Action thriller wer ist mama

I am a big fan of horror but recently i cant remember a movie which i enjoyed to my heart but then i saw MAMA and it was like a fresh air which u asked from a long long time. What makes MAMA special and different is it's Story and Acting.Not many horror movies has it now a days but MAMA has it all..a beautiful and emotional film with great horror elements to back it.The performance from Jessica Chastain is mind blowing.when the movie starts I didn't seem to connect with her character but as soon as the movie progressed she just blown my mind with her screen presence and screen fit performance.few places r just brilliant like the one where she finds lily outside of the house and she brings her in but Lily tries to escape but the she holds he tight and make her feel that she loves her from within and Lily starts looking at her with innocence and Jessica hold her hands blow air on them and ask Lily that "dose she liked it"..it moved me and i was just speechless watching it.Just little more detailing would have turned it into a classic for life.but never then less its one of the finest horror film I watched in decades.

Highly recommended.Loved it!

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6/10

KineticSeoul31 January 2013

I liked the structure, design and vibe of this movie but everything else was kinda mediocre. It's basically a ghost haunting movie, of course the ghosts in different movies haunts for different reasons. But this one is a ghost haunting movie. Where two sibling kids that move like a spider Gollum especially the younger one that gets found in a small house in the woods. And a couple decides to take care of them because the guy feels responsible because they are the daughters of his brother who disappeared. And the 30yr old garage band girl who is the girlfriend of the guy because she feels that she needs to put up with it. This movie does a decent job of making a dis-likable character somewhat likable near the end. Like I said the structure, design and vibe adds a lot to the creepiness but when it comes to the story, it doesn't really stand out. This movie is much better than "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark" which is another movie presented by Guillermo del Toro. But it doesn't reach the psychedelic dreamlike vibe that is creepy or even scary and yet beautiful although it tries to be. The film "The Orphanage" comes to mind.

6/10

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8/10

cblakeJoey19 January 2013

I really liked this movie and the concept for it was original. I think this film makes the viewer think about what the characteristics are of being a mother. What sort of instincts we as woman can display and what kind of connections can be made with a child, even if you're a terrifying ghost.

Del Toro will always put his name on a good thriller surrounding small children. This movie had all the thrills of a scary movie and the elements fright used in the film had everyone in my theater on the edge of the seat. The movie waist no time getting into the meat of the story.

There are flaws in the film and it does have to do with plot holes. The director could have worked these holes out with other writers......like Del Toro perhaps. The back story had the hugest gap of all.

Regardless, it was better than 'Don't be Afraid of the Dark', and I will be seeing this film again.

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7/10

rgkarim19 January 2013

Horror movies are indeed a genre that is always a hit or miss for me. Sometimes they deliver the chills they intend, but many of the modern scary films are filled with too much cheesiness to make me jump or shriek in terror. So once again I went to my local theater to check out the latest Hollywood horror entitled Mama, starring one of my favorite actresses Jessica Chastain. Like so many of her films, I looked forward to being entertained by the lovely redhead and hopefully by the movie as well. So what does this movie have in store for you? Read on to find out.

From my experiences, many horror films today prefer to use the art of making people jump with things suddenly appearing out of nowhere. While some directors know how to pull this off, many give away the surprise jump with camera work and audio tricks to warn you when something is coming. Guillermo del Toro's films though throw in some of these scenes, but instead focuses on another scare factor that affects me a little more: creepiness. Yes my friends Mama is creepy indeed using a combination of many things to create a world that has a good chance of giving you goose bumps. One factor that was a major contributor to the scare factor was the use of shadows. From the very start of the movie the houses are covered in shadows hiding the mysteries from within. In some cases, the camera is pitch black with only the haunting sounds and shifting shades to give insight into what lurks within. Yet many scenes involve using various sources of lights to provide a false sense of security that leaves you wondering if something will happen, which sometimes happens and sometimes doesn't. This unpredictable behavior kept the tension high for me and kept me wondering just where the movie was going. Of course these techniques would be nothing if it weren't for the human imagination. What I mean is that hiding Mama's true form for most of the movie allowed my mind to paint a picture of the specter that lurked within the halls and walls. Oh sure a few glimpses of her here and there provided some input, but there was still enough mystery left to allow me to envision some horrible nightmarish creatures.

