Mother Mortis Review from Apotheosis Productions!
My Partner in Gore and I love something a lil different, something out of the ordinary. Horror movies are full of usually samey-wamey stuff, as is most genres. So, it’s always good to delve and dig deeper underground to see what lives alongside the Morlocks. Balraj Kang scares those who dwell in the dark tunnels below because his mind is so weird and wild. Yep, we figured that within the first five minutes of Mother Mortis and we loved it.
Straight away it’s the music, loud, and epic. Willow is a multi-instrumentalist and always has a nicely tuned ear listening. Another thing that leapt out at us and make us whoop in excitement was the location of choice — Lordline. A huge derelict building in our city and it’s somewhere we used for our short film not long ago. There’s something so unholy and eerie about the endless passages and half destroyed rooms which cries out for more films. Wow, those walls must have seen such sights. This time round, they get to witness a rather unique serial killer — Mother Mortis.
First up, there’s a bloke wandering the edifice, clutching his stomach, appearing to be injured. At first it looks like a woman is watching him from afar. Balraj has used a sickly colour filter and, accompanied by the ever-changing music (sometimes very Portishead) it’s so fucking atmospheric. He carries on from place to place as the music really builds. The creature that watches is wearing a crumpled Granny mask, a blood-stained apron, slippers, and dress. This is Mother Mortis — kind of like if you ordered Leatherface on Wish. Mother Mortis is the stuff of nightmares! The masked marauder descends the staircase with total menace.
Another landmark of our city. The Humber Bridge is visible among cool filters then a game of cat and mouse begins. Suddenly another guy with a gun prowls the building, checking the desolate passageways, possibly he’s the one who wounded the first fella. First bit of gore! A hand chop! Yeah! Obviously fake but really fun to see. A gun is unloaded into Mother Mortis but it makes no difference for our grabba-granny now has a captive chained up ready for a bit of the ol’ butchery. Nipple slice, then it’ stuck to his noggin for shits and giggles.
Loads more people arrive at first we thought just for a wander (we’ve seen whole families exploring the place before) but as the first dialogue starts up, they’re there for a reason. After tons of expletives and arguing in over-the-top voices, they trudge on, aware that there’s a killer in the midst. Soon they’re witnessing the slow gutting of a captive and one twat makes a break for it, leaving his girl to save one of the original guys. Meanwhile, Mother Mortis is bludgeoning another member of the Scooby Gang to death graphically. So far this is awesome. A whirlpool of relentless gore, brilliant visuals, and mediocre acting (even the CGI blood somehow works).
A new chapter dawns. It’s three years later. Mother Mortis is on its knees in a forest before two Goth girls, who transpire aren’t Goths, but Satanic witches that use Mother Mortis to gather blood ‘n’ souls, that kind of thing. Then to thicken the plot. Mother Mortis either shits or gives birth whilst howling in a rather disturbing scene which totally stunned us both. “What the fuck??!!” was one of our reactions, coupled with, “Whoa!!” as we glanced at one another. Now this is definitely something different. Seeing the baby was a mutated Eraserhead knockoff confused us until a helpful witch explained it’s a cosmic being, an elder God, whilst a baby chair is brought out. Looks like a flipping chicken drumstick. “Only blood can transform him, the devourer of worlds.” smiles the second goth witch. She continues to wax lyrical of how amazing and dark this cosmic dude will be when he’s fully nurtured. They’re both known as Mothers, in a Dario Argento trilogy theme.
There is then a change of scene and introduced are more characters — loads of ‘em, all arriving for a networking event, and none really interesting but they attempt a story. One’s a lawyer, and as he says to a younger geeza, “We lie, we cheat, we steal.” in full Eddie Guerrero style. There’s a mum and daughter around the area burying Percy the cat. Aww, they’re so sweet, bless ‘em. Ann, the mum, and her daughter, Sydona, chances upon the mother with the cosmic drum stick. When all the cast of this segment meet up, no one can quite believe that two women could be in the woods with a baby.
“It’s a tranny!” comes quote of the movie from the lawyer upon seeing Mother Mortis approaching, “It’s just a deviant in the woods, y’know what they’re like… dogging!” Okay, so he is officially man of the movie so far. His reward, a big Severed thumb in the air. Ordering our plastic faced Doubtfire wannabee to leave achieves nothing but a split cranium. So it’s a busy shift as Mother Mortis has loads of gruesome killings to do, and a big return to Lordline for more Satanic and HP Lovecraft inspired stuff…
Mother Mortis is the Usain Bolt of serial killers, and can run pretty fast in those slippers! When the summoning arrives, it’s cool, very intense. Nothing happens for a while. “Maybe he doesn’t want to come, it’s all a bit aggressive.” mused Willow. One of the summoners ends up growing a plasticine blob on their stomach which looks like a cookie with a dick! Man, the effects are twisted.
As low budget and as tacky as everything looks, it’s so heavily atmospheric and effective for the first half at least. The problems arrive with the insertion of far too many people. At least a third of them weren’t required, they confuse and throttle up the insane plotline. We’re got Mother Mortis’s sister, Nomi, who is vital, and the lead Mother was too, but the rest?! The effects range from standard gore to monsters that are funky and wet, but please try to excuse the CGI squid.
All in all, Balraj is the UK modern age, Don Dohler, and that is a huge compliment. The love and devotion shine everywhere throughout. Plus, the cast have fun, it’s all about the entertainment value. If anything should be described as cult viewing, it’s definitely Mother Mortis. Some of the editing is choppy though, almost like chunks of movie has gone. For instance, how the hell did Sydona end up back with the goth witches? Did we miss something? It’s a shame that the inevitable happened…
…The ending sucked. All the build up, all the laughs, the joyous viewing, for the most direct non-conclusion I think I’ve seen in the last handful of years. That is a crime equal to breaking the fourth wall in my book! I raised this with Balraj who said that it sets up the sequel due in 2024. However, it’s just like a scene transition awaiting something else. Nothing is firmly put in place. Nothing is addressed. Fucking hell!
Before that abomination, we both agreed that the final act must be seen to be disbelieved. A fake penis inserted into the growing cosmic drum stick an’ all. You won’t be disappointed, but you may hate us for recommending it to you if you aren’t in the right frame of mind when watching it. Mother Mortis is highly contagious cult viewing.
Directed by: Balraj Kang
Written by: Balraj Kang
Produced by: Balraj Kang
Cinematography by: Balraj Kang
Edited by: Balraj Kang
Music by: Pat Zumbrunn
Special Effects by: Jay Addamz, April Green, Abigail Hunt, Hazel McCarthy
Cast: Jay Addamz, Holly Laura Platt, Kathy Grittith, Mark Wilde, Chole Raggett, Rebecca Smith, Isabella Smith, Zuza Tehanu, Callum Ward, Jordan Gibbons
Year: 2022
Country: UK
Language: English
Colour: Colour and Sepia
Runtime: 1h 20min
Studio: Apotheosis Productions