A remake of the 1980 Troma backwoods survival pic with the same name, the original Mother's Day was a mediocre and highly-flawed film for its sub-genre. There was lots of room for improvement, but its unorthodox shift of events with its story did make it a somewhat memorable effort, despite its flaws. Director Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw 2 through 4) decided it was time to deliver us an updated and hopefully much improved version of the sadistic story of a deranged mother and her unstable and unconditionally loyal children. After having finally watched the flick it did very much improve a great deal from its predecessor, but unfortunately also didn't really offer anything to make it a memorable or repeat viewing experience.

The story follows a group of three brothers on the run from the police after a botched bank robbery. Unable to escape the small town they're in due to police road blocks covering the exits (to assist people in vacating the town due to a tornado alert) they make their way back to their old house where they hope to find Mother, whom is the mastermind behind these group of criminals. Unbeknownst to the brothers, their mother recently lost the home due to a foreclosure and it's now the new home to a young couple, who just happen to be having a little house-warming party. Naturally the brothers (confused and caught off guard) hold them hostage, as they await the return of Mother.

Aside from the title and the names of some of the characters, this remake is pretty much a completely different film from the original, with the most important change being the shift from the backwoods setting to a more suburban one. I was a little disappointed in this (being a huge fan of backwoods survival flicks), but accepted and understood the necessity for the change. The backdrop definitely made it a more realistic take on the story, which seemed to be what the filmmakers were going for. With all the changes, the pic is now more of a home invasion crime thriller than the horror flick that many (such as myself) might've thought it'd be.

I was a little let down by the brothers, as they didn't seem as menacing as they could've been. All they really did was a lot of yelling and waving their guns around, but there were some exceptional moments that showed how depraved they could be, such as a scene where two female friends have the choice to either kill each other (with the survivor being set free) or both be killed by our gunman. Actress Rebecca De Mornay was decent as Mother, showing the audience a kind (yet still devious) and sadistic side of her character and the great lengths that she'd go to protect her family (or start a new one).

The flick was fairly violent and bloody when the scenes called for it and offered some decent tense parts that involved our hostages attempting to escape. However, as I said earlier, the movie sadly doesn't really deliver anything memorable or unpredictable, making it a decent, but rather forgettable watch. Either way, it's worth a look if you're into home invasion thrillers.