Mommy's Day (1997)

Well this is the third movie starring Patty McCormack in the Bad Seed franchise. In the original she plays Rhoda, and in the (unofficial) sequels she is a mother herself never been called by her first name, she just goes by Mommy and Mrs Sterling. Been charged of murder which happened in "Mommy" and sentenced to death she somehow escapes this fate and gets a drug implanted in her arm which should keep her murdering drifts down. But as soon as she is free she notices that there are people who want to see her fail and locked up again. She also has a restriction order on seeing her daughter Jessica Anne played by Rachel Lemieux. Rachel Lemieux now a bit older has grown in her role and it's great how she stands up for her mother at times. I particularly liked how she handled that big boy in school saying "watch out maybe it runs in the family". Killings happen but is Mommy the culprit or is there some copycat at work? I have my ideas who did those killings and not going to give it away. This one is really on par with "Mommy" movie.

If the first "Mommy" film wasn't bad enough, the sequel "Mommy's Day" is...just the same. Just as absurd, just as try-hard and just as cheap. Although, it looks like the director went and bought himself a new handi-cam, as the quality is a tad superior to the first film.But really, although it was a nice idea over all, no one really seems like they wanted to participate in this film. Rachel Lemieux's Jessica Ann has turned into a right little brat, Brinke Stevens' Beth is still as spineless as she was in the first film (though Brinke is a good actress, she just looked rather bored here) and Patty McCormack's Mommy is as insane as ever - or is she? Seriously though, this crazed Mommy manages to convince a couple of incompetent security staff to let her have her hands free when she is going to be given her life-ending injection - what's with that? A year later, Mommy is on some experimental new mood controlling drug, yet all these strange murders begin to happen, and of course Mommy is at it again - or is she??? Poor Marian Wald has a great scene reprising her role from the first film, though that's all she gets to do. Sarah Jane Miller also from the first film returns playing the sister of her original now deceased character, and is once again one of th main reasons for watching the film, she's a riot. Paul Peterson is okay as Paul Conway's, Beth's scheming husband, and Paula Sands is rather good playing herself, a supposedly famous talk show host. Interesting.Unless you have some dire compulsion to watch poor-quality films, or were so obsessed with the first film, stay away from this one, you won't get anything out of it except a few unprovoked laughs.

The daughter is now living with her aunty and her husband, while mommy is awaiting the death penalty by lethal injection. During the execution she manages to escape, but is shortly shot in a standoff outside the execution room. So, we move into the story one year later where we learn that instead of the death penalty, mommy is a guinea pig for a device that's implanted in her arm that stops her aggressive temptation. Now she's living in a halfway house and she learns that her sister has got a restraining order against her staying away from her daughter. Naturally that doesn't stop mommy. But it's not running smoothly as anyone who she gets in a confrontation with, ends up being killed and so mommy becomes the number one suspect.After just sitting through the first flick, I wasn't holding my breath that this was going to be better. Actually I was expecting worse. When I decided to watch the sequel back-to-back with original, I was thinking I might as well get it out of my way now then later. Wow, it was better (though there's no big emphasis on that). Just like the first it's pretty much a shoestring indie flick, though it went a 'little' bigger for this occasion with their impressive opening… well kinda. This time around the story seems to focus more around mommy then that of her daughter. Even the structure has changed with the film taking a more American style Gillao approach and adding a mystery vibe with a lot effective red herrings continuously coming and going. Where we only see glimpses of the killer in high heels and that of back view. But what really came to mind though, were the first two 'Scream' flicks. Due to the success of those films it follows the same sort of pattern. In certain aspects it rips-off 'Scream 2' is the self-knowing attitude and wit and also that of a book 'Mommy's murders' written about the murders in the first film. Hey, it might be highly derivative but it had fun with itself, which made it all the more involving and entertaining. Some cunning humour was a welcome change too. I'm just so glad that it didn't become a carbon copy of the original film.The plot is a bit of fun and cleverly played out. The films climax is rather ingenious, but doesn't stop it from being trashy and rather silly overall. I tell you it's not no easy to pick up on the killer. I thought I had it figured with a sound motive, but I was caught short. The outcome is really out-there that you considered it something quite far-fetched. Along the way it likes to mock itself and that of the media. That goes for a segment involving a Jerry Springer send-up. The story isn't perfect as at the beginning it has some unconvincing character reactions and developments. Also the moralistic drama element about family that the film starts off with gladly vanishes further along into the story. There was just too much of that throughout the first flick.The performances are rather expressionless. Patty McCormick returns as mommy, but seems to be little more steely than hammy. I thought it worked out the better that way with her sharp comments. Others to return are Rachel Lemieux as Jessica Ann who seems to get less time, though she wasn't as convincing this time and Brinke Stevens as Beth gets very little to do, but be mostly grumpy. Jason Miller doesn't return as Lt. March, but his replaced. Paul Peterson as the author and husband of Beth plays Paul Conway and Gary Sandy plays the cop Sgt. Anderson, who thinks that mommy will never change. The dialog we hear is rather stiff and damn they like to waffle on at times, but mostly it was more then bearable because of the ironic wit.The production is what you expect from a cheaply produced film. It's shot very much like the first and does come across like someone's home movie. The editing is sharper and it doesn't seem to drag as much. Bravo! Decent lighting! Well actually most of the flick was during daylight but when it was dark we could clearly see what's happening. I'm grateful for that. The setting too had a hypnotic pull over you, especially the sequence involving the final showdown. There just seemed to be a bit more oomph to the pacing and there's some mildly sustained tension and lively moments. Maybe I'm being generous, but I thought it was well done for what they had to work with. This time the deaths are a bit unpleasant and have little more blood involved, but they are far from graphic. Some of the kills were rather clumsily staged, though. One of them mimics Hitchcock's well-known shower scene from 'Psycho' with a twist to how the victim gets it. Overall, this film is a vast improvement over its predecessor, but doesn't actually mean the film is good. I say it's a harmless who-done-it that adds in a small twinkle of fun.Simply, it didn't have trouble keeping my full attention like the original did."Don't you know the sequel is never as good as the original". Oh no, this one is way bet-ttter!

having seen the bad seed and enjoying it I was glad to see this movie of Rhoda as an adult.This very low budgeted film is entertaining because of the talents of Patricia(Patty)McCormack playing the main character.The poor vhs copy I have can't hide her icy stares or take away anything from her cut through ice comments.The life of anyone getting between her and her little daughter is in danger.It get's to the point where a person tryiny to keep them seperated is told by the little girl " I wouldn't do that if I were you".To my surprise the story did not turn out predictable which was like a bonus.For old timers an extra added attraction was a decent performance by former child star Paul Petersen.