Its Mothers Day weekend, and were celebrating our family matriarchs atDen of Geek.
We cant help but be thankful that the following 10 mothers arent our own.
Here is a list of the top 10 scariest, most screwed-up mothers in film.
Psycho (1960)
Norman Bates mother inPsychois disapproving, overbearing, and old-fashioned.
When Marion Crane arrives at the Bates Motel, Mrs. Bates is anything, but accommodating.
She also just happens to be deceased.
I tell you no!
I wont have you bringing strange young girls in here for supperby candlelight, Mrs. Bates cries.
Do you understand, boy?
As Thomson writes, [Hitchcock] is teasing the first audience and congratulating the second.
And the artist feels compelled to own up.
Watch Psycho on Amazon.
Margarets faith is not fulfilling but abusive.
In the book and film when Margaret learns of Carries menstruation she curses, Boys.
Yes, boys come next.
After the blood the boys come.
Like sniffing dogs, grinning and slobbering, trying to find out where that smell is.That…smell!
Piper Lauries fervor and cruelty as Margaret is palpable.
Watch Carrie on Amazon.
Buy The Piano Teacher on Amazon.
In almost every way, shes the perfect wife, mother, and citizen.
Yet, Beverlys temper and vengeance overrides her plucky perk.
Shes a murderer with morals, who makes nutritious home cooked meals to boot.
She bludgeons her next victim without mussing her hair or the string of pearls around her neck.
Even on trial, a jurors white shoes (worn after Labor Day!)
do not go unnoticed by this serial killer and conservative sartorialist.
This mother is ready for her close-up, mug shot and all.
As she answers questions on his behalf, Shaw turns to her and says, You did this mother.
You arranged this disgusting three-ring circus.
Mrs. Iselin syrupy response reeks of hypocrisy: Im your mother…. you know I want nothing for myself.
This mother is not selfless, but very much selfish.
And, as we later learn, a lover of red, not red, white, and blue.
She plays a sassy cockney maid and holds her own among thespian heavyweights like Ingrid Bergman and Joseph Cotton.
And inThe Manchurian Candidate,she is equally captivating and self-assured.
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, and Shaws mother is the rub.
Buy The Manchurian Candidate on Amazon.
Amelia cant cope between her responsibilities as a parent and the loss of her husband.
When Amelia finally snaps, she strides through the house like a dancer in a Pina Bausch production.
Sam finally must bind his mother in the basement to prevent his own death at her hand.
Watch The Babadook on Amazon.
But when in their home, tensions escalate just as their mother increasingly punishes Elias while ignoring Lukas.
Ultimately, the boys resolve to discover who has taken their mothers place.
This films finale may be as much ourmothersworst nightmare, as the beginning of the film is our own.
Watch Goodnight Mommy on Amazon.
Watch Interiors on Amazon.
In Precious matter-of-fact voiceover, she passingly notes that her mother has told that her she cant dance.
Mary dissuades her daughter from attending school, suggesting, instead, that Precious go to the welfare office.
She chastises Precious for having her second baby, accusing her daughter of stealing her man.
Watch Precious on Amazon.
Raglan limits Franks access to Nola, while allowing visitation of her five-year-old daughter Candice.
Franks lawyer flatly tells him, The law believes in motherhood.
If only the law knewwhatNola is mothering within Raglans secluded fortress.
Later, in a trance, Nola calmly asserts, Mommies never hurt their own children.
When pressed by Raglan, Nolas tone violently shifts as she revises her statement: Sometimes they do.
Sometimes when theyre bad.
Nola confesses her own mother beat her and even threw her down the stairs.
When she gets angry, the target of her anger dies at the hands of the bleached blond children.
When Frank finally confronts his estranged wife, shes in white, her coiffed hair a corona of light.
However, Nola is anything but angelic.
Watch The Brood on Amazon.
