In The Other Side of the Door we see the lengths a mother is willing to go to bring her child back from the dead. She’s not the only mum to have gone to desperate lengths for her child. Some make great sacrifices for their children to protect them, whilst others go on murder rampages in the name of revenge. Love them or hate them though, Horror Mums are dedicated mums.
GOOD MUMS
Rosemary’s Baby
So, your husband has deceived you, inducted you into a Satanist cult, and you’ve just unknowingly given birth to the anti-Christ. What do you do? If you are as dedicated a mother as Rosemary, you suck it up and take care of your kid. Granted the film ends shortly after she makes this decision, with most of the film focusing on her baby’s conception and birth, but it takes a dedicated mother to agree to raise the child of Satan even if it is also your child. See the Omen if you want to see what kind of joys Rosemary has to look forward to.
The Ring
Poor old Rachel Keller. All she tried to do was investigate some suspicious teenage deaths, and she went and got caught up in all kinds of supernatural catastrophe. Her initial investigation of the phenomena was prompted by the death of her niece, but when her son Aiden watches the video tape putting his life in danger, there is no stopping her. Learning the only way to prevent Aiden’s death is to make a copy of the tape and give it to someone, trading Aiden’s life for the unwitting victims, Rachel doesn’t hesitate. Now that’s a committed mother.
Inside
In this French home invasion horror film, expectant mother Sarah fights off a crazed stalker who is trying to steal her baby. In the process she kills her own mother by accident, suffers multiple wounds including a stab to the belly with a pair of scissors, and fashions a flamethrower from a cigarette and a can of deodorant. Ultimately she is unsuccessful and her baby is taken from her, but you can’t fault her for trying.
The Shining
Locked away in an isolated hotel deep in the country side with a psychotic increasingly violent husband, The Shining’s Wendy Torrance was put in a tricky situation. Did she back down? No. She went H.A.M., fighting her husband across the house and eventually escaping with her son to safety. Jack Nicholson’s depiction of Jack ‘Johnny’ Terrance has gone down in history as a terrifying depiction of a man’s descent into madness, so for overcoming this, as well as ghosts and a cascading wave of blood, I give full props to her and her dedicated maternal instincts.
Dark Water
In Dark Water, Yoshimi Matsubara moves to a rundown apartment with her daughter in the midst of divorce proceedings. The only trouble is there is an ominous leak in the roof of the apartment that is caused by the ghost of an abandoned child that lived in the flat above them. Bummer. In the process of trying to get to the bottom of it all, the ghost child confuses Yoshimi for her own mother and threatens her child’s life. To appease the ghost child, she gives up her own life to live as the ghost mother for the ghost child thus sparing her daughter’s life. Now that is the ultimate sacrifice.
BAD MUMS
Serial Mom
Beverly Sutphin appears to be the regular suburban mum, except she isn’t because otherwise she wouldn’t be on this list. No. She is a serial killer who kills anyone who offends her, particularly those who threaten or upset her children. She murders her son’s maths teacher after he doubts his intelligence, his daughter’s boyfriend after he stands her up for a date, she even murders someone for arguing with her son over a late fee at the video rental store where she works. Now fair enough she was standing up for her children, but committed as she may be, I’d probably say Beverly was a bit over committed, or at least her commitment lies in the wrong places. She could have really done with dialling it down a bit at least.
Scream 2
So your son is a violent serial killer who was murdered by one of the people he tried to kill. That’s a bitter pill to swallow and not all that easy to come back from. If you are Mrs Loomis from Scream 2 however you barely take a breath before continuing your son’s legacy, going on a murderous rampage to get revenge on the people who killed your son. In the end she got what she deserved and was also killed, but I guess her heart was in the right place? The wrong right place but…well I can see where she was coming form.
Friday the 13th
When a group of camp councillors start getting murdered at camp Crystal Lake, the last person you would expect would be a defenceless little old lady. But Mrs. Pamela Voorhees is definitely not defenceless, and instead is bent on revenge. Through the course of the film you learn that 21 years ago her son drowned at the summer camp due to the councillors’ negligence (they were getting it on elsewhere), and so Mrs Voorhees has taken it upon herself to stop the camp from ever reopening; by killing anyone who tries to reopen it. She’s clearly a bit more justified than Mrs. Loomis was, dying before her son mysteriously appears, seemingly having been alive all along, and becomes a serial killer in his own right. Again though, I’m going to have to say this is a case of over commitment, and considering in the next nine Friday the 13th films that followed Crystal Lake remains a popular sight for holidaymakers and campers alike, she never achieved her goal.
The Brood
Nola Carveth is going through a nasty divorce, fighting for custody of her child Candice and trying to work through a lot of psychosocial issues. Unfortunately her psychotherapist’s unusual practices cause her to give birth to a small ‘Brood’ of telepathic toothless childlike dwarf creatures. Yikes. Picking up on her anguish at losing her daughter, the brood attacks Candice’s teacher, who has taken temporary custody, and bring her back to Nola. When her estranged husband tries to get his daughter back, she even contemplates killing Candice to prevent her being taken from her. Luckily she doesn’t succeed, but I think we can all agree she was willing to go to extreme lengths for her child.
The Other Side of the Door is in UK cinemas from 4th March. For more information and to book tickets head to www.theothersideofthedoor.co.uk
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