Mother’s Day (1980): Matriarchy, Mayhem & the Madness of Exploitation Horror - Xenomania Ep. 20

Xenomania Podcast | Episode 20: Mother’s Day (1980)
🎧 Now streaming on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever the weird stuff lives.

Just in time for Mother's Day… we brought you trauma.
Literal trauma, in fact—this week, Jon, Ryan, and Kearns dig into Charles Kaufman’s 1980 exploitation shocker, Mother’s Day, a cult classic from the twisted minds orbiting around Troma Entertainment.

This isn’t your average slasher. It’s a raw, uncomfortable, and deeply bizarre descent into backwoods horror, maternal madness, and satirical violence that still has critics arguing four decades later.

We unpack:
👩 A terrifying mother who weaponizes love
🧠 Toxic family dynamics & brainwashed sons
🎥 Grindhouse grit vs. camp satire
🩸 Violence, vengeance, and the feminist backlash
🧪 The strange alchemy of horror and exploitation cinema

Is Mother’s Day a misogynist mess or an accidental critique of American family dysfunction? Are we watching social satire or just sleaze with a smirk?

From the grimy trailers of 42nd Street to modern-day midnight movie playlists, Xenomania takes this one apart with our usual blend of insight, dark humor, and reverence for the weird.