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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Picture Tommy Bored, June 26, 2008
This review is from: Vault of Horror Life Worth Leaving Frightmare[Slim Case][Double Feature] (DVD)
Okay, I suppose it's a but churlish to expect pure gold from Bert I Gordon, who went on to film such "Classics" and "Food of the Gods" and "Empire of the Ants".
"Picture Mommy Dead" stars a rightfully embarrassed Don Ameche and his Visible Grey Roots plucking his daughter from the convent/asylum she's been in for the past few years after witnessing the fiery demise of the eponymous Mommy (pre-slap Zsa Zsa Gabor). He has lookalike former Governess Martha Hyer in tow, a gold-digger to whom he is unhappily hitched. The run home to Beverly Hills famous Doheny Mansion, where the horror begins.
Sadly, the horror is not about the ghastly pea-green and pink paints slathered on the beautiful woodwork in that manse; there is no Jeff Lewis character showing up with a paint-scraper with a wild look in his eye.
What we do get is some snarky extras waiting to be offed, Zsa Zsa flashbacks, and the utterly incredible sight of Susan Gordon doing a super-psycho version of Jan Brady that not only came decades before Jennifer Elise Cox in "A Very Brady Sequel" but years before "The Brady Bunch"
Actually, I think I smell a remake. Charles Busch as Martha Hyer AND Zsa Zsa, and Jennifer Elise as the daughter..
Charles, are you reading?
Oh, there is another movie in this, involving people dubbed and a house, and a lot of driving around. I gave up after about 45 minutes watching a couple in a VW Beetle beeyotching at each other, dubbed. Your mileage may vary.
The picture quality on the disc is awful, pretty much looking the same as a late night viewing pre-cable, with your antenna adjusted to get that station that's waaaay out of town. I took it as part of the experience; those of you who are used to remastering will want a refund.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Worms Crawl In The Worms Crawl Out, February 12, 2010
This review is from: Vault of Horror Life Worth Leaving Frightmare[Slim Case][Double Feature] (DVD)
Haven't seen this movie since the 70's. I couldn't believe it when they actually had it. Yes the video quality is bad, but the movie is bad too. Shipped quick and was exactly as described.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Picture Bert Gordon making money., June 1, 2009
This review is from: Vault of Horror Life Worth Leaving Frightmare[Slim Case][Double Feature] (DVD)
Picture Mommy Dead (Bert I. Gordon, 1966)
Typically Gordon-esque silliness chock full of wretched overacting, pseudo-psychedelic shots, and thoroughly useless plot twists that still manages to be stupidly watchable, even as you wonder why you're not spending your time watching far better movies. In other words, it's a Bert I. Gordon movie; you get what you pay for.
Plot: Susan Shelley (TV actress Susan Gordon) has been away from home for the years following her mother's death, which was ruled an accident, but was considered suspicious by everyone. She's coming home now, though, to her father Edward (Don Ameche) and his new wife Francene (Martha Hyer from Some Came Running), as well as her uncle Anthony (Maxwell Reed, far better remembered these days as Joan Collins' first husband than for anything he did in front of a camera), who's been the caretaker of the family estate since Susan's mother's death. (Mom is played, in flashback, by Zsa Zsa Gabor, by the way.) With Susan's return to the estate and the reading of the will after all this time, secrets about Mommy's death start to bubble to the surface in Susan's mind, and layer upon layer of corruption is laid bare within the family as the film reaches its inevitable conclusion (that, for some reason, Gordon seemed to think would surprise anyone).
It's silly fun, all the more amusing these days for watching Don Ameche make a fool of himself trying to play a villain (and Zsa Zsa Gabor making a fool of herself trying to act at all, as usual). You won't be surprised by anything that goes on here, by any means, but that only makes it marginally less enjoyable. If you're expecting good cinema, this is not the place to go, but if you just want a good time, this will fill the bill. ** ½
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