Nightmarish matriarchs

Some of Hollywood’s greatest characters are evil —and more than a few are wicked moms. Here are our top 10 mothers that moviegoers love to hate

By Sarah Linn and Patrick S. Pemberton

As Raymond Shaw muses in 1962’s “The Manchurian Candidate,” “It’s a terrible thing to hate your mother.”

Terrible, yes. But in this case it’s completely justified. When Mrs. Iselin isn’t playing cards or arranging flowers, she works as a double agent for the Communists as part of a plot to overthrow the U. S. government.

She manipulates her dimwitted senator husband and turns her own brainwashed son, Raymond, into an assassin. Spooky. Angela Lansbury earned an Oscar nomination for her chilling turn as the master spy.

Read on for nine more monstrous mamas:

Lady Tremaine in “Cinderella” (1950)

In real life, most stepmothers are sweet, wonderful women who love their blended families. Leave it to Hollywood to get it wrong (repeatedly).

Fairytale flicks are full of cruel, vicious gals with mischief on their minds.

In Disney’s classic “Cinderella,” Lady Tremaine treats poor Cindy like a servant as her own two daughters live a life of luxury.

The Queen in “Snow White” hires a huntsman to dispatch her singing, dancing stepdaughter.

And there are nasty stepmothers in “Ever After” and “Enchanted,” a whole horrible clan in “Ella Enchanted” and one mean mom in “Willow.” What’s a poor princess to do?

Wanda Holloway in “The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom” (1993)

Ever heard of parents living through their kids? In “Gypsy,” stage mother Rose pushes her girls into show business kicking and screaming. “Drop Dead Gorgeous” makes beauty pageants a deadly family business.

Turn on VH1’s “I Know My Kid’s A Star,” and you’ll see an entire gaggle of parents rarin’ to make their offspring famous.

They all take a back seat to the homicidal mom in this gleefully dark TV movie.

Holly Hunter stars as a Texas mother determined to make her daughter a cheerleader. She drills Shanna for hours, converts the family garage into a dance studio, and even does Shanna’s homework so she can practice.

Then, when Shanna fails to make the team, Wanda does what any devoted parent would do: She hires someone to kill off the competition.

The things people do for their kids.

Ma Jarrett in “White Heat” (1949)

Are you a crook in a gang run by your hardhearted mother? Do you have blinding headaches that only Mama can soothe?

If so, then chances are you’re Cody Jarrett in “White Heat.”

Margaret Wycherly plays the tough-as-nails Ma Jarrett, Cody’s only confidant and a mean ol’ biddy in her own right. Even after she’s killed by a rival criminal, Ma’s influence is felt throughout the movie.

In fact, Cody’s last lines in “White Heat” are addressed to his mother. We find him shouting: “Made it, Ma! Top of the world!” as the chemical plant below him goes up in flames.

Joan Crawford in “Mommie Dearest” (1981)

Whether or not you believe this scathing portrait of Joan Crawford, the alcoholic, abusive nightmare in “Mommie Dearest” is one of the scariest moms to darken the silver screen.

Based on daughter Christina Crawford’s memoir, the drama-turned-camp classic portrays the actress as a neurotic clean freak given to violent, unexpected fits of rage.

In one of the movie’s most memorable scenes, Crawford (played by Faye Dunaway) beats Christina with a wire clothes hanger while screaming “No … wire … hangers!”

You never look at your closet the same way again.

The Alien Queen from “Aliens” (1986)

You definitely don’t want to make any “Your Mama so ugly” jokes about this mom — even if she is monstrously hideous. After all, this scary mother’s been known to slice dudes in half, which doesn’t bode well for a sense of humor.

After floating around in space in hypersleep for 57 years (talk about a power nap!), Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) returns to find that aliens are once again killing people. After several encounters with aliens, Ripley confronts the queen —a huge, toothy, buglike creature — in the alien mom’s egg chamber.

Mom just wants to protect her babies—you can’t fault her for that. And Ripley, who has come to the aid of the child Newt, backs up her renewed maternal instincts with a pair of machine guns equipped with a flamethrower and grenade launcher (and later utters the classic line: “Get away from her, you bitch”).

Is there a mediator in the house?

Mrs. Lift in “Throw Momma From the Train” (1987)

Here’s a word of advice: If your son fantasizes about killing you, your relationship might need some work.

Momma (Anne Ramsey) is a mean old hag who constantly berates her son for little things, calling him names like “fat” and “stupid.”

She’s so nasty and belligerent, Owen Lift (Danny DeVito) eventually enlists the aid of his creative writing instructor (Billy Crystal) to bump off his momma. In return, Lift offers to bump off his instructor’s ex-wife.

But sometimes the meanest ones are the hardest to knock off.

Mrs. Bates in “Psycho” (1960)

It’s one thing to insult and degrade someone while you’re alive. But to continue to castigate someone 10 years after your demise? Now that’s a head trip.

During life, Mrs. Bates dominated and belittled her son, Norman (Anthony Perkins), criticizing his every move. That, of course, backfired when Norman killed her. But mom, always quick with the guilt trip, continues to haunt him, putting him down from inside his head.

And when Mother disapproves of someone, Norman has to appease his mom’s wishes.

Mrs. Voorhees in “Friday the 13th” (1980)

Mrs. Voorhees has a legitimate complaint: When her son Jason was at camp many years earlier, the amorous counselors in charge were oblivious to Jason’s drowning. But come on, Mrs. V. — is that really a good enough reason to go around killing horny teens?

Talk about losing your head. We’ll give her a nod for loyalty. But chances are she was a little nutty even before Jason went for a swim. And, hey —who sent him off to Camp Horny Toad to begin with?

Margaret White in “Carrie” (1976)

Signs that your mother doesn’t like you:

1.) She locks you in the closet.

2.) She tries to kill you.

3.) She thinks you’re possessed by Satan.

Carrie White’s mom (Piper Laurie) is a bit of a religious fanatic. In fact, her religious ideas have garnered her a twisted, psychotic fear of sexuality. Margaret’s words lead Carrie (Sissy Spacek) to get a little paranoid herself, and that paranoia doesn’t pair well with her telekinetic powers. To make things worse, after Carrie goes off on her high school, Mom becomes the worst kind of backstabber.