See Best Mama DVD Extra- Javier Botet, The Actor Behind Mama! Behind-The-Scenes Interviews, Creepy As Hell All-New Footage, More (Wired.com) SPOILERS!

6 May 2013

SPOILER ALERT-if you plan on seeing Mama (2013) on DVD but have not done so yet, it’s probably best to save watching this BTS footage till after the movie. More than one commenter on the Wired post said it sort of, well, spoiled the illusion.
Many of us who have been terrified by the movie for months, on the other hand, are more than happy to see that it was an illusion…

Well, we WISH we could take credit for any part of this, or just post it directly, but it’s a Wired.com Exclusive clip from the Javier Botet featurette on the Mama DVD/Blu-Ray. Click the big red link below for the never-before-seen footage!

Watch Jessica Chastain Kiss Mama in This Exclusive Clip/Underwire/Wired.com

SEE! Proof the CGI was mainly limited to the hair/clothes floating effect!

SEE! The only actor who could portray Mama in the feature film and give you the worst nightmares!

SEE! Javier Botet out of make-up, being interviewed, to possibly help you sleep a little better by reminding you it’s just a movie.*

Not to mention some very creepy concept art (it must be a co-incidence that one of the drawings looks like a relative of the Attic Monster/Medieros Girl from REC and REC2), Botet wandering around the set semi-casually in full makeup and costume (other than the CGI sensors/trackers wrapped around his bald head, making him look like the world’s scariest Christmas decoration), and we start to see him being swooped around on wires before the clip fades out. We do get to see over two minutes of amazing, never-before-seen footage, though. He does that horrifying, speedy crawl backwards, then they (apparently) reversed it to make it look extra creepy and unnatural.

You can watch the entire Javier Botet ‘bringing Mama to life’ (or death, as it were) featurette when the Mama DVD/Blu-Ray releases on May 7th… just in time for Mother’s Day.

*This will help, until the next time it’s the middle of the night, you can’t sleep, and you hear a strange noise.

Yo “Mama” (2013) DVD/Blu-ray Release Date is May 7th – PACKED With Bonus Features! We’ve Got The Details Here (horrorboom.com)
Mama (geekingcool.wordpress.com)
DVDs coming out May 7 (newsobserver.com)
Mama (2013) (canadiancinephile.com)

Yo “Mama” (2013) DVD/Blu-ray Release Date is May 7th – PACKED With Bonus Features! We’ve Got The Details Here

5 May 2013

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The scariest goddamned movie we’ve seen so far this year, Mama, is coming out this upcoming May 7th, and we’ll be watching it in the daytime instead of a dark theater with the sound cranked to the max – don’t want the neighbors hearing so much terrified screaming they call 911! Oooo, and look at all these goodies…

MATRIARCHAL SECRETS BD EXCLUSIVE: An in-depth exploration of the digital and practical effects employed to shape the film’s phantom presence.

DELETED SCENES with Commentary by Director/Co-Writer Andy Muschietti and Producer/Co-Writer Barbara Muschietti (more from us later on shots from the trailer not in the theatrical release).

ORIGINAL SHORT WITH INTRODUCTION BY GUILLERMO DEL TORO with Commentary by Director/Co-Writer Andy Muschietti and Producer/Co-Writer Barbara Muschietti

THE BIRTH OF MAMA: MAMA began as a chilling short that announced a new voice in the horror genre. Exclusive interviews with Executive Producer Guillermo del Toro and the filmmakers track the bloodline of the feature and explore changes needed to make the transition to a film.

Will they include the original ending to the short (extended, alternate, and even scarier), or they one cut by about 20 seconds that was released as a promo (introduced by Del Toro) closer to the movies release? We hope they have both, because they cut out a BIG twist. Don’t worry, we’ll re-post the original, longer version either way. Any takers?

You know, maybe coming in here with a broken flashlight wasn’t such a great idea… OOOOOOHHHH SHHHIIIIIIII– (kill)

FEATURE COMMENTARY with Director/Co-Writer Andy Muschietti and Producer/Co-Writer Barbara Muschietti

We can’t WAIT, and just hope they include Javier Botet in all the making-of footage (and a better copy of the now-viral, nightmarish, ‘Mama Motion/Movement Test” featuring Javier Botet – click here if you haven’t seen it yet) and the bonus “in-depth exploration of the digital and practical effects employed to shape the film’s phantom presence” the press release mentions. Surprise surprise, Netflix isn’t even bothering posting a release date, just “Unknown”. Oh, how helpful. This one, though, might actually be worth the extra features to cough up the $ to purchase the Blu-ray.

DVD releases for the week of May 2, 2013 (independentmail.com)
Mama has the perfect setup for suspense (guardianlv.com)
This week’s new DVD & Blu-ray (guardian.co.uk)
Get ‘Mama’ On DVD (102jamzorlando.cbslocal.com)

Very Creepy “Mama” Movie FX Test Footage – Javier Botet as Mama Not Haunting Your Dreams Anymore? Watching This Should Do The Trick!

