Mom and Dad

MOM AND DAD

Director : Brian Taylor
Year : 2018
Genre : Horror comedy
Rating : ****

Directed with his own brand of penache and vigour, Brian Taylor's satirical slasher 'Mom and Dad' is a deliciously demented horror comedy that sees Nicolas Cage delivering his most insane performance since Werner Herzog's sadly underappreciated 'Bad Lieutenant : Port Of Call New Orleans' and as a result, creates one of the most thoroughly entertaining films in years. Playing out like a demented hybrid of George A. Romero's 'The Crazies' and the tiresome 'The Purge' franchise, 'Mom and Dad' sees the parents of the world murderously turn against their own children; a truly bonkers scenario that allows for a great deal of shockingly grisly violence and outbursts of hilariously over-the-top profanity - mostly provided by Cage himself.  

Having underwhelmed in numerous straight to DVD outings for the worst part of a decade, Cage (who also worked with Taylor on the frankly rubbish superhero sequel 'Ghost Rider : Spirit of Vengeance') now goes hell for leather and unleashes his nuttiest characterisation in years, echoing the same frenetic fury that makes 'Face/Off', 'Vampire's Kiss' and many others such unashamedly fun watches - with a particularly memorable set piece involving a pool table, a sledgehammer and the Hokey Cokey proving to be one of the most maniacal things I have seen in a movie for quite some time. Accompanying him on screen is Selma Blair who also manages to bring a level of craziness rarely seen in cinemas. However, make no mistake, this is Nicolas Cages' movie and he dominates every microsecond of screen time with an explosive performance that bleeds pure uncontrollable mayhem. 

With scenes that may disturb and disgust (a particularly tasteless scene set to the unmistakable melody of Roxette's It Must Have Been Love' is sure to test the resilience of the more thin-skinned audience members), 'Mom and Dad' is certainly not a film for everyone. However, as someone who adores black comedy in all of it's sadistic iterations, I can't recommend this movie highly enough. It is relentlessly thrilling, frequently outrageous and contains some of the most twisted imagery I've ever seen and honestly, I can't remember the last time I was so overjoyed by a movie. Short, sharp and  relentlessly shocking, 'Mom and Dad' is the film Nicolas Cage fans like myself have been waiting for for the longest time and if it wasn't for the frustratingly oblique final 5 seconds, it would proudly stand alongside his other great films such as 'Con Air', 'Leaving Las Vegas' and 'Raising Arizona'.

Welcome back Mr. Cage, I have missed you so much.