''Ed and His Dead Mother'' is a 1993 American

dark comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

film starring

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi (,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself. It is not uncommon for people to pronounce his name or instead. ; born December 13, 1957) is an American actor. He is known for his work as an acclaimed character actor. Mul ...

Miriam Margolyes Miriam Margolyes ( ; born 18 May 1941) is a British and Australian actress. Known for her work as a character actor across film, television, and stage, she received the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mrs. Mingott in Marti ...

, and

Ned Beatty Ned Thomas Beatty (July 6, 1937 – June 13, 2021) was an American actor. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 film and television roles. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest ac ...

Plot

Ed Chilton inherits his family's hardware store following the death of his beloved mother, Mabel. He lives with his maternal uncle, Benny, who appears to be happy that his annoying sister is out of his life. One morning, Ed is approached at work by

salesman Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. A period during which goods are sold for a reduced price may also be referred ...

A. J. Pattle, who offers to resurrect Ed's mother for $1000. Ed is initially skeptical, but Pattle notes the fee need not be paid up front. Ed accepts the offer, which disturbs Uncle Benny. Benny believes the act to be unethical. Over time, Mabel's behavior becomes increasingly bizarre and unacceptable. When she begins scaring the neighbors and chasing dogs with a knife, Ed is forced to admit that something is wrong. Ed seeks help from Pattle, but the salesman wants more money. Eventually, Ed accepts that he must move on and let his mother die. Out of

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of Force (law), ...

, he decapitates Mabel and later says goodbye to her, but the still living head bites him on the lip when he gives her a final kiss. Disgusted, he throws the head into the grave, finally free of his overbearing mother.

Cast

as Ed Chilton *

as Uncle Benny * John Glover as A. J. Pattle *

as Mabel Chilton * Sam Jenkins as Storm Reynolds *

Gary Farmer Gary Dale Farmer (born June 12, 1953) is a Canadian First Nations ( Cayuga) actor and musician. He is best known for his Independent Spirit Award-nominated roles in '' Powwow Highway'' (1989), ''Dead Man'' (1995) and '' Smoke Signals'' (1998). ...

as Big Lar *

Jon Gries Jonathan Gries ( '; born June 17, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Uncle Rico in '' Napoleon Dynamite '' (2004), for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male, the recurring rol ...

as Rob Sundheimer * Robert Harvey as Mr. Anderson *

Rance Howard Rance Howard (born Harold Engle Beckenholdt; November 17, 1928 – November 25, 2017) was an American actor who starred in film and on television. He was the father of actor and filmmaker Ron Howard and actor Clint Howard, and grandfather of act ...

as Reverend Praxton * Biff Yeager as Cop

Release

ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in the production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme C ...

released ''Ed and His Dead Mother'' to a single theater in Los Angeles. It made $673.

Fox Entertainment Group The Fox Entertainment Group (FEG) was an American entertainment company specialized in film studio, filmed entertainment owned by 21st Century Fox. Following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, the group's assets were dispersed to va ...

released it on home video in January 1994, and Pathfinder Home Entertainment released it on DVD in June 2003.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, a

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

, reports that 50% of six surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 5.4/10. Kevin Thomas of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' wrote that "flat, uninspired direction" ruins the film despite the cast and script. Adam Tyner of

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

rated it 2/5 stars and called it a "limp and lifeless" film that does not stack up to '' Dead Alive''. Patrick Naugle of

DVD Verdict DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose revie ...

called it a

cult film A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated ...

that plays like a watered-down, PG-rated version of ''Dead Alive''. Conversely, Stina Chyn of ''

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an American online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. ...

'' rated it 4/5 stars and called it "an eccentric gem". Author Glenn Kay wrote that the film initially frustrated horror film fans due to its lack of gore, but it offers "plenty of chuckles" to open-minded viewers.

References

External links

* *{{rotten-tomatoes, ed_and_his_dead_mother 1993 films 1993 black comedy films 1993 comedy horror films American black comedy films American independent films American comedy horror films American zombie comedy films ITC Entertainment films Films set in Iowa Films scored by Mason Daring 1990s English-language films 1990s American films Films about inheritances Resurrection in film Films about mother–son relationships Films about salespeople English-language comedy horror films