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Gloria Teasedale, better known as Mother Firefly or Mama Firefly and a host of other names, is a central antagonist from the 2003 horror film House of 1000 Corpses and also in The Devil's Rejects as a supporting character.
She is the mother of Rufus, Tiny and Baby Firefly and the wife of Captain Spaulding. Together with her family, she always celebrates a special ritual on Halloween, which includes the kidnapping, torture and murder of travelers who are unfortunate enough to approach the family farm. Mom and her crazy family are friendly for the time being, before they strike and turn the night into an ordeal for their victims.
She was portrayed by Karen Black in House of 1000 Corpses, and by Leslie Easterbrook in The Devil's Rejects.
Biography
Background
Mother Firefly was originally married to Earl Firefly, with whom she had two children, Rufus and Tiny. Their marriage was a happy one until one day Earl seemed to go mad and burned down the family home. All survived, but Tiny was badly burned. Earl then disappeared; he became one of Dr. Satan who lived in a cave system under the Firefly farm. Around 1947 she met Captain Spaulding, fell in love and the two married. Their daughter Baby Firefly was born from their marriage and they also adopted the marauder Otis B. Driftwood.
Mother Firefly also had another baby, but it was stillborn. She kept it from then on in a mason jar and named it Little Wolf. Just like the rest of her family, Mama Firefly was mentally ill and eventually went completely mad. Since she, like everyone else in the family, had a fondness for Halloween, a sick routine developed. Every year just before Halloween, the family kidnaps young men and women who brutally torture and murder them. The survivors are lowered into a well on the Firefly lands on Halloween, where they are guided by Dr. Satan will be received and tortured to death.
House of 1000 Corpses
On the eve of Halloween, Baby and Rufus manage to lure students Jerry Goldsmith, Bill Hudley, Mary Knowles, and Denise Willis to the farm. Rufus promises to fix the group's car and in the meantime they are supposed to wait at the farm. Moments later, mum joins them and greets the guests. When Denise asks for a phone to inform her father, Mom apologizes that they don't have a phone. She sits down and blatantly starts flirting with Jerry before sending Baby to see how far Rufus is with the car. In the meantime, there is a conversation about Halloween and mom is piqued when the guests reveal that they are already too old for Halloween and are not celebrating it.
When Baby returns, she reveals that Rufus is gone, but Tiny has returned. Mother then reveals to the annoyed guests that it will be a few hours before Rufus comes back. When Denise asks if Tiny can't drive her, mom and baby burst out laughing. To make amends, she invites the guests to dinner, where they get to know Tiny. They are horrified when they see the grotesquely large Tiny, whereupon Mother sends Tiny off to get Grandpa Hugo. She uses Tiny's absence to tell the group about his tragic past. When everyone is finally seated, Mother demands that everyone put on their masks to celebrate Halloween.
During the meal, she is asked by the interested Jerry if she has anything to say about the infamous Dr. Satan knows. At the same moment, Otis steps into the room and claims that he knows everything about Dr. Satan. Mother is touched that Otis came and also brought the mason jar with Little Wolf. She kisses the glass happily and lets Otis get rid of Jerry's question. After dinner, mom and Baby put on a distracting Halloween show for their guests. During this there is an argument between Baby and Mary, whereupon mom has to prevent baby Mary from stabbing on the spot. The group then decides to leave as quickly as possible and their car is actually driving again. At the farm gate, however, they are overpowered and captured by Otis and Tiny.
The disappearance of the students calls the police on the scene and when they start asking around on the surrounding farms the next day, they also reach the Firefly farm. Mama Firefly overhears three policemen coming up the driveway and warns Otis. He hands her a revolver and advises her to get rid of the policeman while he tries to sneak around behind him. Mother then opens the door in a very friendly manner and greets Deputy Wydell. She wants to turn away the policeman quickly, but he asks to be let in. Mama wants to slam the door in front of Wydell's nose, but is ultimately forced to let him in. Wydell shows her the photos of some of the missing people and asks her if she knows anything about them.
Mama denies all knowledge. At the same moment Wydell's radio goes off as his colleagues outside have found the bodies of several victims of the Firefly family. Without hesitation, Mama pulls out the revolver and shoots Wydell in the head. At the same time, the other two police officers are murdered outside by Otis, so the family's secret is safe. As a result, the Fireflys can perform their usual ritual at nightfall. They lead the prisoners into the field in rabbit costumes and after Mama has said goodbye to Jerry with a kiss, they lower Jerry and Denise into the well to meet Dr. Satan. After they burned the body of Mary, who was murdered by Baby, everyday life returns to the Firefly Farm.