Of course once Mama's form was revealed it didn't agree with my imagination, but surprisingly still was quite a sight to see. The dislocated joints, malnourished limbs, and disproportional faces were painted with a sickly brown color that gave it an added touch of realism to send tingles down your spine. Unfortunately some of the scenes relied too much on the CGI to bring her to life and her exaggerated movements blurred into mediocre CGI effects. What they lacked in the looks department though was made up for in the way Mama moved. At first nothing more than distant floats and occasional bursting out of the wall, Mama's behavior quickly evolved into something I hadn't seen in a while. The damage to her body gave it incredible flexibility that allowed her to contort into numerous positions that had the audience screaming in horror despite how fake it looked. For me though the scariest movement was her rapid dislocated walk she performed as she reached out to grab the little girl at the same time.

A few additional creep factors had to be the little girl Lilly and the background music. Lilly is the creepier of the two sisters as her silent demeanor and large eyes are a combination that will affect most. Most of the movie involves her stalking around the house, watching from the shadows silently like a creature on the prowl. When someone confronts her she says little as her large eyes seem to peer into your soul to shake your core. As for the music factor, well it's nothing spectacular, but it fits well with the scenes of the movie. The piano in particular provides a spectrum of sounds to match the emotions sometimes implying doom, while other times giving an extra sound that somehow provides the desired effect.

Besides creepiness though, this movie doesn't have many unique strengths that boost is score. The acting is fine, with Chastain once again doing a nice job with her part, but other than sounding and staring creepily at the camera there wasn't much to comment on. Many of the characters were fine and had a little more development than I expected in a horror movie, yet their development was very linear and predictable despite the emotion they portrayed. As for the story, it still falls into one of the tried and true plots that have been overused in Hollywood. However, the way the story was developed was entertaining and well done in my opinion. Instead of Chastain and the gang making random discoveries, the history of Mama was uncovered through a series of dreams, research, and hypnotic interviews with one of the girls. While it certainly isn't the best, I did enjoy the nice change in the delivery.

Mama is a horror movie that does its job right. Keeping it PG- 13 was indeed the right decision as it allowed the crew to make a movie that could mess with your head instead of drenching the screen in gore. Wondering if it is worth seeing in theaters? I'll say it is, but more for the horrifying screams and sounds, instead of actually story. I also wish people precautions as this movie may have some flashing light moments that may cause seizures if not careful. My scores for Mama are the following: Horror: 7.5 Movie Overall: 6.5-7.0

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6/10

MediaPanther17 January 2013

When sisters Lily and Victoria are left in the woods after a series of horrific events leaves them orphaned, how would they survive for the next five years until they are eventually rescued? Have no fear, Mama is here. The debut feature from Spanish director Andres Muschietti has some plot hole, but still delivers the goods in a scary, almost poignant way.

In Mama, there are similarities to the American version of The Ring in the way some of the scenes are shot in that grainy, static, antiquated, black and white style. Horror/ghost film fans might think parts of the film are clichéd and they would be correct. However, the two sisters in the film (played by Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nelisse) make for interesting viewing. As Victoria and Lilly, the two are feral creatures having lived in the wild the bulk of their lives. Even after being taken in by their uncle (Game Of Thrones' Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau, Lilly still prefers to run around on all fours, eat with her hands while on the floor, and sleep under her bed. Her speech is relegated to growls and grunts with a few words mixed in. Her big sister, Victoria has a faster time assimilating to the civilized world. She even begins to cozy up to her uncle's punk rock girlfriend Annabel (Jessica Chastain).

What makes Mama work is the relationship between the female characters. Chastain ( Take Shelter, Zero Dark Thirty) has the lead role. She's the girlfriend, but becomes the unwilling stepmom to the two girls. The girls accept her to different degrees, but still cling to each other first and foremost. They also cling to "Mama" and vice versa. Thus what you have is a battle of wills between the supernatural and the living world with the emotional and physical well being of two little girls hanging in the balance. Maybe the presence of Barbara Muschietti (sister of the director) as one of the producers and writers of the film had some influence on having women as the driving force.

In addition, Mama might feel and look like the style of Guillermo del Toro film. That could be because he executive produced the film. If you are familiar with his work, you can see his hand in guiding this maiden voyage. Even so, Mama stands on it's own merits. It's far from perfect. The acting, especially from the kids, some trippy and macabre imagery , and a bit of a twist might make you want to sleep with the lights on.

