Mother’s Day is here, and no genre reflects the sacrifices moms make for their families quite like horror. Mothers are often the rock of the family, and that makes their love and their wrath so powerful in horror films.
The last decade has produced some truly memorable performances that show just how much hell moms are willing to go through for their families. Toni Collette
Toni Collette should have gotten an Oscar for playing Annie Graham in Hereditary, but as we know, horror movies aren’t always loved by the Academy no matter how good they are. Don’t expect mama Li Jun Li in Sinners to get any Academy love this year. It would be a shocker if she did.
But until then, let’s look back and appreciate all of the compassionate, caring, and terrifying moms in horror.
*Potential SPOILERS ahead!
Amelia (Essie Davis) – The Babadook (2014)
Let’s face it, Samuel’s mother Amelia has the patience of a saint, but everyone has their limits. Her grief, stress, and resentment leave her vulnerable to the Babadook. With his mom corrupted by this evil entity, Samuel has nowhere to turn.
Katherine (Kate Dickie) – The Witch (2015)
Katherine tried to be a supportive wife when her husband got their family banished from their colony in 1600’s New England. However, the abduction of her baby – while her eldest daughter Thomasin was tasked with watching him – put her on a downward spiral. This was exacerbated by paranoia and further misfortune, that may or may not have been brought on by witchcraft.
Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) – The Conjuring (2013) & The Conjuring 2 (2016)
The Conjuring films have featured some incredible examples of maternal figures. But the Mother of the Year award has to go to Lorraine Warren for her selflessness, warmth, and bravery in the face of haunting specters, satanic forces, and creepy dolls.
Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt) – A Quiet Place (2018)
Being a mother is hard enough without having to raise children in the post-apocalypse with vicious monsters ready to filet your entire family. To top it all off, Evelyn Abbott was forced to birth a baby without making a single peep after a huge nail punctured through her foot. Ouch.
Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) – Stranger Things (2016 – Present)
Not every mom has the ability to keep their shit together all the time. However, in the case of Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder), she’s hysterical more often than she’s calm. But dammit if she isn’t determined.
Never once did she give up looking for her missing son Will…even when she suspected he may be trapped in another dimension and talking to her through Christmas lights.
Where there’s a Will, there’s a way, right?
Missy Armitage (Catherine Keener) – Get Out (2017)
Missy Armitage’s warm, inviting demeanor is the type of welcome you’d hope for when you meet your girlfriend’s mom for the first time. Unfortunately, it was all just a facade put on by a cunning, and psychotic woman and her family. The dark voids she trapped her victims in during her hypnotism sessions were as black as her soul.
A word of advice; if Missy Armitage offers you a cup of tea, run like hell.
Mutter (Susanne Wuest) – Goodnight Mommy (2014)
Most movies illustrate the sacred bond between a mother and her children. However, Goodnight Mommy replaces that trust with suspicion and tension.
The young twins Lukas and Elias believe the woman who came home from the hospital with her face covered in bandages is not their real mother. A mom who isn’t her usual warm, nurturing self may seem like a completely different person to a child.
Alice Zander – Elizabeth Reaser – Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)
Mothers have a duty to teach their children to be good and moral. Alice Zander may have been duping people with her psychic medium act, and even involving her kids in the charade. However, her heart was truly in the right place, and, despite the questionable ethics of her profession, she was trying to raise her kids the best way she knew how.
Now if only she didn’t buy that damn Ouija board that led to her youngest daughter being possessed by an evil entity…
mother (Jennifer Lawrence) – Mother! (2017)
It’s one thing to have to put up with unwelcome guests in your home. But having to put up with all out anarchy, and clean up the mess afterwards will definitely get your husband a one way ticket to sleeping on the couch. That is if “mother,” played by Jennifer Lawrence, survives the whole ordeal.
This artfully crafted, symbolic thriller is like a surreal fever dream, with a camera that never leaves mother’s side, even when her world falls into chaos.
Claire (Andrea Riseborough) – Hidden (2015)
Sometimes, caring for your kids means being their parent, and not their pal. In this case, Claire often had to play “bad cop” to her daughter, who was obviously a daddy’s girl. But when your family is living on limited resources in a concealed bunker during the post-apocalypse with god-knows-what running around outside, you have to be vigilant to survive.
When the world is coming to an end, remember, mother knows best.
Sarah (Toni Collette) – Krampus (2015)
Hereditary definitely isn’t Toni Collette’s first appearance as a horror mom. She has also played a horror mom in The Sixth Sense, the Fright Night remake, and Michael Daugherty’s Christmas nightmare Krampus.
Many moms must go through hell to make sure everyone else has a wonderful holiday experience. Sarah endures hectic Christmas shopping, cooking a holiday feast for ungrateful relatives, endless gift wrapping…and fighting off a goat monster’s evil army.
I hope her family at least got her that perfume she wanted for Christmas.
What modern horror moms are your favorites?! Happy Mother’s Day to moms everywhere!
https://youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries&si=P02kMLDn8guNOrXJ&list=PLVVBkEdl2J2jv81DBYRZisAIP5EzkF1GF
