WARNING: This Review May Contain Spoilers

I’ve mentioned this film previously in my A Mother’s Love article and believe I referenced the fact that more detail was incoming. Truthfully, when I saw the words ‘loosely based on’ I didn’t think this article was actually going to see that light of day but here it is!

A Change in Plot

                The basis of the films in my opinion is basically the same, sons that will do anything for their mother, but the way this is portrayed is completely different. I’ll go more in depth in regards to the motivation later on but in the original – Trina, Abbie and Jackie are kidnapped by the two brothers Addley and Ike as some sort of sick gift to their mother however in the remake Beth and Daniel are just victims of purchasing the wrong house. Both groups are unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover

                I love the fact that at certain points in the original, especially at the beginning of the film, Mother is portrayed as being a helpless and frail old lady but we find out her sick and twisted nature soon enough. However, in the remake, Mother comes across more like the leader of a crime syndicate. Yes, both versions of the character are the ones calling the shots but they lose the element of surprise on this fact in the remake.

Foreshadowing

                Now, this is something that only involves the original film but I really wanted to discuss it – especially as when I watched this film for my A Mother’s Love article I missed these little easer eggs. Firstly, we see a photo towards the beginning of the film of Trina wrapped in a sleeping bag and we hear the girls talking about lowering her down in it when she had a date after curfew. Later in the film, Abbie does exactly the same in order to free Trina from the bedroom so she can unlock the door from the outside. Along with this, and probably more obvious, is that Mother screams “I’m a sick woman” when Abbie attacks which makes her snap because we hear her own mother screaming the same words off camera earlier in the film

Men Never Grow Up

                This, for me, is one of the important traits in the original film! Addley and Ike could easily be described as being intellectually-stunted and practically still children. Especially as mother has to remind them to wipe their feet when entering the house along with the argument while they brush their teeth “Punk sucks, Disco’s stupid” – an argument that seems to be referenced in the remake when Addley turns the stereo off because he hates disco. In the remake however, even though they answer to Mother and clearly require her help – they are reasonably smart men, if not a little misguided.

No Motive

                I’ll be honest, I feel like I may have missed whether there was a motive for the kidnap of and attacks on Trina, Abbie and Jackie in the original film but then again, there’s nothing more disturbing than there being no motive other than torturing them for their mother’s pleasure. Alternatively, in the remake, even though the boys are unaware that Mother has lost the house, the brothers terrorize Beth and Daniel, along with their friends, so that they can get their house back.

The Story of Queenie

                It’s interesting the different ways Queenie is talked about between the films. Truthfully I thought she was only going to be mentioned as an aside in the remake, almost as a nod to the original film, until Lydia talks about her to George as if she’s some sort of bogeyman but that’s as far as it goes. In the original film, I think we are supposed to understand that Queenie is Mother’s sister who is presumed dead but Mother tries to make the boys believe she is out for revenge.

 In Conclusion

                I’m going to be honest here, I didn’t expect to like the remake. However, I think because it was loosely based on the original instead of trying to copy it in some way like other remakes have done in the past, I actually quite enjoyed it! In a weird kind of way it brought the storyline up to date in a good way. So, I will happily recommend both of these films to anyone that’s interested…

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LeoLoves

Writing and reviews - all about what this Leo Loves