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7/10

alexpeychev14 January 2021

I am a big fan of horror but recently i cant remember a movie which i enjoyed to my heart but then i saw MAMA and it was like a fresh air which u asked from a long long time. What makes MAMA special and different is it's Story and Acting.Not many horror movies has it now a days but MAMA has it all..a beautiful and emotional film with great horror elements to back it.The performance from Jessica Chastain is mind blowing.when the movie starts I didn't seem to connect with her character but as soon as the movie progressed she just blown my mind with her screen presence and screen fit performance.

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9/10

sbentz-593-52989127 January 2013

I went into this film with high expectations. I am a horror movie junkie, despite their general lack of critical acclaim. They should be entertaining, even if they don't give you nightmares. After first viewing the trailer over the summer (rolling in for The Possession), I eagerly anticipated the January release. Seeing that Guillermo del Toro's name was attached to the project made me even more giddy. I saw it opening night.

I was not disappointed. Not in the slightest. In fact, I was happier with the movie than I intended to be. Believe me, that's saying something.

Not one scared by stories themselves, but solely by moments that utilize the element of surprise, I have never jumped out of my skin more times during a single film than I did for "Mama." That pretty much makes it the scariest movie that I have ever seen. However, seeing as different things scare different people, that is most likely not the same for everyone. If you aren't a jumper, don't worry, it's still very much worth it.

The story is not your typical ghost story. It has a terrific exposition to settle you into the film's focus. The situation is solitary enough that you won't yourself experience it, but isn't so far-fetched that it's unbelievable. The characters are both likable and flawed, which gives them dimension and makes them more interesting. And the girls are adorable, but not so cute that it detracts from the terror. As you can see, the film is very much balanced. A good film needs that balance.

As far as scares go, some are quite subtle. A few you don't particularly realize are happening until something changes, and you're caught off-guard. Seeing that the premise is supernatural, the idea of an elusive antagonist is key. You can't see too much of what you're supposed to be afraid of, and for the majority of the movie, you don't. The cloud of mystery surrounding Mama herself is hauntingly beautiful, and will both demonize and delight you. By the time you finish it, you will most likely feel both happy and sad, and will not know where your emotions should be.

I highly recommend "Mama" to anyone, because it is not your stereotypical horror movie. Its distinct lack of gore, and high level of well-crafted story, makes for an exciting experience for both horror lovers, and those who don't necessarily appreciate the genre. If you get the chance to watch it, take it immediately. If you aren't given the chance to watch it, make the chance yourself.

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6/10

preppy-31 December 2013

Annabel (Jessica Chastain) and Lucas (Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau) are to bring up two little girls that have spent five years alone in the woods. They're Lucas' nieces and were left there by Lucas' brother. They try to help the girls recover...but don't realize that the girls had help surviving for all those years with a creature they call "mama" and "mama" is not going to give up her children without a fight.

It's well-done, the acting is good and there are a number of places where you're guaranteed to jump...but I found this unsatisfying. I found the revelation of what the mama is pretty silly and the back story got very confusing towards the end. I found the ending wildly overdone too. Still it DID scare me a few times and it had a very creepy atmosphere so it's OK.

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1/10

jaxbubba2 February 2013

If I had to summarize the review of this film into just two words, those words would have to be, "Gawd Awful" or "Pure Stupidity"; both statements equally and eloquently captivate the essence of unbelievable stench that this film exudes. Written and Directed by Andres Muschiette, it's actually quite comical to count how many times both he as his wife Barbara's names appear on the screen during the film's opening credits. Rated PG13, this film is further justification as to why you should not bother seeing horror movies geared toward younger tween audiences.

The film centers around two sisters, Victoria and Lilly. After their father shoots and kills his business partner and their mother, he flees the scene of the crime with the two siblings in tow. High speeds and icy roads lead to an auto accident in the middle of nowhere. This motley crew is able to find shelter in an abandon house in the middle of the woods; however, with no food or water, Jeffrey decides to shoot the siblings. Before Jeffrey can pull the trigger of his gun, an entity (Mama) sweeps into the house and whisks Jeffrey away to oblivion.

