MUM & DAD and their “adopted children” are your typical horror-film family. They torture, they kill and they see nothing wrong with watching Dad use severed body parts to pleasure himself—but they still celebrate Christmas.
Steven Sheil, writer/director of the new DVD release, explains in the disc’s extras that he wanted to create a British version of this genre staple, a task at which he certainly succeeds. Olga Fedori (of the upcoming THE WOLFMAN remake) is Lena, a young woman from Poland who gets a job on the cleaning staff of London’s Heathrow Airport. An adorable-but-strange co-worker named Birdie (Ainsley Howard) seems to take a liking to Lena and introduces her to her mute “brother” Elbie (Toby Alexander). When Lena misses the bus one night, Birdie invites her over.
As one might expect, accepting that invitation was not a good idea. Lena is very quickly and intimately introduced to volatile serial killer Dad (Perry Benson) and Mum (Dido Miles), who seems a bit “nicer” than her spouse but isn’t above a little mutilation herself. Mum claims Lena as hers, and if Lena wants to survive, she must give in to the sick family dynamic while desperately seeking ways to escape.
The problem with the way MUM & DAD plays around with genre conventions is that it doesn’t include much that’s new. There are a few shocks, but the plot is familiar and generally predictable. The action moves in what feels like a straight line with few fresh detours for the majority of its 85 minutes. Sheil was smart to keep it brief; he seems to have been aware of the possibility of viewer fatigue. What pulls MUM & DAD out of its dangerous potential rut is the characterizations. The roles are well-written and each performance is strong enough that it is easy to love or hate (or both) every character. Benson stands out as Dad; he’s so vile in the film that it’s difficult not to be sickened by the sight of him in the special features.
The DVD is far from stingy with those. The 1.78:1 picture is crisp and clear, showing off the quality FX the filmmakers achieved on their low budget, and the Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is sharp. Sheil and producer Lisa Trnovski share a commentary track that’s strong in its focus on the nuts and bolts of the movie’s creation rather than tangential back-patting. Sheil also shares the inspirations behind MUM & DAD and praises his collaborators in a brief interview, and shares a Q&A stage at Frightfest with Trnovski, Benson and Miles. Everyone involved is truly behind the film and seems to be glad to have been a part of it, which is nice to see.
In another featurette, Film London interviews a number of the cast and crew on the set, including Benson (who’s actually a very funny guy), Sheil and Trnovski—but what’s great about this extra is how deep it goes. We also get face time with director of photography Jonathan Bloom, production designer Jess Alexander, special FX supervisor Simon Craze, makeup designer Vikki Lawson and sound mixer Alex Thompson. These are the kinds of voices we don’t always hear from, and everyone has something interesting to say. Another brief behind-the-scenes piece contains additional interview footage but is mostly a montage of making-of clips; we also get the trailer and THROUGH A VULTURE EYE, a short by Sheil that is worth a look.
Violence, perversion and murder—it’s all part of the average horror family’s day. Still, it doesn’t hurt to see the brand Britain has to offer in MUM & DAD, especially when the supplemental basement is so well-stocked.
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