The Horror Movie On Streaming That Needs A Sequel More Than Saw
Every couple of years, a new Saw movie comes out, and it’s safe to say that the ultra-violent franchise is here to stay. However, we can’t help but wonder if there are other films deserving of a sequel that should be green-lit. Mom and Dad, available for streaming on Hulu, starring Nicolas Cage and Selma Blair, would be a perfect candidate for a sequel or even franchise treatment.
Though the Saw films typically boast a group of strangers in a room tasked with solving a series of sadistic puzzles, this Nicolas Cage-starring film is twisted enough to jump into this territory.
Though Mom and Dad doesn’t necessarily fall into the Saw franchise wheelhouse, there are elements of suspense and violence that could easily take a page from the Saw playbook, especially when you consider how the film ends.
Mom and Dad was aptly described as “a twisted remake of Home Alone on bath salts,” and we couldn’t think of a more perfect way to describe it. Though the Saw films typically boast a group of strangers in a room tasked with solving a series of sadistic puzzles, this Nicolas Cage-starring film is twisted enough to jump into this territory.
In fact, Cage’s Brent character even chases his kids around with a Sawzall (because it “saws all”) in one of the more comical sequences.
Much like Saw and its many sequels, Mom and Dad wastes no time establishing its story. The narrative centers not only on the suburban town in which the Ryan family resides, but possibly the world.
Nicolas Cage’s over-the-top acting works so well in this movie, and the film does end on a sort of cliffhanger that could be further explored.
After a mysterious static causes mass hysteria among parents to kill their offspring for no reasonable rhyme or reason, parents run through the town and their homes, murdering their children with whatever sharp or blunt object they can get their hands on.
That’s pretty much the entire plot line for Mom and Dad, but like Saw, its appeal doesn’t necessarily come from its simple premise, but rather its execution (pun intended).
But most importantly, Nicolas Cage’s over-the-top acting works so well in this movie, and the film does end on a sort of cliffhanger that could be further explored. Unlike the Saw franchise, Mom and Dad is also hilarious because it injects the dysfunctional family dynamic into the narrative.
Cage’s Brent character even chases his kids around with a Sawzall (because it “saws all”) in one of the more comical sequences.
And speaking of continuity, Mom and Dad basically ends mid-sentence after Carly and Joshua restrain their mom and dad in the basement. Selma Blair’s Kendall tells her children that she loves them, and Nicolas Cage‘s Brent finishes her thought by saying, ‘but sometimes we just want to–“.
This basement scene alone can be where the sequel picks up, and just like Saw can be expertly carried out as the mysterious hysteria still occupies the minds of every adult in the universe that Mom and Dad created.
Just like the Saw movies, a Mom and Dad sequel can continue the story but through the perspective another family in another town going through the same ordeal. The sequel could make a nod at the 2017 film by showing a news reel of what happened to the Ryan family, but then kick it into high gear as kids across the country are locking up their parents until they can find a cure to the mass hysteria.
As the plot escalates, the kids can set a number of booby traps in a similar fashion to the Home Alone movies that it was compared to when it was originally promoted.
Another idea for a sequel could involve what everybody’s grandparents are up to, which was briefly explored in Mom and Dad, but was more of a passing exchange than anything else. Maybe the Ryan family parents come to their senses after Brent killed his own parents in the first film, and Brent can get to the bottom of why people are murdering their children in the first place. He can bust out the Sawzall and a flamethrower, and find ground zero for the infection after racking up a massive kill count.
We love the Saw franchise, but it’s also time to explore other movies that are deserving of a sequel. Mom and Dad is a perfect candidate because it boasts a similar amount of violence, and has potential to dive into more torturous territory, but at the end of the day it’s a black comedy, which gives a potential sequel a lot more fertile ground to explore other than gore and the moral dilemmas that the Saw franchise presents.
