These Terrible Movie Moms Will Make You Thankful For Your Own
Even if you don't always get along with your mother, you probably still have an inherent love for her. While your mother can get on your nerves, especially during your formative years, chances are she wants the best for you, even if you don't always agree with her. This is certainly not always the case in movies. Some mothers in films are so abhorrent that you'll want to hug your own a little tighter the next time you see her. Check out the worst movie mothers in cinematic history and be thankful none of them gave birth to you.
Kate McCallister Accidentally Left Her Son Home Alone
While Kate McCallister from Home Alone may not be abusive, an argument can be made that she's completely neglectful of her son Kevin. On top of allowing other family members to call Kevin names and blame everything on him, she also manages to leave him at home when their family goes on a trip to France.
Although they have a large and chaotic family, forgetting one of your children on an international trip is pretty much unforgivable. As if that wasn't bad enough, she doesn't learn from her mistakes and forgets him again on a family trip to Florida, leaving him on his own in New York City.
Margaret White Tried To Kill Her Own Daughter
Margaret White is the abusive mother of Carrie from the 1976 horror film, Carrie. She is a religious fanatic who physically and emotionally abuses her daughter, who is already having a particularly difficult time at school and dealing with puberty. After learning Carrie has telekinetic powers, Margaret claims that she is a witch and should die according to God.
She later attempts to kill Carrie by stabbing her in the back and creepily follows her around the house as Carrie crawls away in pain. The only thing Carrie can do is defend herself and uses her powers to kill her mother.
Don't Get On Beverly Sutphin's Bad Side
In the film Serial Mom, Beverly Sutphin is the wife of a dentist and the mother of two teenagers. A seemingly ordinary housewife, under her polka-dotted dresses and innocent smile hides a cold-blooded killer who murders anyone that she believes wronged her or her family.
While she may not directly harm her children, killing people for inconveniencing her isn't the ideal type of role model for children. Even after she is suspected of the murders, she acts as though nothing's wrong and continues exacting revenge on her victims.
Stifler's Mom Likes Them Young
Jeanie Stifler, better known as 'Stifler's mom,' is the mother of Steve Stifler in the American Pie series. Because of her looks, she is desired by many male students at the boy's high school -- much to Steve's dismay.
After the boys' senior prom, Steve throws a party where his rival in his friend group, Finch, becomes romantically involved with his mom. Eventually, Steve learns about Finch and his mother and forbids them to see each other. However, their inappropriate relationship continues throughout the franchise's other films.
Greed Comes Before Motherhood In The Grifters
Lilly Dillon is the mother of Roy, a con artist in The Grifters. As it turns out, Lilly is an even bigger con-artist than her son. She is trying to steal his money to get him out of the business, or so she claims. In the film, Lilly kills Roy's girlfriend and tries to take all of his money.
When Roy doesn't let her leave with the cash, she even tries to seduce him, claiming he isn't her son. In a final attempt to escape with the money, Lilly throws a briefcase at Roy, breaking a glass cup and slitting his throat. She then leaves with the cash as her son bleeds out on the floor.
Mrs. Iselin Really Knows How To Get Into Her Son's Head
In The Manchurian Candidate, Raymond Shaw is a soldier who is kidnapped and rescued during the Korean War, although he has no recollection of it. Working as an intelligence officer, Shaw is plagued by nightmares that encourage him to reconsider what actually happened during the war.
As it turns out, Shaw was brainwashed by Communists to work as a sleeper agent in the US. On top of that, his own mother is the one who has been controlling him for her own agenda to overthrow the government with her husband.
The Mother Leaves Her Her Son And Father To Fend For Themselves In The Road
In The Road, a family of three are struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic world from an unknown disaster. While the film focuses on the travels of the father and son through the wasteland, they were once a trio with the boy's mother.
Years earlier, the stress of the world they in became too much for the mother to bear, especially watching her son grow up in it. So, she decided to leave her husband and son to go die in the wilderness. She leaves her coat and hat, walks outside, and was never seen again.
Mama Fratelli Is As Ruthless As Her Sons
Mama Fratelli from The Goonies is not the pinnacle of good motherhood. Not only does she enjoy threatening innocent little kids, but she also raised two full-on criminals, and keeps another deformed son confined underground.
Even though she wears pearls and a beret, it doesn't mean that she won't do just about anything to get her hand on One-Eyed Willie's treasure. She almost even went so far as to put a little boy's hand in the blender. What kind of mother does that?
Things Take A Strange Turn In The Diary of a Teenage Girl
The Diary of a Teenage Girl tells the story of a 15-year-old girl named Minnie who strikes up an affair with her mother's boyfriend, a man twenty years her senior. Minnie's mother, Charlotte, is so caught up in her new relationship that she doesn't even realize that her boyfriend is having an affair with her underage daughter.
When she does realize what's going on between the two, her reaction is highly questionable, as she suggests that her daughter marry the man. While the man agrees to the proposition, Minnie runs away from home for a time until finally returning.
Mrs. Vorhees Really Wanted To Avenge Her Son
While many mothers would do just about anything for their child, many might draw the line at going on a killing spree, murdering numerous teenagers at a summer camp. Apparently, Mrs. Vorhees' son, Jason, had drowned at the summer camp while the counselors supposed to be watching were getting intimate instead.
So, she decides that her best course of action would be to wait many long years before releasing her murderous rage on a group of unsuspecting teenagers. Her death at the end of the film results in her thought-to-be-dead son coming back to in turn to avenge her. Like mother, like son.
