Our Favorite Disturbing Movie Mothers
By Norm Schrager at May 10, 2009 | 10:52 pm | Print
Oedipus. Freud. Jewish comedians. Consider all the important thinkers that moms have influenced throughout history. So as Mother”s Day 2009 ticks away, we reflect on unconventional movie characters named mother, mom, even mommy. Some don’t even have kids. Go figure.
:: “Mother” in Psycho
The mother of all mothers. A mom so possessive, overbearing and flat-out annoying, she stays in her son’s head long after she’s gone. Because a boy’s best friend is his mother. Best line: “I will not hide in the fruit cellar! You think I’m fruity!?”
:: “Beatrice,” the mother in Mother
Debbie Reynolds is the perfect combination of sweet and pushy — um, like every great mom — as Albert Brooks’ mom in Brooks’ Mother. Reynolds was nominated for a Golden Globe (big whoop), but take note: Brooks’ script, co-written with Monica Johnson, won the Best Screenplay award from the National Society of Film Critics.
:: “Momma” in Throw Momma From the Train
Anne Ramsey plays the ugly, loud-mouthed wire-haired monster mom in Danny DeVito’s comedy take on Hitchcock’s Strangers On a Train. She’s a nightmare — enough to earn Ramsey an Oscar nomination. Best line: “I dreamt Louis Armstrong was trying to kill me!”
:: “Mother” in Alien
In Ridley Scott’s finest achievement, “Mother” was the ship’s computer, remember? Voiced by Benny Hill veteran Helen Horton.
:: “Mommy” in Cleopatra Jones
If you were a female drug lord in a blaxploitation film you couldn’t get a name better than “Mommy.” Especially if you were Shelley Winters. Bad hair. Badass.
