Andy Muschietti was a curious choice for New Line when they first announced that he would be taking over the new adaptation of IT that was once so comfortably in the hands of Cary Fukunaga. At the time the only feature film to Muschietti’s name was Mama, which was a very by-the-numbers supernatural haunter—not exactly the […]
OK, now this is more like it! Check out the link below to read a more balanced, intelligent review (not to mention, a review that doesn’t sound like broken English). However, the reviewer states that the main demographic for the film will be “teenage girls”. I know plenty of grown men planning to see it (and who have wanted to see it for months), and women over 21, not so much high school girls. Horror fans of all ages, male and female, know that less gore can equal INTENSE fear. The reviewer compares the film briefly to J-horror as far as the “less is more” school of scary, atmospheric terror.
I can almost guarantee you that even though I will KNOW the jump scare scene –actually, the moment (probably you know the one I refer to) is not just a jump scare scene, it’s more of a FUCKING JUMP SCARE SCENE –shown in the featured image, the short film, and in the trailer’s stinger (on almost every TV spot, by the way) is coming, and I’ll see it coming, too, I will scream in complete panic at the top of my lungs when it comes. I might not be the only one in the theater, either…
Here’s the Hollywood Reporter Review- click below!
I want to see this movie NOW… and yet my central nervous system is telling me to take my time!
This review actually went up a couple of months ago, and we kept checking back, thinking any time now, reviews are going to pop up. Soon they probably will be, since they’re giving away preview passes is certain cities, and they’re pre-screening for critics. We finally gave up and are posting a link to the review on Cinetastic.de, written by Ronny Dombrowski. He gave it 7/10 popcorn boxes, and certainly didn’t have any major complaints. Simply from reading the translation, he only mentions that the character of Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who most Game Of Thrones fans will recognize as the fine-looking actor who plays Jaime Stark) doesn’t really have much to do, or anything essential to the plot. It sounds like Jessica Chastain, however, more than has her role and character of Annabel covered. Basically, it’s not perfect, but it is original and scary as hell, with excellent effects that are frightening but not overdone.
We also get a little bit of back-story (no major spoilers), which if search terms in our daily stats are anything to go by, is something fans REALLY want more of. Even with the translate tool, I had to spend a couple of hours smoothing and polishing the review, and if the review sounds clumsy and clunky, you should have seen it after it was immediately translated.
Here’s the link if you speak German, or have an app of some kind of translation software better than Google Translate…
If you’re short on time, here’s the “review summary”, also translated:
Andres Muschietti’s “Mama” is a successful adaptation of his own short firm. The actors are excellent throughout, the story entertaining, even more so in particular at the end of the movie, so that even a [demanding fan] of horror films will be terrified.
…and here’s the translated review from Cinetastic.de, written by Ronny Dombrowski.
Five years ago, the father of the two sisters, Victoria (Megan Charpentier) and Lilly (Isabelle Nelisse) killed his wife and fled in the middle of a snowstorm with his two daughters in the car, then a short time later the car slid from the road and ended up in deep ditch. He fled into the woods with his two daughters, and finally the three found an old abandoned house to take shelter in, but the house was not as empty as it looked. Five years later her uncle Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his girlfriend Annabel (Jessica Chastain) are still searching for his nieces and finds them (as if by a wild coincidence) in said house, but both girls have changed radically since they’ve seen them. Lucas and Annabel take the two girls and try to offer their new home, a new family, but someone completely different comes with Victoria and Lily…
Producer Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy) has been primarily known over the last twenty years known for his numerous high-quality productions. Together with director Andres Muschietti, (the movie came from his own short film in 2008), Mama has not only been adapted for the big screen, but also now supplemented by a few interesting new story twists and characters. Andres wrote the script with his wife Barbara Muschietti (Just Visiting), and screenwriter Neil Cross (Luther), a unique collaboration.
The focus of the story with Victoria and Lilly are two siblings would not be different, although both full five years have been raised by many someone or something they do not talk about except for the name “Mama.” The fact that Lucas and his rocker girlfriend Annabel had been trying for children is more than communicated clearly, this would be enough without the failing pregnancy test.
Compared to many similar horror films Mama and its message does not last long behind the scenes; The supernatural force reveals it at the beginning rather quickly, as “Mama” saves the children from their homicidal father. With a kind of maternal instinct that protects the children in the following five years, she feeds and also lives in the house where they were found, but then the children are taken from her to live with Lucas and his girlfriend. The jump-in-your-seat moments are for the most part good, if sometimes predictable, especially when signalled by the appropriate music of composer Fernando Velázquez uses (The Orphanage), though the rest of score lends the individual scenes atmosphere.
In terms of the look of Mama herself, the special effects team, led by Warren Appleby, was successful in their effort, The effects are unique and frightening. Whether you see Mama from behind, from the corners of your eyes, blurred by Victoria’s glasses, or in the open in the end, especially in the climax of the film, the low-budget effects in ”Mama” are just as high quality and effective as any big budget movies.
