From the 90's and early 2000's, horror films just don't seem to be what they used to be, for me anyway. It seems to be a genre that is running out of ideas, with remakes coming out like no tomorrow. I can't even remember a good recent scary horror movie like we had a lot back in the day.
Mama is, a film made by Andres Muschietti and based on his short film. It is produced by the master Guillermo del Toro and could have been a breakout horror film. The plot revolves around two young girls coming back into the world after being in the woods for five years after their father was killed by a ghost/demon figure. This thing then follows around the girls and is known by the name of "Mama".
Mama has an original plot that has some pieces there but is missing things big time in the middle. The five year time period that the children are alone in the woods does not work because it is highly unlikely that very young girls would live that long on their own and also that they would not have been found. There also is an a aspect here with the younger girl named Lilly who sleeps with leaves and also eats them but we have no idea if it is connected at all to the ghost or why she is doing that.
Some things work but Mama is a good example of a film that does not work within a big budget. Some of the sets are overdone, and there are flickering lights that didn't even work the first time around and everything it tries happens in the dark.
Though intended as a scary film, Mama does not come close to one in my book. It uses some good ideas with a lot of effort and tension but we can see where it is going. It didn't really work and I could see only people like teen girls liking just like the group sitting behind me in the theater. At least somebody liked it.
The ghost in particular does not work well. She does provide some original kill scenes and the scenes are constructed well but to think this is was what we were supposed to be scared of all along once she was revealed was a letdown. It is a very dry ghost that is nothing special and not memorable at all.
The money shot of this film
Maybe I'm nitpicking too many things but the ending for me was also flawed. There were some good effects and a different setting but it doesn't seem to do much for the film. It makes everything that came before seem meaningless in a way that I didn't think was needed and gives the film a "blah' ending.
There are some moments in this film. Every child actor is played well especially by Isabelle Nelisse who is very creepy for her age and provides some interesting shots with Mama. Jessica Chastain plays a different lead character who works pretty well with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau who is also in the lead. This is a part of the film that really works but it's not something that you want to be the main highlight of the film.
Mama is an up and down horror film that at times is there and delivers but at other times does not. It is a New Era film that is going to have get some attention and get some followers and fans but after a first viewing, there really is not a whole lot that would warrant me to recommend this movie. For me, I was hoping for it to be much more than average.
2.5/5
0 comments:
Post a Comment