mom And Dad taps into universal feelings of genetic obsolescence post-childbirth. “There’s only one reason that you’re put here: to create that kid,” Taylor says. “Then, biologically, you’re done. It’s a little bit of a raw deal.”
Better known as one half of Crank’s explosive directing duo, Taylor is flying solo for the first time on Mom And Dad, but has lost none of his edge with a standout sequence that sees once nurturing parents tackle, suffocate and bludgeon
their own offspring during a deranged dash across a playing field.
It’s easy to see what attracted Cage, who previously collaborated with Taylor on Ghost Rider sequel Spirit Of Vengeance. Describing Mom And Dad as his “favourite film he’s made in 10 years”, Cage brings his demented A-game. The highlight? Cage shout-singing the ‘Hokey Cokey’ as he obliterates a pool table with a sledgehammer. “That was all Nic,” Taylor smiles. “He was like, ‘I have an idea… what do you think?’ I just said, ‘Yeah. I think that’s exactly what he would do!’” Brace for the daddy of all Nic Cage performances.
ETA | 2 MArch / MoM And dAd opEns nExT MonTh. rEAd TF’s rEviEw on p48.