Horror is a very confusing genre. You don’t need clever and deep meanings to have a great film. MAMA wasn’t a great film, but it was a film I enjoyed watching. If it wasn’t horror and it made the same mistakes, I would have a very different take on it. I just want a horror film that deserves that title. As long as it is scary, it’s good in my book. If it is good but not scary, that’s good too I guess. Anyway, MAMA was decent. Let’s talk about it!
First, I really need to check out Nikolaj Conster-Waldau’s other films! WOW. He did such a good job playing Jeffrey and Lucas. I have watched Oblivion, but that was so long ago. I didn’t really pay attention to his role in the film. He just did a phenomonal job alongside Jessica Chastain!
Jessica Chastain did a fine job in this film. It was just weird seeing this performance from her. I am not used to it. It took me out of the film if I am honest. I think another actress would have been better. There were a few scenes where she didn’t stick the landing, but I just think this role wasn’t for her. Either way, she did the best she could do. She particularly did a great job playing the mother role for the kids. That whole story arc was amazing. Every time the kids were on the screen, I was either impressed or creeped out. The child actors did a good job at playing the part, and I just have to give a props to the hair and makeup department. When they girls were found in the house, the hair and makeup was WOW. It sold the scene, and it made it so much creepier.
Speaking of creepy, Mama was so creepy. I got chillbumps every time she was on the screen. She may have been a CGI mess, but she still creeped me out. Props to the actors who played her and to the VFX team. They could’ve done better because they had the tools. This movie came out in 2013, and the tools were there in 2013. Although, their job was to make her creepy, and they succeeded in that. Speaking of “actors”, I am pretty sure there several actors that brought Mama to the screen. I know Javier did the seemingly impossible movements, but there were also two other actresses credited for the role. (Jane Moffat and Melina Matthews)
One major scene with Mama was the ending. She was the center of attention. While I couldn’t stop staring at the CGI body floating in the air, I did notice that the ending was weak. They tried so hard to have a WOW ending, but MAN did they fail… I just hated the ending. They should’ve done something different. I don’t want to say too much, but they should have went a different route.
As a film that is supposed to be scary, I have to talk about that obviously. It was definitely creepy, but I wasn’t really that scared. Chill bumps aren’t enough for scary movies. I need more than that. I am not really one to ever cover my eyes during horror films though so this may just be me. Either way, it was a fun B-level horror film. I give it a…
7.5/10
Watch the trailer below!
Sincerely Yours, Noah Purser 