Mama - Universal Pictures

Is it worth $10? No

“Mama” has an intriguing premise: Two little girls, abandoned by their father in a cabin in the woods for five years, are found and go to live with their uncle and his girlfriend. But what kept them alive during that time – a demon they call “Mama” – travels with the girls to their new home, and Mama is very protective of her babies.

It’s a shame director Andres Muschietti and executive producer Guillermo Del Toro don’t get more out of the story. “Mama” has all your standard horror movie tricks wrapped in a tidy 100-minute package: Flickering lights, demons appear out of nowhere, characters move slowly toward closet doors that have bad things inside them, a malfunctioning flashlight at an inopportune time, etc.

“Mama” reminds us why it’s so hard to make a good horror movie: Because it’s all been done before. This is why the first “Paranormal Activity” was such a phenomenon: It took the found footage premise and elevated it with a verité realism that made all the scares frighteningly genuine. Although the premise is a solid place to begin in “Mama,” there’s little else that makes it unique and worthwhile.

The story goes through expected motions: Uncle Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his girlfriend Annabel (Jessica Chastain) have trouble with eight year-old Victoria (Megan Charpentier) and her little sister Lilly (Isabelle Nelisse). Mama visits the girls through the aforementioned closet and strange things happen around the house. Meanwhile, the girls’ aunt (Jane Moffat) lingers but serves no real purpose, and a shady doctor (Daniel Kash) examines the girls and makes dubious recommendations. As the story evolves and Mama’s origins are revealed it really hits you how unsatisfying the movie is and how it goes nowhere but downhill after the first 20 minutes.

Mama - Universal Pictures

“Mama” may also be remembered as the movie that cost Jessica Chastain an Oscar (the awards are Feb. 24th; she’s nominated for Best Actress for “Zero Dark Thirty”). Technically it shouldn’t matter, but in Hollywood you’re only as good as your last project, and any voter who sees this isn’t going to be impressed with her work. (If you don’t think this happens, I refer you to 2006 when Eddie Murphy was the favorite for “Dreamgirls” but, after his disastrous “Norbit” opened, he lost the Oscar to Alan Arkin for “Little Miss Sunshine.”)

Not that Chastain is bad, mind you. This is a limited role that has a predictable transition, and she handles herself respectably. But she’s also overshadowed by  Charpentier and Nelisse, who do things girls are rarely asked to do on screen (e.g. quickly crawl on all fours like an animal) and handle them exceptionally well.

There are no action scenes per se, just moments of scares and escapes, some of which are more effective than others. Additionally, the visual effects vary from being nicely done to looking cheesy. The acting, scares and visual effects kind of sum up the movie: Some of it works, but not nearly enough to make “Mama” worth recommending.

Did you know?
This film is based on Muschietti's Spanish-language 2008 short film, also titled “Mama” - watch it below!

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Abbyyy said:

	... oop haha I actually really enjoyed this movie. :3
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January 18, 2013
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BiBiSmart said:

	... I had high expectations and was let down. Though a few good moments.
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January 18, 2013
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reesabub said:

	... Thank you for this review. My husband really wants to see this and high hopes of it being good. I think I'll wait for the dvd!
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January 18, 2013
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crystal26 said:

	... Thanks for the review, I was going to see it tonight but you saved me from spending money that didn't need to be spent. I'll wait for it to come out on Netflix!
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January 19, 2013
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d.suarez1 said:

	... I actually really enjoyed the movie....
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February 03, 2013
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susaninflorida said:

	... I won run of engagement passes. I still have not seen the movie, but I believe I will this week. I'm glad it's been doing OK at the box office or it would be GONE Already!!
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February 11, 2013
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snwct63 said:

... I think that MAMA is one of the better horror/scary movies made in recent years (NOT REALLY SAYING MUCH). I DO NOT get scared at "horror" movies anymore. They all seem to be pretty much the same "story", just told a little differently. The plot is very good and the setting is much different than the movies recently. The fact that the children are abandoned and survive ALONE for 5 years is strange enough but when we see the children at the jump IS STARTLING!! The make-up and movements are fairly well done. As we find out how & who MAMA is, it is very unsettling, to say the least. This movie has a GREAT 'STARTLING' ability and DOES MAKE YOU JUMP at certain points, BUT overall, it IS NOT 'horror-ish or even scary.

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May 09, 2013
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