GREAT, for a horror movie .. (Spoilers)

Rating: 7/10 (22 February 2013)

So I bought the tickets and went in expecting to see just another typical scary movie where they'll have you jump out your seats a couple of times and leave the theater thinking "the ending could've been way better", it surprisingly did way better than just that. I gave the movie a rating of 7 in comparison with every other movie I've seen, for the ones in its genre, though, I'd give it around 8.5 mainly because other horror movies nowadays sadly just don't deliver. Having liked the movie so much, I just couldn't help but write this review, I'll mainly give my opinions in regards to the storyline first, followed by the acting and visual aspects of the film.
The main plot in my point of view was just way too typical.Typical meaning that Its basically about some kids who have their interactions with this female ghosts, then their mom or female guardian tries to get in on it all, whereas the male in the plot would either be left out of the story until the end,that being the case in Mama, or wouldn't believe it all while his wife/girlfriend goes nuts until the very end where he actually sees everything for himself and blah blah. What made this one really good, though, was that's its mainstream plot was set upon a very clever, well though off story, unlike paranormal activity for example where they set the movie just for that adrenaline rush it gives you. Having the ghost named "Mama" makes you think that she is the children's mother as she was killed in the beginning of the story as well. To support that theory she also saves what was thought to be her daughter from the father who tried to kill her at the cabin. Having seen all that you immediately go "okay so this is the ghost of the mother who died at the beginning of the movie". Then out of nowhere they just come up with this story that happened a long time ago of a woman failing to jump off a cliff, killing herself but not the baby in her arms. She is set to walk through the woods since then trying to finish what she started and go to that same cliff with a child in her arms. She turned out to be Mama after all. This twist that was brought in is, in my opinion, what made the movie better than others of its genre. Kinda like "The Others" starring Nicole Kidman back in 2001, the storyline makes it more than just a horror movie.
As for the movie in terms of acting and visuals, I felt as though the whole cast did a great job in playing their role, apart from Jessica Chastain who was incredible. I just thought she played her role flawlessly; the emotions she brought just from her facial expressions, let alone the other expressions, gave the movie a much more depth and integrity. It's always tricky when it comes to the ghost in horror movies, it's such a fragile matter to deal with, add in one more scene and it's too much the movie becomes less scary and more boring, take away a few scenes and you'll leave dissatisfaction as people mainly watch horrors for that ghost in that story. With Mama, many would say she had just too many appearances, which is true she really did. It reminded me a lot of "The Woman in Black" for some reason, and I think that the woman (ghost) in that movie was dealt with in a better way; she did appear a couple of times, but just enough for audience's satisfaction. Nevertheless I think the wonderful storyline in Mama complements those 'over-appearances' making the movie really good as it is. Especially in the end where it goes from just horrifying events to ones that actually have deeper feel to them. Apart from "The Others", this story had the best ending I've seen in a horror one throughout the last decade.