Customer Reviews

Ed & His Dead Mother

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After recently viewing the stellar "Trees Lounge," a film written, directed, and starring veteran character actor Steve Buscemi, my mind conjured forth dim recollections of the classic 1993 film "Ed and His Dead Mother." I say classic here because this movie, starring Steve Buscemi, should easily fall into that category. That people do not consider this film a must see production is a shame of epic proportions. Its obscurity is sort of a mystery to me, since I first saw the film when it received a wide showing on cable television back in the early to mid 1990s. I know if I saw it and remembered it, masses of other people must have had a similar experience, but apparently not if the dearth of reviews here is any indication. Viewers who adore the blackest of comedies really ought to give this one a shot because few films attain this level of laugh out loud hilarity while making you feel terrible for finding such material amusing. Even if you aren't a fan of black comedy, you should still watch "Ed and His Dead Mother" for the stand out performances from Buscemi, Ned Beatty, John Glover, and Miriam Margolyes.

Ed Chilton (Steve Buscemi) has a bit of a problem. He's a huge momma's boy whose mother recently passed on. Since Ed's father died years ago, this calamity means Ed got his mother's house, the family hardware store, and a huge check from the insurance company. The only real family Chilton has left is his Uncle Benny (Ned Beatty), an aging miscreant who likes to scan neighborhood windows with a telescope. The days pass slowly without his mother around, but Ed copes as best he can down at the hardware store where he occasionally encounters the local preacher looking for a bear trap big enough so he can catch his wife cheating on him (!). A weird town filled with strange people gets stranger still when A.J. Pattle (John Glover), crack salesman for Happy People, Ltd, arrives in town with an offer Ed Chilton would be hard pressed to pass up. For a measly one thousand dollars, Pattle promises to raise Ed's mother from her resting place. Moreover, the verbose salesman assures Ed that anyone who contracts with Happy People is sure to find full satisfaction with this seemingly shocking procedure. Heck, Pattle's company has resurrected some important people over the years, as evidenced by the pictures of such well known customers as Nancy Reagan seen hanging on the walls at the company headquarters. Ed quickly folds under the relentless assault of Pattle's pitch and coughs up a check. After the two haggle over a few pesky problems (Ed's mother did not receive the best attention from the undertaker), it isn't any time before mom shows up at the house just like she's never been away.

Sounds great, doesn't it? Well, Ed soon faces a whole host of unforeseen problems. A sexy number, named Storm of all things, moves in across the street and soon fixes her eyes on our hapless hero. Uncle Benny is less than happy about the reemergence of mom, too, since he can no longer live the type of life he finally achieved with the death of his overbearing sister. Moreover, a former store employee sent away for stealing by Chilton's mum just got out of prison and decides to seek revenge against the family. To top it all off, the reanimation procedure requires Mother Chilton to eat a daily allotment of huge roaches to stay alive. When she doesn't follow her dietary regimen to a T, weird things start to happen in the Chilton household. Mom might bake hundreds of pies in a few hours, or chase pets with power tools through the neighborhood streets, or dress in provocative clothing and prance about on her bed. She might even go after human beings with riding lawn mowers. Recently reanimated mothers with access to a hardware store spell trouble. Ed ultimately must make difficult decisions about his mom, but they are choices that hold the key to letting go and moving on with life. Maybe.

It is the performances that really make "Ed and His Dead Mother" such a hilarious romp through the realms of black comedy. Ned Beatty deserves some sort of award for his turn as the side splittingly funny Uncle Benny. The star of "Deliverance" plays his role here with stone faced deliberateness, with most of the funniest lines in the entire movie coming right from his character's mouth. I will never forget his response to Ed's inquiry as to the whereabouts of mother one morning after her return to the house: "Your mother is in the refrigerator," delivered with perfect comic timing. Buscemi and Margolyes are always good no matter what the role and both do an excellent job here. John Glover is perfectly cast as the slick A.J. Pattle, a man willing to seal the deal no matter what it takes. You almost need to rewatch the film in order to catch everything his character says because he says it so fast and so smoothly, just as a door-to-door salesman should.

"Ed and His Dead Mother," despite its black humor, is really a film about dealing with loss, and how a person must learn to cope with that loss and live their own lives to the fullest. It is great to see this get a DVD release, with a great picture transfer and plenty of extras. A commentary from director Jonathan Wacks graces this disc, along with a trailer and alternate beginning and ending sequences. A cult classic that never became cult or classic, "Ed and His Dead Mother" is required viewing for fans of twisted black comedy.

