The Lord Cage’s Prayer:
Our Father, which art in Snake Eyes, Nicolas be thy name; thy Face/Off come; thy Con-Air be done, on earth as it is in Deadfall. Give us this day our daily Ghost Rider. And forgive him for Trespass, as we forgave him for Windtalkers. And lead us not into Adaptation; but deliver us from The Rock. For thine is the Wicker Man, the National Treasure, for ever and ever.
Hello Supercult West! This is Supercult South Bad Movie Professor Cameron Coker (BS in “Anal Beads” with a minor in “Character Actor Lance Henriksen”) and I’m reaching out to you from across the country to help hype tonight’s screening of a half-baked black comedy about infanticide, Mom and Dad.
Is it as insane as Vampire’s Kiss? No. Is it as spellbinding as Adaptation? Well, no. Is it as successful as the Rock? Hell no. Well then what are we doing here, people? Just checking another Nic Cage film off the list? Well…sorta?
Mom and Dad falls into a weird grey area for me. Directed and written by Brian Taylor who co-wrote and directed the Crank films starring Jason Statham, Mom and Dad is a great concept with some great scenes that fails to execute on some of its juiciest ideas. The idea of parents going nuts and killing their children is a genuinely fantastic premise for a horror film. In the hands of a skilled director, a crew of supportive co-stars, and Saint Nicholas himself it’s also great comedic fodder. But with Brian Taylor at the helm the film accelerates away from ‘bad’, blasts past ‘so bad it’s good’, but never quite crosses the threshold to ‘just plain good’.
“Now the world you kids are living in. The things you’ve seen on the internet. Mouth to dildo, dildo to ass, ass to ass! Hi Brent! Anal beads.” – Actual words that Nic Cage read off a script for this film
Actor/Director John Waters named this film among his top ten favorites released in 2018, proving that John Waters is not to be trusted.
This is Cage’s second time working with director Brian Taylor, the first being Supercult Classic Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
This girl has 2 faces: “omg mom,” and “OMG MOM!”
Yes, Nic, that’s how we feel every time we watch one of your films. Basking in and being burned by your brilliance.
I’m going to be honest. I don’t know anything about the son. He’s just…there.
“You do the hokey pokey and you fuck shit up!”
Early in the film a creepy schoolteacher lectures about planned obsolescence. Is this filler dialogue while we wait for the 1st act twist or are we arguing that having children is a form of planned obsolescence? Are the parents fighting back against their own entropy and extinction at the hands of their children? Meh, don’t worry about it, here’s a flash back of some girl smashing her boobs into Nic Cage’s face. Later on, post parental freak out, Carly’s boyfriend Damon offhandedly comments that his father is being drunk and violent ‘again’. Is this a heavy-hitting commentary on how alcoholism is indistinguishable from infanticide? Is this made even more politically charged by the fact that Damon is African American? No, not really, this is just a whiny throw away gag. Hey look, Nic Cage is singing the Hokey Pokey while smashing a pool table with a sledgehammer. What fun!
Mom and Dad has spectacular moments of both insanity and sincerity, especially between Cage and Selma Blair, but teases at a deeper message, snappier writing, and a more layered genre film experience than it can provide. In practice this equates to the show vacillating wildly between poignant, wildly entertaining, and downright annoying all of which is supported (or perhaps wrestling for control with) one of the most eccentric soundtracks we’ve ever heard here at Supercult. Maybe that’s why Mom and Dad has a 75% on rotten tomatoes and, as far as I can tell made a total worldwide gross of $165,000 on a budget of $7 million. Yeah, they made 2% of their money back after all’s said and done. Would it make it better or worse if I told you that Nic Cage said in interviews that this was his favorite movie he’d worked on in ten years? Better than Supercult Classics like Drive Angry, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Even better than G-Force! Yeah. Nic Cage is the pitched-up voice of Speckles the hacker mole in that CG hamster movie. What can I say? The man is a genius.
They brought you into the world. Now they’ll take you out. Supercult West is proud to present, Mom and Dad!
Mom and Dad The Lord Cage’s Prayer: Our Father, which art in Snake Eyes, Nicolas be thy name; thy Face/Off come;