FLESH EATING MOTHERS

Produced by Miljan Peter Ilich and James Aviles Martin
Directed by James Aviles Martin
Written by Zev Shlasinger and James Aviles Martin
Edited by Harry Eisenstein and James Aviles Martin
Director of Photography - Harry Eisenstein

Jeff - Robert Lee Oliver
Linda - Donatella Hecht
Rinaldi - Neal Rosen
Joyce - Valorie Hubbard
Timmy - Terry Hayes
Mr. Douglas - Louis Homyak

I’ve never fully understood the term "guilty pleasure." Why should anyone feel guilty about something they find pleasurable? Take masturbation. Is a little self-gratification so wrong that we should feel shame and embarrassment? The only real harm you can do is rubbing yourself raw. Which is better, to relieve that pent up anxiety on ourselves or taking it out on others?

You might be wondering what the hell masturbation talk has to do with FLESH EATING MOTHERS from director James Aviles Martin. I’ve been a fan of this movie for years, but haven’t watched it since my early days of college. This was a beer-drinking staple in the way that many schools adopted THE BLUES BROTHERS or BLAZZING SADDLES as their official party movies. Although, outside of my immediate film-geek circle of friends, none of us would admit to watching it. Who would be caught dead watching a movie with a trashy title like FLESH EATING MOTHERS when you’re in the land of Godard, Truffaut, and Chabrol?

When FLESH EATING MOTHERS was released it garnered a great deal of praise from the press. Critics approached the film the same way they did the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, delving into the subtext and the politics behind the film. With NOTLD the press saw a reaction to Vietnam, with FEM the press saw a sublime commentary on AIDS and the outcome of the sexual revolution. The film’s message: “with free loves comes a price.” (Have you noticed that since the AIDS epidemic, masturbation has become socially acceptable?)

Mr. Douglas has a problem, and it’s not that he’s got a venereal disease that causes women to crave the flesh of their children. The guy just can’t keep his dick in his pants. On his block there are no less than 5 divorced mothers all looking for a little satisfaction from the salt mine-like daily grind of raising teenagers. Like everyone, these ladies have urges and Mr. Douglas has no problem helping them fulfill those urges.

FLESH EATING MOTHERS is not an exercise in classic filmmaking. It wears its rough approach on its sleeve. Instead of going for scares, it goes for laughs. Too many horror films today try to do too much with their limited budgets and the outcome reflects this. Rather than slice its wrists by being dead serious, FEM instead uses its limited means as a way to highlight the verbal nature of the screenplay. The end result is something like a Romero written by Preston Sturges.

FLESH EATING MOTHERS has been long out of print and it no longer available for purchase.

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