Picture Mommy Dead (1966)

Directed by Bert I. Gordon [Other horror films: Beginning of the End (1957), The Cyclops (1957), Attack of the Puppet People (1958), Earth vs the Spider (1958), War of the Colossal Beast (1958), Tormented (1960), Necromancy (1972), The Food of the Gods (1976), Empire of the Ants (1977), Burned at the Stake (1982), Satan’s Princess (1989), Secrets of a Psychopath (2015)]

I have a bit of a mixed-to-negative record with Bert Gordon’s movies – I enjoy Earth vs the Spider well enough, but some of his other films, such as The Food of the Gods, Tormented, and Attack of the Puppet People, have failed to leave much of an impression on me.

Though I’m loath to say it, given the promise this movie held, I think the same fate befalls Picture Mommy Dead.

And it is a shame, because the story here is pretty close to those old dark house horror movies I enjoy so much, such as The Cat and the Canary, The Bat, and The Monster Walks. The only difference here is that, instead of a young woman forced to deal with multiple characters due to the reading of a will, we have a teenage girl. Otherwise, it’s pretty similar to plenty of previous films of the genre, which in part may explain how this feels somewhat been-there, done-that.

It’s not a bad movie, though; I think it’s worst sin is that it’s just somewhat uninspired. Don’t get me wrong, films like Lo spettro, The Screaming Skull, Dominique, etc., all have their charm, but the idea of someone being driven insane to further the financial causes of another is nothing new. It’s often a decent watch, but it’s not new.

Things are shaken up a bit here, though, in regards to the mysterious death of a woman three years before the bulk of the movie. There are multiple suspects, as usual, and plenty of reasonable solutions to the mystery. The one we got was decent, and it led to an interesting finale – I’m not sure if the ending is actually good, but it was somewhat striking (and almost reminiscence of Mark of the Vampire in some ways).

Susan Gordon (the daughter of Bert Gordon, the director) did pretty well in her role. She did succumb at times to hysteria, but then again, her character suffered a traumatic event and spent three years in a psychiatric asylum, so she can’t be blamed for that. In fact, I think she did well with the arrested development of her character. The performances of both Don Ameche and Martha Hyer were okay, but neither did much for me.

I did like Maxwell Reed (Daughter of Darkness) – his character wasn’t always easy to get a read on, but he was one of the more interesting cast members. I don’t know what Wendell Corey’s (Astro-Zombies) accent was, but his one-scene appearance was memorable. Zsa Zsa Gabor also makes an appearance, but given her character was unlikable as Hyer’s was, I can’t say it moved me.

Though I don’t think it made much an impact for this movie, Picture Mommy Dead is in color. There’s a scene or two with a bit of blood, but naturally, this isn’t a H.G. Lewis affair, so everything is pretty light. The movie’s more psychological in focus anyway, and it probably could have gotten away with being in black-and-white had it wanted to (as it is, the coloring seemed almost faded on the print I saw).

Honestly, there’s nothing terrible about the film. It feels like plenty of other movies I’ve seen, but it’s still generally an okay watch. That said, while there’s a few plot elements of interest, Picture Mommy Dead doesn’t really do anything special. It might be worth a watch or two, but it’s not the type of movie that I think would particularly stand out to too many people.

6/10