Movies have always explored the complicated world of families and often show us intense relationships. Sometimes that focus lands on a mother figure who is downright scary and terrifyingly powerful. Here are some of the absolute most dangerous moms to ever grace the big screen across all kinds of movie genres.
Mrs. Voorhees
She gets so incredibly mad when some camp counselors are not doing their job watching her son, Jason, that she just goes ahead and kills them all, you know. Serious. She is the original killer because she thinks they caused her son to drown at Camp Crystal Lake.
Joan Crawford
Few mothers are as famous as Faye Dunaway’s Joan Crawford as she appears in Mommie Dearest. She is a giant movie star who is just monstrous and driven to achieve her goals. Seriously do not bring any wire hangers around her or it will get her really mad and she is not subtlety at all.
Mrs. Bates
This is one mother you will never meet but she is still plenty dangerous to Norman Bates. She is technically dead but she is still a powerful and disturbing presence who haunts her son to kill people like in the famous shower scene in Psycho.
Mrs. Iselin
Angela Lansbury was a giant of stage and screen and here she gives arguably one of her best performances as Mrs. Iselin. Serious this mother will brainwash her own son in a secret communist plot. And Mrs. Iselin is willing to destroy everyone just for power.
Mrs. Loomis
Scream 2 is so good at being self-reflexive which is really great. And in this sequel we get a killer in Laurie Metcalf as Mrs. Loomis who is driven by her desire to get justice for her dead son Billy. Serious she is a deranged mother looking for revenge with a knife and it’s some fine performance.
Margaret White
Stephen King is one of the greatest horror authors of our time. Part of what makes Carrie work is Margaret White who is incredibly zealous and domineering as a mother. Seriously she pushes her daughter past endurance when she thinks everything is a sin you know.
Alien Queen
Ridley Scott’s Alien is one of the finest sci-fi horror films. The Alien Queen shows up in the sequel and she is incredibly strong intelligent and a fierce foe for Ripley. Serious you should not get between her and her eggs or she will bite.
Beverly Sutphin
Serial Mom is very funny because John Waters is great at creating films. Kathleen Turner is delightfully deranged as a suburban housewife who is also a serial killer. Seriously she kills people for stupid rules like wearing white after Labor Day.
Mother Gothel
Disney’s interpretation of Rapunzel in Tangled is really good. Mother Gothel seems to be a kind loving mother figure but really she is only using the young woman for her magical hair to stay young and she locks her in a tower forever serious.
Lady Tremaine
Lady Tremaine is the prototypical evil stepmother in Disney’s Cinderella. Seriously she is so cold calculating and without mercy and she prioritizing the well being of her own daughters over poor Cinderella just makes her so mean.
Mama Fratelli
The Goonies is quintessential 80s cinema and it has a charming mix of adventure and comedy with a group of delightful kids you know. It has some appealing villains especially Mama Fratelli who is tough ruthlessly brutal and so terrifying you can completely relate.
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