Domineering mother

A domineering mother is an uber-bitch who won't let you have any fun. Seriously, they suck. Domineering mothers have been presented in several notable horror film projects over the years. Of course the most infamous of all maternal harlots is Joan Crawford, whose eccentricities were chronicled in the 1981 biopic Mommie Dearest, which was based on a novel written by Crawford's adoptive daughter, Christina Crawford. Whether the interpretation of Crawford's character is in-keeping with the actual person is anyone's guess, but none can deny that she will make you think twice before ever using a wire hanger again. As presented by director Frank Perry, Joan Crawford was an impossibly miserable harridan, who made life a living hell for all those who knew her - in particular, her adoptive children, Christina and Christopher. Crawford's obsession with cleanliness provides some of the more memorable elements of the film.

In film fiction, a notable example of the domineering mother trope is everyone's favorite made-up skeleton, Mrs. Bates from the Psycho film series and Bates Motel television series. This chick was such a dominating douche that she even managed to be a pain in the ass after she was dead! Her son, Norman Bates, grew up under her strict tutelage, which included unhealthy doses of sexual repression and more than just a dash of misogyny. But good ole' Norman loved the old bint. Even after he killed her, he created a separate personality in his mind wherein his mom continued to criticize him and ordered him to commit awful crimes.

Now while Mrs. Bates may be the most well-known of mean old biatches... she is certainly not the only out there. Second only to Mrs. Bates is Margaret White, whose fundamentalist Christian values led to a lifetime of abuse visited upon her daughter, Carrie. Of course, a lot of this behavior was accentuated by the fact that Carrie had freakin' telekinesis.

Dipping into the more obscure realm of oppressive matriarchs we have Henrietta Stiles. The name may not fly off the tip of your memory, but anyone who has ever seen how tormented her 27-year-old son Willard grew up to be in the 1971 movie Willard can attest that Henrietta was one daffy bitch. Henrietta's behavior was so traumatizing that her kids' only friends was a room full or rats.

Appearances

 * Carrie
 * Ed Gein
 * Mommie Dearest
 * Psycho