10 crazy mom movies to see in honor of ‘mother!’
Prepare for matriarchal madness. Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller mother! (in theaters now) adds to the long list of nutso films revolving around moms, motherhood and questionable parenting. In honor of the newcomer starring Jennifer Lawrence — we’ll wait while you try to unpack all of its meanings — USA TODAY’s
Brian Truitt offers 10 other trips to Crazytown to check out for a very kooky Mother’s Day.
FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC (1987)
Even grandmothers have their odd moments of cruelty, especially in this V.C. Andrews adaptation. Louise Fletcher’s old lady sticks her four grandkids in — you guessed it — the attic, punishing them for being products of incest. (FYI: Mom’s no angel either.)
FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980)
Jason Voorhees is synonymous with the long-running franchise, but true horror fiends know it’s actually Mama Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) the unsuspecting teen-
age campers of Crystal Lake have to be afraid of in the original flick in the series.
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)
Meryl Streep is usually the one giving the definitive performance, but her manipulative mom in the 2004 remake can’t match Angela Lansbury’s Oscar-nominated portrayal of Mrs. Iselin. She controls her son, a brainwashed POW/sleeper assassin, to help carry out her own political machinations.
PSYCHO (1960)
Anthony Perkins’ Norman Bates is the ultimate mama’s boy: The dude literally dresses up as his dead mom and kills residents at the family motel. So that’s kind of messed up. (For the creepy back story, dig into five seasons of the cool prequel Bates Motel after you can manage to take a shower again.)
CARRIE (1976)
Piper Laurie’s ultra-righteous mom gives evangelicals a bad name, abusing and torturing her blossoming daughter (Sissy Spacek). That is, until the girl discovers her nascent telekinetic powers and all hell breaks loose.
PRECIOUS (2009)
Mo’Nique won a best-supportingactress Oscar — and deservedly so — for her haunting portrayal of a Harlem mother whose malevolence toward her teen daughter (Gabourey Sidibe) knows no bounds, even trying to nail the kid with a frying pan and threatening her life.
ROSEMARY’S BABY (1968)
Cinema’s new mother! explores impending motherhood in intriguing fashion, but no one did it creepier than Roman Polanski’s classic about a young New York City woman (Mia Farrow) who gets pregnant and finds out later her bundle of joy is the spawn of Satan.