Ed and His Dead Mother (1993) Movie Drinking Game
Down a Shot: every time Uncle Benny grosses everyone out by acting like a Peeping Tom
Down a Shot: for every make-out session between Ed and Storm.
Down a Shot: every time Ed is shown brooding over a fish tank
By: Vidal D’costa (Two Beers) –
Our titular character Ed co-owns a hardware store with his overbearing mum Mabel. However, after Mabel’s death, the mamma’s boy is unable to let go and yearns for closure. His uncle Benny can’t be arsed to deal with his lonesome nephew’s emotional upheaval and is otherwise too preoccupied with leching after the new girl next door. But little does Ed know that love has a way of returning in the most grotesque and unlikeliest form.
A Toast
This movie is probably the reason behind the ‘men will do anything but go to therapy’ meme template existing in the first place. The tone and use of gothic horror elements especially reminded me of similar horror comedies like the Netflix series Santa Clarita Diet that balanced concepts such as necromancy/reanimation with comic effect, resulting in progressively peculiar, humorous, chaotic, utterly unhinged and messy scenarios, simultaneously navigating the conundrum of respectfully severing ties from one’s flesh and blood by either choosing to deliver the final kiss of death or doing everything in one’s power to protect their undead near and dear ones from harming themselves or others.
With its imagery and character dynamics, Ed and His Dead Mother also bears a stark, albeit darkly humorous resemblance to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho– cue a son with unchecked and severe mommy issues as well as the visual motif of an atoning Ed sitting in a rocking chair in his desolate living room, listless, contemplative, and guilt-ridden over the havoc wrecked by a zombie mum whose blood lust just can’t be contained. It also offers a layered, bordering on wholesome depiction of the mother-son bond via its dialogues and verbal exposition as Ed reminisces on his quaint undying bond with Mabel that was stronger than his stone-cold relationship with his late father, the latter of which he isn’t particularly keen on resurrecting. The lore of feeding bugs to the newly resurrected Mabel to keep her from ‘corpsing’ again (as one would to a pet lizard) adds yet another layer, albeit in a more gross and sinister manner.
Steve Buscemi oozes lamb-like innocence in the titular role, and due to the actor’s infectious charm, sincerity, and signature wide-eyed expression (visible in scenes of Ed lighting up when his mum is reincarnated), one can’t help but pity and even justify the character’s odd, unorthodox, and ultimately desperate measures. Buscemi also shares a natural poignant chemistry with co-star Miriam Margolyes who thrills as the live wire Mabel (who can be quite calculating and possessive when she catches her son showering his attentions elsewhere). Jon Gries is thoroughly creepy as the antagonistic Rob, a criminal who returns scorned, still baying for blood and to exact revenge against Ed’s mum, while the rest of the cast deliver deliciously camp performances, as demanded by the script.
Beer Two
The movie is cheapened by the archaic treatment of the female lead/love interest Storm played by a sultry Sam Sorbo, particularly the running ‘joke’ involving the revolting Uncle Benny engaging in voyeuristic acts without this character’s knowledge of the same, which feels needlessly reductive as well as overtly gratuitous.
Verdict
Ed and his Dead Mother leaves a lasting impression with its deranged approach to exploring the lengths to which a grieving individual will go to achieve closure. While the bizarre hijinks of its characters are an absolute riot to sit through, the moments of sentimentality shared between the mother-son duo also resonate with viewers. Lastly, it can also be viewed as a life lesson that ‘Just because you can resurrect your dead mother, it doesn’t mean that you should resurrect your dead mother’.
