By Casey Campbell

Mom and Dad is rough. From the outside, the idea of the film is enough to churn a stomach. “Parents suddenly start to kill their kids” isn’t the most pleasant of ideas, but it is an attention grabber. Directed by Brian Taylor of Crank infamy, this movie moves at a brisk pace. Handheld shaky photography places the rabid action scenes in a frame of madness. You can see what’s going on, but at the same time it’s so quick and anxiety inducing that it’s equally disorienting. The editing is haywire, flipping through shots in frantic disorder with interestingly placed flashback sequences. The music is bipolar and confusing. This movie is actually really good though. The crazy pieces of the puzzle come together in a really visceral and mostly enjoyable horror movie.

Most surprising is the fact that this feels like a George A. Romero or a Wes Craven movie. There’s enough of a message for it to feel almost Romero-like, while also having a twisted sense of humor akin to a Craven-joint.

Nicolas Cage and Selma Blair star, and they’re revelatory in their murderous and rabid roles. They took a chance on going all in, and it payed off in making the movie an exciting and disturbing experience.

Mom and Dad is a short movie, worth a watch if you’re into Nic Cage’s more unhinged performances and you can laugh at some pretty horrifically grim situations. It’s available on Hulu.