If you find Python's "Undertaker sketch" and "Black Knight scene" hilarious, and enjoy the strange storylines of classic Twilight Zone episodes, then you'll get a kick out of this off-the-wall black comedy.
Ed is sold on a sales pitch by a mysterious man in a white suit (I think he also sold Springfield a monorail) that will bring his beloved dead mother back to life. Alas, things don't go especially well and Ed soon finds his reborn mother chasing dogs down the street with a chainsaw.
Great casting with Steve Buscemi as mama's boy; Ned Beatty as his peeping Tom uncle; and Sam Jenkins as the beautiful new-girl-next-door.

Ed and His Dead Mother (Jonathan Wacks, 1993)

Jonathan Wacks knows funny. Any guy whose name is listed as a producer for Repo Man, one can safely assume, knows funny. And while you have to have a particular sense of humor to really find this film amusing, you had to for Repo Man as well.

Ed Chilton (Reservoir Dogs' Steve Buscemi in an early role) is the owner of a hardware store left him by his mother, Mabel (Miriam Margolyes), who died a year before. He now lives with her brother, Benny (Ned Beatty), and his social interaction is restricted to Benny, who prefers spending his time watching Storm Reynolds, the curvaceous new neighbor (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' Sam Jenkins, who went on to marry Kevin Sorbo), through a telescope, and Big Lar (Dead Man's Gary Farmer), seemingly the hardware store's only regular employee. Until, that is, Mr. Abner (Blood Work's Roberty Harvey), a salesman from the Happy People Corporation, shows up and proposes to Ed that perhaps he'd be happier were his mother home from the grave.

As with Repo Man, Ed and His Dead Mother is not knock-down drag-out comedy-- it's mostly ninety minutes of "WTF?" with a couple of really, really funny lines thrown in for good measure. In the hands of most folks, this would not work. Wacks, however, plays it for all it's worth, aided by a stellar cast (Beatty, especially, is in career form) and a cracking script. The only thing one can put in the minus column for this one is that it was Wacks' first feature as a director, and there are some first-time director mistakes (pacing, mostly). However, it wouldn't be too hard to see this becoming as a big a cult film as Repo Man now that it's gotten a decent DVD release. *** ½

This is an absolutely hillarious movie. Ed's mother dies, and a man shows up at the door offering to resserect her for a price. Ed pays it, but the mother isn't quite normal. The movie is non stop hillarity, from when she chases Ed's girlfriend with a lawnmower to the priest who is looking for a beartrap for his adultrous wife. I recommend that anyone with a sense of humor should see this.

Talk about your tongue-in-cheek, dry humor. This one is hilarious! Ned Beatty shows a new side to his talents. The theme is something you've not seen before.

Goes to show that marketing counts for so much- or else I am sure that this movie would be an underground classic. It is utterly over-the-top hilarious. If I'm going to have to suffer all the brainless comedies that appear every year and make zillions of dollars, then why can't there be just a few more zany gems like this one?

I saw Steve Buscemi at a party last year, and told him that "Ed and His Dead Mother" was one of my all-time favorite comedies. I said I was surprised that it didn't take off. He said, "Some films just don't make it." Attribute that more to the marketing than the nature of the film or its provacative title. Watch it a couple of times. A little dark comedy is good for the soul.

Not a bad flick, Ed and His Dead Mother is a bit too fey to be great, but it's fun to watch anyway. Steve Buscemi is the title character (Ed, not his mother), someone whose emotions are very clearly mixed up as he struggles to reach maturity. He's the manager of a hardware store whose mother and father have both passed on. And he's definitely attached to his mother.

Steve is very good but not great in this role. The casting is a smidgen off. The script is, as well, good but not great. Some of the scenes are right on the money; some are weaker than they should be. Ed's approached by John Glover--the best cast role in the film; Glover is perfect here--who's a salesman for Happy People, a firm that brings dead people back to life. He promises Ed to bring his mother back for only a thousand bucks and Ed agrees.

One of the best scenes occurs soon after she returns from the grave when Uncle Benny--Ned Beatty in a role that, again, is just a bit off in its casting (he's good but not great)--points out to Ed that his mother is inside an appliance. (don't worry; not giving anything away here). There are a number of black comedy moments like this which work, but there are a number that don't work either. Or at least, not quite.

Miriam Margolyes is, as well, good but not great in the role of Mother. If there is any problem, it's the script which is not consistently strong. The ideas are there and sometimes well executed, but almost as often, don't quite make it. Leaving the fantasy element aside, can we actually believe that a really hot babe would fall for Ed? I don't think so.

This is really not a bad flick at all. It's just not as good as it could and should have been.

One of the most unusual presentations available!! For an audience with a specialized sense of humor. Good treatment of death and dying.

My daughters remembered this movie when they were kids. Still as funny as it was then.
The seller sent it very quickly. I was very satisfied!