In the five years that follow, Jeffrey's brother Lucas is still seeking closure to the events which occurred has hired trackers to comb the surrounding woods in hopes of finding his lost brother and nieces. The trackers stumble upon the abandon cabin, where the two sisters (more animal than human) still reside. The authorities are notified, and after a lengthy child custody hearing the two siblings are placed with their Uncle Lucas, with visitation rights granted to his sister-in-law Jean, and child counseling sessions arranged with Dr. Dreyfuss. As you may assume with a film of this nature, the Mama entity is not eager to lose her two adopted children, and thus follows them to their new dwelling. Also the Mama entity is just a tad bit jealous, so in an act of rage she inadvertently throws Uncle Lucas down a flight of stairs putting him into a coma… This action brings us to Lucas' wife, Annabel, played by Jessica Chastain. Receiving incredible accolades for her role in 'Zero Dark Thirty', I can only imagine the horrors that must have been racing through her mind when she heard the studio decided to move up the release timeline for this film to capitalize on all her new found fame.

Anyways, to make a long story short, it seems the Mama entity is destine to remain on Earth until it can right its wrong. In this particular instance, she is trying to find her lost baby. Forced to jump off a cliff with her child in her arms when she was alive, she was separated from her baby in the fall. If the movie would have followed the rules that it established, then the film may not have been better; however, it would have at least made sense. In the films climatic conclusion, where Mama entity and dead baby carcass are finally reunited, the heavens should have opened up, and the two should have ascended into eternal bliss… but did this happen???? Oh no, that would have made complete and utter sense to this completely ridiculous film. Instead writer/director Muschietti decides that the Mama entity should leap off the cliff with her new improved living daughters.

This is definitely one of those films in which you have to ask yourself, "Well, what happened the following day?" In the span of twenty-four hours, Dr. Dreyfuss, sister-in-law Jean, and youngest sibling Lilly are all dead, only Lucas, Annabel, and Victoria know what happened and that a vengeful ghost was the culprit. So as they are explaining all this to the police, do you think that they would get prison or psycho-ward?

This is truly a horrendous film and a total waste of Hollywood resources. To even associate Guillermo del Toro's (Pan's Labyrinth) name to this project is insulting and misleading. I cannot recommend seeing this film. You would be best serviced to avoid seeing this film.

See more of my reviews on FB @ "The Faris Reel"

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6/10

FlashCallahan23 July 2014

A man kills several of his Business partners, his wife and then kidnaps his children.

After crashing his car, he and his children discover an old hut in the middle of the woods, and seek shelter.

When the man realises he has lost everything, he goes to kill his children, but an unseen force prevents this and the children are left on there own, until they are discovered much, much later.

But who has been nurturing them, and why do they keep climbing the furniture?...

Despite the great premise, and some wonderful mise en scene, it's pretty much more of the same old stuff here.

The film begins with a wonderful opening, proper spine tingling stuff, but after the children have moved in with Chastain, it loses its bottle and goes for the jump scares, and the old CGI ghost.

People get killed because the children look up into the corner of a room, and Chastain has Weird, but beautiful nightmares.

The ending is bizarre, but brave, and it appears that the writers have come up with a cracking opening, pretty cool ending, but just don't seem bothered by the bulk of the middle.

So its a little better than expected, but then, I wasn't expecting much.

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2/10

caseymoviemania27 January 2013

Last year, when Guillermo del Toro helped executive produced Troy Nixey's directing debut in a supernatural chiller called DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, many horror fans were expecting an edge-of-the-seat spookfest but what they got, was a horror-movie yawner instead. This year, it's sad to say that del Toro failed to live up to his good reputation for the second time in another supernatural chiller called MAMA. Expanded by sibling filmmakers Andres and Barbara Muschietti from their 2008 short, Andres Muschietti's directing debut does bears the influence of executive producer Guillermo del Toro's trademark of graphic supernatural elements and moody visuals. Unfortunately, MAMA is a crushing bore that doesn't do much other than repeating the same scare over the course of 109-minute running time.

Like DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, the movie begins with a promising setup: a depressed father named Jeffrey (Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau) shot two business associates and his ex-wife, before kidnapping his two little daughters: Victoria (Morgan McGarry) and Lilly (Maya and Sierra Dawe), and flees with them to an unknown destination. During the getaway, he was driving too fast on a snowy highway and eventually losing control of his car. The car crashes, but all of them survives. Soon after, he takes the kids through the woods until they come to an old cabin in the middle of nowhere. Once inside, he takes out his gun to prepare a double murder-suicide. But before he is able to pull the trigger, something sinister appears from the dark and snatches him away. The two little girls are then left by themselves with only the mysterious creature as their companion.

