Big Hollywood Studios seem to be hell bent to quit letting their wicked characters be just nasty pieces of work. They want to come up with numerous excuses to make the character not that bad of a person. Maybe they are merely misunderstood. It’s like the studios are too afraid to give us a twisted heart that’s not redeemable. Disney keeps revamping their legendary villains so we feel empathy for them and Disney can move merch to the kids. The Dead Mother gives us a nightmarish lead character who becomes more wicked and nasty. Even when we think he’s “softening up” we discover there’s something even more disturbing happening. The Spanish film from 1993 won’t turn nice.
In the middle of the night, Ismael (Timecrimes‘ Karra Elejalde) breaks into the apartment of an art restoration expert. When she discovers Ismael in her place, he doesn’t play around. He blasts her with a shotgun without telling her what he wants. When her daughter confronts the killer, she also finds the shotgun pointed at her. It’s a brutal opening. Time passes and Ismael works as a bartender at a nightclub. Has he changed? Not really. He has an abusive relationship with his girlfriend Maite (The Last Mistress‘ Lio). Our introduction to them as a couple involves him smashing the glass out of a door with his forehead and pressing her neck against a broken shard. Maite doesn’t pack her bags. Ismael becomes disturbed when he sees the daughter of the restoration expert outside of his bar. A grown up Leire (Suspicious Minds‘ Ana Alvarez) is walking with an old lady. He’s fearful that the one that got away can identify him to the cops. Before he can do anything about her, Ismael loses it when his boss at the bar doesn’t pay him his full salary. He turns in his two fists’ notice by drowning the boss under the beer tap. It’s a mess of blood and suds. What’s he going to do now that’s he’s unemployed? He heads down to the local mental hospital where his victim now lives. Turns out Leire is mute and detached from her horrific night. She needs constant care. Ismael initially plans to kidnap and kill her to leave no trace. He lures her away with a chocolate bar. He takes her down to the rail yard with the intention of tossing the girl into an oncoming train. But something changes within him. He realizes she can’t finger him so he decides to ask for a ransom from the hospital. Maite doesn’t seem thrilled that her man is changing up his criminal plans.
The Dead Mother is an intense crime story. Karra makes Ismael as dark soul who rarely holds back from his violent urges. It is a bit of a shock when he doesn’t toss his hostage into the oncoming train. He attaches a leash and chain to her and treats her like a kidnapped puppy. We also get a complicated character in Maite. You think she is the abusive girlfriend looking for a way out. But it seems she is as wicked as her man. This plays out when someone from the Mental hospital attempts to rescue Leire. You think Maite might let them escape, but she’s a vicious as her man. There are bizarre comic moments in the midst of the anger and violence. The scene when Ismael kidnaps Leire at her caretaker’s apartment is almost slapstick except it breaks a character instead of bends them. The star of the film is Ana Alvarez who has to keep herself completely innocent and addicted to chocolate bars. She can’t react or express what we’d expect from her character. We sense that she can’t escape on her own from the kidnappers. Is she as doomed as her mother? The Dead Mother is 30 years old and maintains its wickedness.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The 4K transfer was supervised and approved by director Juanma Bajo Ulloa. You’ll see the textures of the Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain locations. The Audio is LPCM 2.0 stereo in Spanish. The levels are great for hearing late night trains and Ismael creeping around. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio commentary by Juanma Bajo Ulloa is in Spanish, but you can put on English subtitles. Although you can watch the film with his subtitles and the movie’s soundtrack if you prefer. He gets into how things came together at the time. He talks about how one character had over 100 girls audition for the role. He points out landmarks around Vitoria. He admits he had to do 56 takes of the opening shot of the art restorer’s apartment.
The Story of La Madre Muerta (38:19) interviews with the cast and crew. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes footage from when the movie was being shot in 1992. We get a glimpse of all the fake blood used on various actors. Juanma Bajo Ulloa discusses looking for the right killer. Karra Elejalde was mostly known for comedy. But he had a hunch the actor could scare audience too. Ana Alvarez’s audition didn’t involve her ready from a script. She was prompted to eat chocolate in front of the video camera. He wanted to see her expressions. This was made in 2008.
Victor’s Kingdom [El reino de Victor] (1989, 38:05) is a Goya Award-winning short film by Ulloa. A young boy tries to get to sleep on a stormy house. Trouble is there’s an intruder that’s busted inside. It’s a tense thriller as the intruder spies on the kid’s mother and lurks for quite a while. The short film came out in 1989 and has been given a 4K restoration.
Gallery includes 38 images of the lobby cards, promotional photos, a movie poster on the street that were graffitied and behind the scenes shots. The collar and chain photos make the film look kinkier.
Trailer (3:22) hints at the dark story of a killer and his tormenting a victim that survived.
Limited Edition booklet featuring new writing on the film by Xavier Aldana Reyes and archival writing by Juanma Bajo Ulloa, co-writer Eduardo Bajo Ulloa and an appreciation by Nacho Vigalond.
Limited Edition Soundtrack CD featuring Bingen Mendizábal’s score
Radiance Films present The Dead Mother. Directed by Juanma Bajo Ulloa. Screenplay by Juanma Bajo Ulloa & Eduardo Bajo Ulloa. Starring Karra Elejalde, Ana Álvarez, Lio, Silvia Marsó, Elena Irureta, Ramón Barea, Gregoria Mangas, Marisol Saes & Raquel Santamaría. Running Time: 111 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: October 10, 2023.
