Mama, 2013
We live today in an ocean of remakes, sequels and "reimaginings". Finally, something comes along that, while far from perfect, at least gives us something new, with some genuinely creepy moments and disturbing images.
"Mama" centers around two young girls who are abandoned at a cabin in the woods after their father commits some horrific acts, and gets into a car accident. The girls are found five years later and taken in by their uncle and his decidedly un-motherly girlfriend, who is clearly not ready to have these children in her life. What transpires from there, and the slow revelation of who "mama" is, I will not divulge, as I feel that any attempt to describe it will give away too much. My faithful readers will just have to decide for themselves.
While "Mama" does occasionally fall into some familiar horror cliche's, creepy bugs fluttering around the house, a typical "accident" that sidelines a character, etc., you need to be able to get beyond that. There are plenty of genuine scares to keep us interested. Three or four "make you jump in your seat" zingers, a very stylized dream sequence, and one of the creepiest "holy crap what's going on with that kid" moments that I have seen in a long time make up for the mistakes that were made.
All of this leads up to a revelation of who "Mama" is, and if I had to pick the one thing that let me down about the movie, it's ONCE AGAIN, the over-use of CGI at the end of the film, and the ultimate reveal. *SIGH* When, oh when are they going to learn???
This is all I am going to say. As I try to get better at writing reviews, I am trying to strike a balance between keeping the readers interested while not revealing too much. I have read a few other reviews of this film, and I wonder why, after reading them, anyone would go to see it.
I also sometimes wonder what people are looking for in a film. There is NO SUCH THING as a perfect film. If you're going to kill a film like "Mama" because there are a few elements you don't like, then you will never, ever be happy with a film, especially a horror film. I even saw some people post that this film was "utter garbage". Bullshit.
The Horror Nerd would not steer you wrong fellow freaks. I strongly recommend "Mama". It's a nice diversion from the usual horror dreck we were being fed by Hollywood.
Horror Nerd's Rating: 4 out of 5 broken eyeglasses!
"Mama" centers around two young girls who are abandoned at a cabin in the woods after their father commits some horrific acts, and gets into a car accident. The girls are found five years later and taken in by their uncle and his decidedly un-motherly girlfriend, who is clearly not ready to have these children in her life. What transpires from there, and the slow revelation of who "mama" is, I will not divulge, as I feel that any attempt to describe it will give away too much. My faithful readers will just have to decide for themselves.
While "Mama" does occasionally fall into some familiar horror cliche's, creepy bugs fluttering around the house, a typical "accident" that sidelines a character, etc., you need to be able to get beyond that. There are plenty of genuine scares to keep us interested. Three or four "make you jump in your seat" zingers, a very stylized dream sequence, and one of the creepiest "holy crap what's going on with that kid" moments that I have seen in a long time make up for the mistakes that were made.
All of this leads up to a revelation of who "Mama" is, and if I had to pick the one thing that let me down about the movie, it's ONCE AGAIN, the over-use of CGI at the end of the film, and the ultimate reveal. *SIGH* When, oh when are they going to learn???
This is all I am going to say. As I try to get better at writing reviews, I am trying to strike a balance between keeping the readers interested while not revealing too much. I have read a few other reviews of this film, and I wonder why, after reading them, anyone would go to see it.
I also sometimes wonder what people are looking for in a film. There is NO SUCH THING as a perfect film. If you're going to kill a film like "Mama" because there are a few elements you don't like, then you will never, ever be happy with a film, especially a horror film. I even saw some people post that this film was "utter garbage". Bullshit.
The Horror Nerd would not steer you wrong fellow freaks. I strongly recommend "Mama". It's a nice diversion from the usual horror dreck we were being fed by Hollywood.
Horror Nerd's Rating: 4 out of 5 broken eyeglasses!