Looking at the individual actors a little more closely, there are noticeable differences. Because Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jo Nesbø‘s Headhunters ) as Lucas has little screen time and thus little opportunity to get himself in the movie, this leaves the movie all the more on the shoulders of Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life) , and her acting is marvelous as we see her character changes from one with an initial dislike of the children, into the person who wants to protect Lilly and Victoria at any price in the world. The real stars of “Mama” are Megan Charpentier (Red Riding Hood – Under the Wolf Moon) and Isabelle Nelisse (whitewash), who play the two children Victoria and Lilly. Their performance, especially their facial expressions, is so intense and convincing that both contribute significantly to the successful atmosphere of the film.
Update: Under “related articles”, I found a shitty, mean-spirited review by Rex Reed (with a well-earned reputation for being a catty, bitchy hack AND for hating horror movies across the board) from The Observer. He right off the bat expresses his distaste …I’m being too nice. He says all ghost movies are the same, always stupid and never scary, and gets so unnecessarily nasty and petty in the review that I took the link down. I’m not kidding, this review puts down all horror fans, will piss you off and make you want to punch him in the teeth, plus it’s clear he didn’t watch the entire movie. I’m not one of those fans who dislikes critics in general, though I do know a couple who dislike horror movies and thus whose reviews I take with a grain of salt, but I would like to go on record: Rex Reed? Fuck that guy. If I ever see him in person, I’m throwing a drink in his face (a situation I’m sure he is no stranger to).
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:
*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!
The TV spots for one of the most-anticipated fright flicks of 2013, Mama (opening on January 18, there’s even a “countdown” box at the bottom of our homepage, along with another counting down the days till the next episode of American Horror Story Asylum), probably already has your attention. Mama (the movie, not the creature itself) also started its own You Tube channel, which helpfully groups them all together on a playlist. Everything else You Tube has on Mama is already up on Horror Boom, including the first sleep-with-the-lights-on trailer, the original short film (no sleep whether the lights are on OR off, we’re heard expressed) the second freaky trailer with alternate footage, and the new re-cut version of the short film that Guillermo Del Toro introduces. The original short film Mamá (which is always on our stats as one of the top ten ‘most viewed’ pretty much every day) is the version we found most nightmarish, for what it’s worth. There’s some new footage in these spots as well. Check out the playlist for the TV spots below, after dark if you’re feeling brave…
Speaking of feeling brave, we’re adding new ‘screen grabs’ from the TV spots tomorrow (as well as more links), because we are already up very late and would like to get some sleep tonight. They’ll show soon. Just need to wait till we wake up and the sun is still up… till then, here’s a couple familiar ones.
If I walked into a deserted cabin and laid eyes on the sight depicted in the below still, I’d just back quietly out of the room, out of the house, briskly go home, and call 911 (even though you should never walk backwards in a horror movie, would YOU turn your back to these feral creatures?
Usually, the above is a warm, comforting phrase. Mama’s home. Mama is here. Shhhh, my baby, all is well, you’re safe now, Mamá won’t let anyone hurt her babies. Not in this case; in the context of this short scary-ass film (and the feature-length movie of the same name coming in late January 2013) it is NOT good news.
Not at all.
Well, according to Horror Boom’s year-end stats from WordPress, not only did this three-minute short feature get more hits than every other short horror film we featured combined, it even crept into the top five posts of 2012. So, we were psyched to see a HD version with a brand spankin’ new intro from Guillermo Del Toro. He explains how badly it frightened him and why he saw potential for a full-length movie …that would also scare the hell out of everyone. Since this writer first saw the trailer in Fall of 2012, I’m now able to watch trailers for the feature-length Mama (opening January 18, 2013) after dark …as long as I’m not feeling jittery in the first place.
Am I brave enough, though, to watch this short film after dark? Not really. No. This second version does have alternate footage, but it’s no less scary for the switch. Daytime, lights on, had to turn the sound down just to give to short film a watch and ensure it was the real thing before we posted this new version. You think something can’t be scary that is only three minutes long, with no blood and gore? Watch this, because you will find yourself mistaken.
Even if the movie is mediocre –which we seriously doubt; as a rule, these Spanish film-makers* know how to inspire nightmares above and beyond that of what most US film-makers are capable of– this short, written and directed by Andy Muschietti, is still actively terrifying. We’re now working up an entire piece on it, since as of this writing it may very well be the most anticipated horror film of Winter/Spring 2013. Right now, though, we just want to get the film with the new intro up. MUCH more coverage is coming soon, keep your eyeballs out for it right here on Horror Boom.
And you have been warned.
We recommend watching the earlier version here too – the ending is extended and different, and so is the lighting (also, no intro by Del Toro). I assume this is some specially restored, re-mastered version they put together to promote the feature film. They’re both scary as hell. They’re also both written and directed by the same team! We also strongly encourage you to check out both the first and the second theatrical trailers (there’s new footage) right on Horror Boom. We aim to please (and scare) our fellow horror fans! Happy New Year.
*if you’ve seen [REC], [REC] 2 , or The Orphanage, then we highly doubt you need much convincing about the previous statement.
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