Mama (2013)

     I have always been a big fan of Guillermo Del Toro. He has always been able to create visually arresting, fascinating, often disturbing worlds, as we see in films such as Pan's Labyrinth or the Hellboy movies. So, when I heard that he was creating a horror movie, I was pretty excited. I couldn't wait to see what horrible creatures he could dream up to haunt my dreams. What I got from Mama was actually quite different, but not necessarily worse. This is a very slow-burning horror flick that stumbles at some points, but overall delivers a very creepy experience.

Plot

     The story that this movie tells is one of the most interesting things about the movie. The movie opens with a father driving his two girls, Victoria and Lilly, into the woods, after murdering his wife. He finds a cabin, and intends to kill his daughters there, but something kills him first, leaving the girls alone with whatever it was. Cut forward five years, and we see that the girls' Uncle Lucas and Aunt Annabel have been searching for the two ever since they went missing. Eventually, they find them, feral and wild from living in the wilderness for so long. However, it seems that something was taking care of them during those 5 long years. Much to punk bassist Annabel's dismay, Lucas decides to adopt the troubled children. However, it soon becomes clear that whatever was with them in the cabin isn't quite ready to let go yet. It's a very interesting premise for a movie; one that's much more interesting than your typical "this person was murdered and now he's back to haunt the people who killed him" ghost story. However, around the 40 minute mark the story begins to drag quite a bit. The movie seems to rehash the same creepy moment several times, until it has lost all suspense. It picks up again after a bit, but you'll have to wade through some pretty boring scenes to get to the good stuff. Also, the ending of the movie (which I will not reveal here) is in my opinion, rather disappointing. The movie undergoes an abrupt tonal shift in the last 5 minutes that doesn't fit with the rest of the movie. The transition is too ragged. In all though, I give the creators props for trying something different and interesting, even though it doesn't always succeed. 

Acting/Writing

     Unfortunately, the acting in this movie is, for the most part, nowhere near as exciting as the story. Most of the characters are very two-dimensional and receive little to no development. A prime example of this is Lucas, played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. His character seems like a complete oversight, and carries no significance at all. It's hard to even tell what kind of person he is; he's just so bland. This is partly due to the writing as well, since they didn't give Coster-Waldau much to work with. It's the same story with Daniel Kash as Dr. Dreyfuss, who is very bland and uninteresting. In fact, there are only three actors in the film that have even a spark of interest about them, and those are Jessica Chastain as Annabel, Megan Charpentier as Victoria and Isabelle Nelisse as Lilly. 2012's Zero Dark Thirty showed us Jessica Chastain's acting prowess, and while this movie by no means lives up to that standard, Annabel is by far the most interesting character. She pulls off the jaded, immature rocker very well. However, she also rises to the occasion when her adopted children need her, despite her complaints early in the movie about adopting them. It is interesting to see her change from not caring at all about the girls to risking her life to save them. Speaking of the girls, Megan and Isabelle outshine almost every performance in this film as Victoria and Lilly. They give some of the finest child performances I've ever seen as the wild, feral, haunted sisters. It is fascinating to watch them return to reality, and leave behind the creature that cared for them all those years. However, despite these few standout performances and moments, most characters receive very little development and remain flat.

Visuals/Audio

      This is the area where the movie really came through for me, though not quite in the way I expected. I was anticipating all-out insanity, tons of horrifying imagery, and more Del Toro-isms. However, this movie is much more reserved and patient than that, and this translates into the visuals and audio. For starters, the entire movie is shot with a grungy, dull filter over it, casting a different light on ordinary things and making them strange. Also, for the majority of the movie, you don't see very much of the ghost, only brief glimpses in the background or flashing across the screen in a jump-scare moment. So what you have to rely on is the noise that the ghost makes, which is a deeply disturbing cacophony of gurgles, moans, and bone-cracking noises. Hearing these noises while not being able to see the thing making them is a very effective, creepy way to get the audience jumpy. However, the intensity does not diffuse near the end when the ghost is in plain sight, as is the case in many horror movies. In this case, the actual sight of the ghost is just as frightening as anything your mind could dream up. Del Toro has once again delivered an AWFUL creature design, and I mean that in the best way possible. I won't spoil anything for you, but the sight of the ghost might just keep you up at night. The only complaint that I have as far as visuals and audio go is that the score is very typical and boring. I expected a more intense soundtrack, but what I got was just your average horror movie music. So, while this movie was visually and tonally not quite what I expected, it delivered nonetheless. 

Content

     This is a very tame movie as far as horror films go. Language is kept to a minimum, with standard PG-13 fare. There isn't much violence in this movie, and there is no gore whatsoever. Sexual content is also very minimal, with only some mild suggestive content. This is a very creepy movie, however, so I wouldn't recommend watching this with younger kids.

     In all, this is just a very fun, scary movie with some very interesting ideas and creepy imagery. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a good, old fashioned spookfest to watch with some friends. Rating: 7/10