Despite its A-List cast, this silly, violent B-movie slasher has the DIY look and feel of a student film. Almost ugly ultra-HD, a dated dubstep soundtrack and ketchup-splatter special effects might make a lesser film less appealing, but here these lowbrow touches work to Mom and Dad’s advantage.
Selma Blair and Nicolas Cage are Kendall and Brent, ordinary American parents whose senses are dulled by suburban malaise until a bizarre phenomenon sweeps the neighbourhood, filling parents with the overwhelming urge to kill their kids (newborns notwithstanding, squeamish viewers might be warned). Those with a soft spot for Cage’s particular brand of berserk will have a great time; he spends the film on the precipice of a meltdown, bemoaning his ageing, “cottage-cheese ass” one minute, and maniacally waving a buzzing power saw the next.
