Ed And His Dead Mother

"Ed and His Dead Mother" suggests a film on the bizarro side which it is for sure. That said it is also as pure and wholesome as a fifteen year old virgin. If I could describe the film it contains Shelley and Lovecraft influences that is informed by "The Wizard of Oz" and "Field of Dreams". Despite the film's relative obscurity it works on all cylinders. From the sure-handed direction of Jonathan Wacks to the funny and nuanced script by Chuck Hughes the film is near perfection. Steve Buscemi as Ed Chilton, the mama's boy who mourns her death, generously delegates to a terrific supporting cast that includes Ned Beatty as Ed's voyeuristic Uncle Benny, John Glover as the slick "life" salesman, and Miriam Margolyes as the recently reanimated smothering mother. There's also some delightful peripheral characters such as a minister who wants to purchase a bear trap from Ed's hardware store to catch his cheating spouse and a tea loving ex-con who is out for revenge against Ed's mother whose testimony sent him up the river. It should also be noted that Sam Jenkins is a real dish as Ed's sexy neighbor. Noteworthy is Jenkins has some fleeting partial nude scenes. I never heard of this film and only discovered it by surfing the net and I'm a longstanding Buscemi fan. I guess the film's cult status as opposed to widespread appeal can be attributed to the title but then what else are you going to call it? "Entertainment Weekly" recently did a piece on the fifty best films you never heard of and this should be on the list. I paid $50.00 for a slightly used copy of the film and it was well worth the money. It's out of print in the U.S. but you can get it on Region 2. What do those Europeans know that we don't?

Well, it’s not “good” exactly; the pacing is off, the jokes sporadic, the performances all over the map, cinematography workmanlike at best. The plot is zany, but played reasonably straight. But it certainly does hold your interest, and if the premise isn’t unique, it’s sure unusual.Who better to play the depressed sad-sack loser than Steve Buscemi? And he does his hangdog best with this role. If anyone ever could get involved with the Happy People people, it’d be Buscemi. He’s been blessed with the face that’s been his fortune, whenever a casting director says, “psychologically damaged nebbish? See if Buscemi’s available!”Here, not bad. He mopes well. Miriam Margolyes is just OK as the Mother of the title. Is she mugging shamelessly because she’s bad at this? Or is this just the director’s vision? Hard to say in a low-budget indie.Ned Beatty, the old pro, is just fine. He gets the funniest lines and his delivery is worthy of a bigger budget film. Sam Sorbo (or Sam Jenkins) as the femme fatale doesn’t have much to work with, and doesn’t work that hard with that much. A few seconds of gratuitous nudity don’t hurt, though. Her part sometimes seems to have been grafted on from a different movie.Y’know who steals every scene he’s in? John Glover as the smarmy duplicitous salesman with a creepily winning smile and a glad hand ready to stab you in the wallet. He’s great! I’d buy a used car from this man. Also, looks enough like Bruce Dern that for a second I wondered, is that Bruce Dern?Some of the jokes drag on too long, the homicidal pastor subplot seems more like padding than humorous aside, and the attempt to tack on a rom-com ending was more jarring than endearing. Fortunately, that ending was improved by one final added joke.I see that this movie was a financial disaster for fairly obvious reasons, despite some well-known names on the marquee. But, if you’ve got an hour and a half to fill, and who doesn’t these days, here’s an odd but unobjectionable little movie. Wouldn’t watch it again, but don’t mind having seen it.

this is really quirky, as advertised. sort of a mix of little shop of horrors and night of the living dead. you get sucked in right away, watching the craziness ensue. wonderful characters, odd as the night is long. every one of them. you have absolutely no idea what is going to happen next, and you like it that way. the casting is dead on (as if acting was really necessary here). totally enjoyable - you will laugh out loud.

Entertaining farce. If you THINK too much about it, you'll not enjoy it as much as I did.I turned on the microwave. Popped some corn. Grabbed a beverage-of-choice, then, turned my brain off as I watched this PURE-escape flick about bringing our mothers back to life. It's as ODD as it sounds!

A quirky little comedy that works sheerly due to the strength of the amazing cast as opposed to the mediocrity of the story. Buscemi in particular is great in this

This is a movie that I have long been looking for. It is an early Steve Buscemi movie and is a favorite guilty pleasure. It also is one of the few movies that Kevin Sorbo's wife, Sam Jenkins, appears in.

I don't like horror, but this is so well done and very clean, I really enjoyed this comedy! Great acting, plot continuity, and wrinkle at end.

The movie is cute, but, not cute enough, it could have been better. Son wanted his mom back from the other side, did that work out? Watch and see.

Great film, Black comedy with Steve Buscemi as the main character and he makes the movie! Def worth getting, must have for Steve Buscemi fans. It's quirkiness and style reminded me of fido ([...]90's gem that passed me by for years. Get it!