Other Mother From Coraline Gave Plenty Of People Nightmares
After receiving a button-eyed doll from the landlord's grandson, Coraline discovers a door which leads her to the Other World. There, she meets the button-eyed doppelgangers of her parents who appear to be the more fun version of her real parents. Coraline's Other Mother offers her to stay forever on the condition that she sews buttons over her eyes.
When Coraline refuses, Other Mother becomes enraged and closes off the exits to the real world. It is then revealed that Other Mother, who is referred to as the Beldam, controls the Other World and lures people in so she can consume their lives. Not very motherly.
Helen Boucher Held Her Son Back
In The Waterboy, Helen Boucher is the overprotective mother of Bobby, a sheltered, socially stunted 31-year-old who is the water boy for a college football team. After transferring teams, Bobby's talents as a football player are discovered, with much of his raw skill coming from repressed anger about his mother.
Of course, Helen forbids him to play football, claiming that it's too dangerous, but Bobby does it anyway. At one point, Helen even fakes a coma to trick Bobby and reveals that she has been lying about his father's death his whole life. Helen is the perfect example of what overprotection can do to a child.
Stephanie Smith Was A Liability
Loosely based on the life of Eminem, 8 Mile follows aspiring rapper Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith and his struggles growing up in Detroit and with his mother, Stephanie Smith. Stephanie is an alcoholic and negligent mother who lives in a run-down trailer home with Jimmy, her young daughter, and her abusive boyfriend.
Whenever things start going well for Jimmy, his mother gets in the way, relying on Jimmy for just about everything. She can't pay rent, continues her self-destructive behavior, and is more of a liability than a mother to Jimmy and his sister.
Mommie Dearest Revealed Joan Crawford's Darkest Secrets
Thankfully, many of the most mothers in film are entirely fictional. However, the depiction of Joan Crawford in the movie Mommie Dearest was not. The movie was an adaptation of an autobiography of the same name written by Christina Crawford, the abused adopted daughter of Joan Crawford.
The movie exposes Crawford's obsessive-compulsive tendencies and the abuse that she inflicted on her children, Christina in particular. The movie shows an alcoholic Crawford commit atrocious acts against her daughter such as physically beating her, chopping off her hair, giving away her birthday gifts, and more.
Mary Is Downright Despicable In Precious
Taking place in 1987, Precious follows 16-year-old Precious who lives with her unemployed and extremely abusive mother Mary in Harlem. Throughout her life, Mary stood by as Precious' now-absent father sexually abused her, resulting in two pregnancies. On top of that, Mary belittles and physically abuses Precious daily, even harming her daughter's children at times.
She blames Precious for everything wrong in her life and beats her so severely that she almost kills her on numerous occasions. She later admits that she hates Precious because she supposedly "stole her man," even though Precious was sexually abused from a young age.
Mrs. Robinson Didn't Want To Share With Her Daughter
Upon returning home from college, 21-year-old Benjamin Braddock strikes up an affair with Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's law partner. After spending a summer sneaking around with Mrs. Robinson, Benjamin's parents and Mrs. Robinson's husband encourage him to date Elaine, Mrs. Robinson's daughter.
Yet, Mrs. Robinson forbids him from contacting her. Benjamin dates Elaine anyway, who soon discovers that Benjamin had an affair with her mother. Then, Mrs. Robinson claims that he raped her while she was drunk -- even though it was her that seduced Benjamin in the first place. Quite a messy situation!
Mother's Day Is Just Twisted
Released in 1980, Mother's Day takes motherhood and flips it on its head. The film follows a severely mentally unstable mother and her two inbred sons who live in seclusion in the woods. As it turns out, the trio are murderers, with the boys kidnapping, torturing, and killing people in order to impress their mother.
The more horrific the act, the prouder the boys' mother is of their "accomplishments." It's safe to say, the boy's mother is as bad of a role model as they come. Not too many mothers would approve of such vile acts.
Mrs. Wilson Is A Hands-Off Mother
In Natural Born Killers, Mrs. Wilson, the mother of future murderer Mallory Knox, attempts to cover up just how dysfunctional and abusive her family is. Although she may be all smiles, she purposefully chooses to suffer in silence and ignore the fact that her husband sexually abuses their daughter. The constant abuse led her to give birth to her own brother.
For her negligence, Mallory and her lover and partner-in-crime Mickey tie Mrs. Wilson to the bed and end up setting her on fire. She might have fared better if she was willing to stand up and protect her daughter.
Esther Cobblepot Threw Her Child In The Sewer
In Batman Returns, Esther and Tucker Cobblepot are an affluent couple from Gotham City. Esther gives birth to their heir, Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, a deformed baby with an appetite for cats. In the hopes of ridding themselves of their burden, they decide to throw the baby in the sewer and pretend he never existed.
The baby ends up being raised by penguins and carnival freaks where he grows to become the villainous Penguin, hatching a sinister plan to kill all of Gotham's first-born sons. Maybe don't throw your baby into the sewer?
The People Under The Stairs Takes The Abusive Mother To Another Level
Created by Wes Craven, The People Under the Stairs was conceived after Craven read about two parents who kept their children locked under the house. He took the idea and put his own twist on it, enhancing the seriously frightening Mommy character. The mother, referred to as Mommy, takes pleasure in locking her children under the stairs in a sort of dungeon when they misbehave.
The children eventually have to resort to cannibalism to survive. As if that isn't bad enough, the Daddy character in the movie turns out to be Mommy's brother, making the movie that much more strange.
