I Dismember Mama

Plot

Albert (Zooey Hall) has tried to kill his rich snobbish mother once, for which he was institutionalized. The low security hospital she has sent him to, however, isn't prepared to deal with the extent of his problems. Obsessed with his own hatred for his mother, Albert is dangerously violent toward all women and attacks a nurse, after which his doctor decides to send him to a high-security state institution. Albert easily escapes by murdering an orderly, and the police put his mother in hiding after he phones her and threatens her. Unfortunately, when Albert returns to his mother's home, he finds her housekeeper Alice (Marlene Tracy), whom he tortures and murders.

When Alice's 9-year-old daughter Annie (Geri Reischl) returns home from school, Albert immediately takes a liking to her and he tells her that her mother has gone to the hospital and left him to take care of Annie while she's away. Albert reverts to a childlike persona and they immediately form a friendship, playing games, talking, and laughing together. Albert takes Annie on a day of doing activities like riding paddleboats and a small train, and that night he takes her to a hotel where they conduct a mock wedding ritual. Albert considers Annie to be a pure "woman", and he truly loves her. When his sexual attraction to her manifests itself while she is sleeping, instead Albert goes out and picks up a woman in a bar and brings her back to the hotel room. His bizarre sadism comes out again and he murders the woman, but Annie wakes up and sees it happening. She screams and escapes out of a window, climbing down the fire escape with Albert chasing after her. They run into a mannequin factory, where Annie attempts to hide among the figures. Albert sees her though and envisions her wearing makeup like a harlot, and decides she is just like all the other women after all. When he attempts to kill her with a cleaver, Annie defends herself by holding one of the mannequins in front of herself. She pushes Albert backwards and he falls out of a fourth story window onto the concrete below. The police arrive moments later and comfort Annie, while Albert lies dying on the ground.

Cast

Home media

The film made its DVD debut on Apr 21, 2009, and was released by Substance.

Reception

Critical reception for the film has been negative. TV Guide panned the film calling the film's production "shabby" but also noted that actor Zooey Hall's performance as Albert as "interesting". Author and independent filmmaker John Kenneth Muir gave the film 1 out of a possible 4 stars, commenting that although the performances were solid and was technically well made, the film's theme of pedophilia went too far, to the point of being exploitative. On this theme Muir wrote, "I Dismember Mama makes one feel dirty about watching because its main concern is not just violence, but sex. The film makes it plain that Albert sees little Annie as a possible sexual conquest, and that is really disturbing thing to see in a film with no aspirations to be anything but entertainment."