When hardcore horror fans first heard that the co-writer and director of Jason Statham’s demented Crank duology was teaming up with Nicolas Cage for a high concept horror comedy, Mom and Dad instantly shot to the somewhere near the top of their must-see lists.
That’s entirely fair, when the prospect of seeing the Academy Award-winning actor and uniquely eccentric screen presence taking top billing in a low budget genre film revolving around a mysterious bout of mass hysteria turning parents into murderous monsters who only have eyes for killing their children sounds as nuts as it does glorious.
True to form, Cage was downright delightful in the lead role, and if you ever wondered what it would look like to see the self-proclaimed Nouveau Shamanic thespian scream “The Hokey Pokey” at the top of his lungs while destroying a pool table with a sledgehammer, then Mom and Dad has got you well and truly covered.
Unfortunately, the ending comes out nowhere, and its brevity was a major bone of contention among critics and crowds alike. In fact, even though the unhinged and incredibly entertaining schlocker landed a strong 75 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, a user rating of just 45 percent hinted towards dissatisfaction on the part of the target audience.
Sure enough, a recent Reddit thread celebrating Mom and Dad accentuates the positives while hiding the negatives, but the comments are swamped with folks blasting the finale for being such an anticlimactic letdown. It’s still a crazy slice of unabashed insanity, but we really wish creator Brian Taylor had attempted to even craft an ending, never mind stick the landing.