Mama

Mama is significantly better than Guillermo del Toro’s previous production, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. It works as a spine-tingling horror movie, despite being patched together from everything imaginable (the scarecrow’s design and movements are an exact copy of the spirits from The Grudge). Thanks to the flawlessly effective suspense and jump scares, the overused formula of moving into a haunted house can be forgiven. The movie also benefits from the performance of Jessica Chastain, who gives it the taste of a higher league of production. Just ignore the climax on the cliff. (03/29/2013)

In nine months I will look back at most of this film as a sample of the best the horror genre has produced this year. A slowly built atmosphere, unsettling moments, good actors. It’s almost at the level of last year’s Sinister, so I’m very satisfied. The ending is such a shame, though. Maybe the emotional aspect worked on paper (a poignant ending like this could have been something), but on screen it simply doesn’t. The culprit is all that unnecessary CGI, where not only the monster is digital (it looks really weird, and in this case I don’t mean it as a compliment), but everything around it is, too (the cliff, and If it isn’t, it does look like it is). As I say, it’s a pity, but not even those last ten minutes are bad enough to erase the previous hour and something of proper horror. (03/23/2013)

As I read through the comments here, I find that I am one of the few who liked the cliffhanger ending. But from my perspective, it was the finale that made Mama more than the above average horror film it had been up to that point. Jessica Chastain was excellent, the girls were initially much more scared than their digital dead tutoress, but Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was completely useless. Best scene? Probably the one where Lilly was playing in her room while the others were walking down the hall. (10/03/2015)

We have no choice but to smile in recognition, because the Spaniards have once again pulled it off and made things even more difficult for their Hollywood competition, whose production of quality horror films has stagnated in recent years. Mama convinced again me of how beautiful and unique horror can be when a capable filmmaker takes it on. Andres Muschietti does a really great job, managing to create a very uncomfortable atmosphere from the first seconds, and some scenes gave me chills like I haven't had with any other film in a long time. I'm not a big fan of ghost stories, but here I was as tense as a guitar string the whole time and I really wanted all the heroes to make it out alive and sane. Much credit can also be given to the actors, who are very likeable and believable. It's a pity about the ending, which goes way over the top, but I guess there was nothing much that could be done with the story there. As a whole, I’m giving the film 4*, but if I were to ignore the story and rate only the execution and the resulting audience effect, it would be a clear 5*. :) (03/13/2013)