2 February 2013

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Ooookay, yeah, this is creepy as hell. Here’s the skinny on the early test footage from Mama. Also, since we’re still ~~digging up~~ searching for a more recent interview to include in postings on actor/featured creature performer Javier Botet, here’s a little more background to hold you till we get it all organized.

Seen the 2008 short film? Then this shot/pose should look familiar…

According to Slashfilm.com‘s Germain Lussier, (in this piece about an on-set visit, back in October of 2012), Mama was being created by blending on-set practical performance by Javier Botet, and the digital effects of two companies: DDT and Mr. X. To prove they could pull it off, the filmmakers and DDT shot a test in June 2011 to show the executives what they had in mind.

Here’s that test, which has popped up (or lunged out) online in a couple of places. We discovered it thanks to a piece by Jessica Wakeman of BlackBookMag.com (where she also was cool enough to mention Horror Boom and point readers our way to see a photo of Mama, the finished product, in full makeup; she meant this “Rumor Control” post here). It’s just shot in black and white, with no sound, and still scares the fuck out of everybody; on the page with the You Tube video (which eerily has no description) the top-rated post says ….I immediately regret this decision.*

So, how was this waking nightmare created? From the same article on the set visit, ©Slashfilm.com’s Germain Lussier explains:

On set, [director] Muschietti literally operates Botet like a marionette to really get him moving in weird ways. “Javier has a bunch of cables coming out of his body, so he’s pulled into directions that are not normal and he has to counter the wire pull. Then we remove the wires and what it looks like is like literally a marionette coming to life,” [Guillermo] Del Toro said. “It looks almost digital, but it’s all caught on camera. He moves really disjointed, because they are trying to trip him essentially. It’s really, really cool.”

Probably not very comfortable for him at the time, but it sure as hell worked. We also have been sort of concerned with Mr. Botet’s health, and have wondered for years if he just has a fast metabolism and then diets down, or what’s going on with his very slender, 6 foot-7 inch frame. He gives very few interviews, and we’re trying to get up the nerve to drop him an email (also, seriously doubt he’d be able take the time for an interview with Horror Boom when it could get much more exposure elsewhere, which we totally understand), but it’s not the sort of question you can just blurt out (even if our French wasn’t terrible). Apparently, Botet has Marfan syndrome, a connective tissue disorder which causes an elongation of the body and the fingers (personally, we were positive he wears finger extensions for his creature acting, and will have to get back to you after we re-watch the [REC] behind-the-scenes make-up/effects DVD feature). He confirmed in an interview while doing some press for [REC 2] that while he can get tired easily –especially if the prosthetics are heavy and he’s had to sit for a six-plus hour session in the make-up chair– he’s content, healthy, and loves his job. Plus, the actor is always a gentleman to the press and to his fans.

Image owned by/copyright Javier Botet, 2010-present.
See? Don’t be scared at night that “Mama” is hiding under your bed or in lurking in your closet! It’s all a performance by this friendly actor! Heh-heh… heh… just a movie, just a movie, just a movie…

So, if we chicken out on contacting him (like I said, we have to work up to it), we’ll give out all the links we can, and definitely “re-blog” all the interviews we can locate.

Curious about Marfan syndrome? Here’s a good link with a ton of information. It does not sound comfortable.

Meanwhile, did you scroll down here because you were a little unsure if you wanted to watch that test footage? Here’s a (small) gallery, slide-slow style, of some screen-grabs from it, if you want to dip your toe in first…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

More on Mr. Botet will show up, so watch this space! And yes, Mama the movie was scary as hell. Uneven at times, yes. Also, there were two very memorable and distinct moments/jumps that were in nearly every trailer, that I wanted to know the story behind, totally missing from the movie which sort of personally threw me off when I realized the credits were rolling Maybe a dangling plot thread or two, but you know what, I was way too busy screaming to notice at the time. Also, it knocked Texas Chainsaw 3D right out of the top box office sales, so I’m going to give any flaws a pass for now. A longer review of Mama is still to come– along with all the coverage on the Mama creature/makeup/FX we can get our ~~claws~~ hands on!

*You Tube user comment by user “SuperZombieMoon”.

Chilling New Extended “Mama” (2013) Clip Shows Her ‘Adopted’ Daughters Are Pretty Goddamn Scary, Too!

17 January 2013

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This is the longest clip we’ve seen so far, and we find out a couple key pieces of background info. First, check out the clip, and hey, don’t be scared to crank up the sound! Surely nothing in this clip will make you jump! It’s a great idea to watch it alone in the dark when you can’t sleep!