So far, so good. But what follows next is an awfully familiar story that fails to find its proper footing ever since. Five years later, the girls, Victoria (Megan Charpentier) and Lilly (Isabelle Nelisse), are now grown up to 8 and 6-year-old respectively. Both of them are gradually discovered living on their own in the cabin, and later brought to an institute where they are studied and held under intensive care by a psychiatrist named Dr. Dreyfuss (Daniel Kash). After years living remotely all by themselves, the girls are feral, frightened and limited in their language abilities. Throughout their state of isolation, they are so psychologically disturbed that they are thought to have created an imaginary female protector named "Mama".

Then one day the girls are released into the custody of their uncle, Lucas (also Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau) and his goth-rocker girlfriend, Annabel (Jessica Chastain). However, Annabel isn't a motherly type and doesn't seems to be comfortable having two children living in their house. But that's not the only problem -- apparently the girls have somehow brought along their "Mama" with them. Things get worse when Lucas is hospitalized following a mysterious fall down the stairs, and forced Annabel to be left alone with the girls. Slowly, Annabel discovers something is very wrong that the so-called "Mama" isn't an imaginary person after all.

Everything in MAMA is painfully clichéd: the story is pedestrian and most of the scares are more of the same. The pace is also slow-moving, with nothing much happens and the revelatory finale is a huge disappointment -- especially when the director finally shows the full-bodied creature of "Mama". Needless to say, the creature looks too fake with its spotty special effects.

Somewhere in between, there are worthwhile camera placements by Andres Muschietti but his overall direction is a routine exercise in style but little substance. The cast does what they can with their given roles, particularly from Jessica Chastain's credible performance as Annabel.

The rest is a yawner.

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7/10

ma-cortes22 December 2013

Supernatural horror plenty of weird phenomenon , creepy ghoul and eerie events . It deals with Annabel (Jessica Chastain) and Lucas (Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau) are faced with the challenge of raising his young nieces Victoria (Megan Charpentier) and Lilly (Isabelle Nélisse) that were left alone in the forest for 5 years but how alone were they . The couple and children move into a new home , but they are not alone in the mansion . Little do they know that the house is haunted and a mother's love is forever . As Annabel and Lucas dealing with having to raise her two nieces who were recently recovered from a cabin in the woods where they'd raised themselves for years, and the maternal ghost (dubbed "Mama") who is still very possessive . Meanwhile , a psychiatrist, Dr. Dreyfuss (Daniel Kash) is investigating the strange events .

This is a thrilling movie that contains restless horror as when the ghastly and threatening being attacks . Spanish/Canadian horror film full of thrills , suspense , chills , intrigue and twists . It gives a terrifying and disturbingly view of a mother's love and adult fears in which posse an element of melancholy along with relentless horror . Tension , creepy atmosphere , genuine chills , suspense is continued and appear lurking and menacing into dining room , hallway and rooms . Great loads of screams , shocks and terror abound with the usual poltergeists phenomenon caused by the weird entity . It's recreated with magnificent make-up and high grade plethora special effects which are frightening and horrifying the spectator . Mama is played by a man , Javier Botet, who has Marfan syndrome that give him a slender body and long fingers . Mama's movement is not entirely CGI. Javier Botet can remove his joints as he wish ; the only CGI on Mama is her hair. Mama's appearance was inspired by painting by Modigliani, owned by the same director Andrés Muschietti .

Writers Andrés Muschietti , Barbara Muschietti and Neil Cross stated that when they wrote the film he had a list of horror movie clichés posted above him, so he could avoid using them ; they said the first one was to make sure the family moved into a new house once the haunting started . Eerie musical score by Fernando Velazquez who previously composed for successful terror films as ¨The orphanage¨ , ¨For the God of others¨ , ¨Devil¨ and ¨Julia's eyes¨ ; Fernando creates a spooky and frightening atmosphere . Dark as well atmospheric cinematography by Antonio Riestra . This Universal's surprise hit horror movie was well directed by Andres Muschietti , he formerly realized a three-minute short is what helped get his 2013 film made . For that reason what started off as a short, became a feature length movie and Guillermo Del Toro was the one who saw the potential in the movie . Andres Muschietti is circling a deal to come aboard the studio's reboot of its Mummy franchise . Mummy unleashed one-two Box Office punch and far exceeded the $22 million analysts had projected for the four days.

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8/10

srt-4915017 March 2022

I was initially skeptical, but it definitely holds up, a horror movie certainly but the ending made me tear up, Mama isn't a demon she's a tortured soul who suffered much in her life, worth a watch for those who love horror.