In the late 80s mothers were suspect, especially stepmothers. „Wicked Stepmother“ showed a man marrying a witch sometimes portrayed by Bette Davis, Dan Aykroyd hastily married Kim Basinger who was an alien in “My Stepmother is an Alien,” Meryll Streep proclaimed that a dingo had eaten her baby in “A Cry in the Dark” and there is “My Mom is a Werewolf.”
The film tells the tale of a bored and ignored housewife that falls under the spell of a charismatic pet store owner who is, obviously, a werewolf. The dull vegetarian mom becomes a lot more interesting as she slowly turns into a werewolf. She gets some nifty fangs, begins to hunger raw meat, hair begins to sprout everywhere… things get messy.
I bought this used on VHS when I was a kid and loved it, and not just because the best friend in the film is a horror nut that I related to. It has a very specific flavour of absurdist comedy that can also be found in films like “My Boyfriend’s Back,” “Better off dead” and A Vampire’s Kiss.” The kind of comedies that walked so “Mr. Show” could run.
It doesn’t hurt none that almost every part is filled with amazing character actors. Susan Blakely is the mom, John Saxon the sexy werewolf, John Schuck is the obtuse dad, Ruth Buzzi is a gypsy fortune-teller and Marcia Wallace a sassy hairstylist. “I call it ‘wolverine chic!” Marcia explains after styling the obvious werewolf woman like nothing was more normal.
Also, it was directed by the dude who made “Death Spa.”
“My Mom is a Werewolf” is one of two films that came out in 1989/1990 about maternal werewolves. The other one is “Mom” that was a bit darker, but still a comedy. The trope was also seen in “Howling 3: The Marsupials.”