So let’s see, now we’ve learned:

1. They’ve mainly survived on a diet of cherries (that pile practically the size of a grown man is, upon closer examination, a pile of cherry pits)

2. They’ve been drawing creepy art back then, too (notice how they’re usually on all fours in the drawings, and standing on a roof in one)

3. Mama somehow got, or created, a makeshift, bizarre doll of some sort for them

The aforementioned not-very-cuddly doll…

4. They don’t wear shoes

5. They have a way of lurking in the out-of-focus background, crouching, to hide from visitors/outsiders (and to freak out the audience watching the movie–upper right corner)

6. The younger daughter slips quietly–then NOT so quietly–around on all fours

7. it looks like they’d really rather be left alone. I’d yell and knock over some furniture by mistake too if I heard them making that scary-ass feral sound while racing towards me in a spider-ish gait.

Oh, and that abandoned cabin in the woods they live in has a couple pieces of cool mid-century-looking furniture…. not that I’d stick around for a closer look, or mess around with them in any way.

Next up: searching for the longest/best featurette we can find on Mama to share!

Scary-Ass “Mama” Opens Friday- Check Out These FOUR, Count ‘Em, FOUR Clips at Dread Central! (horrorboom.com)
The Top 11 Creepiest Kids in Horror (dreadcentral.com)
“Mama” Rumor Contro!: Is This Really The Face Of Javier Botet In Make-Up As The Ghastly “Mama”? No! Wanna See The Real Thing? Read On! (horrorboom.com)
The Many Benefits of Eating Red (sys-con.com)

Scary-Ass “Mama” Opens Friday- Check Out These FOUR, Count ‘Em, FOUR Clips at Dread Central!

14 January 2013

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OK, normally we wouldn’t just do a “Press This” for a highly anticipated (especially by us) genre movie we’ve been waiting months for; we’d write a piece and put together something polished and fancy, with the clips from You Tube, and more. Well, I got all excited and forgot it’s a really terrible idea to go exploring footage from the upcoming sleep-with-the-lights-on scary Mama after dark (with just the laptop on), watched the first clip, and it scared me so fucking much I’m not watching any more until it’s light out and I’m not the only one awake in the house. That should be about oh, two hours from now, since I’m not feeling too relaxed and may not relax until dawn. Even if the second clip didn’t have the ominous title, “Lilly surprises Annabel in the Kitchen*,” that’s it for me until the sun is out, suddenly I’m not feeling too brave right this minute. Though if you’ve been following coverage of the film, like, say, the theatrical trailers, or watched the blood-curdling short film the movie is based on, I doubt you can blame me too much…

Either way, look for more (and lots of it) Mama coverage this week, since the movie opens this Friday, January 18th! Though right now, a weekend matinée seems a little better for my nerves than our previous plans to see it opening night (“night” is the key word there).

So! Click the below link to get to the clips at trusty Dread Central:

Mama Loves Clips. You Will Too. Horror Movie, DVD, & Book Reviews, News, Interviews at Dread Central.

*I can’t believe I was so gung-ho about seeing some clips from the movie that I didn’t catch on that the phrase “what’s under the bed” in the title of the first clip was a red flag. “What’s under the bed” + movie that Javier Botet plays the freaky, half-seen creature in = back off if it’s 4AM and the entire family, including the cats, are asleep, idiot!

Spooky-Ass Second Theatrical Trailer For “Mama” (2013) With Extra Creepy New Footage Is Here – Scariest Trailer of The Month!

1 December 2012

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So you thought the first spooky-ass trailer for Mama (based on the actively frightening short film that you can watch here, but that I literally cannot watch after dark unless I have alcohol in my bloodstream, and even then I hesitate) was creepy? Well, in the second theatrical trailer , we get to see a little more of the… not sure exactly what to call it yet; creature? entity? monster? of the title. Well, one thing is for sure, the mysterious “Mama” that follows the two little feral girls to their new adoptive home is the stuff nightmares of made of. Watch the new trailer below. If you’ve seen the debut trailer more than once, you’ll know that new footage when you see it…

I’m still looking for a 30-second spot that they ran in front of some clip or trailer I was watching online, because I could swear there were one or two flashes in that one (including one of the creepy feral girls lashing out when a stranger discovers them in the woods, and another brief new flash of “Mama” that also freaked me out) that aren’t in this second theatrical trailer (nor the first one I posted and wrote about). Here’s the official site, by the way, though so far, it only has the trailer. Once I saw Javier Botet’s name on the IMDB cast list –he played the attic monster/Medieros Girl from [REC]–I knew we’d be in more some serious scares.

Here’s that official description again: Annabel and Lucas are faced with the challenge of raising his young nieces that were left alone in the forest for 5 years…. but how alone were they? EEK.

Something you do NOT want to find under your bed (or anywhere in the house)…

If you’ve seen the aforementioned short horror film (from the same director/writer), a couple images look similar – mainly the “stinger” at the end of the teaser. If you’re not brave enough to watch them both in a row right this moment, like if you’re feeling a little jumpy or were already having bad dreams, here’s the comparison (stills from the short are on the left, stills from the movie are on the right). Since it’s after dark as I compose this, I think I’ll hit the “mute” buttons to get those screen caps…