Supernatural thriller isn't bad but, needs more scares and less CGI.

Rating: 6/10 (18 January 2013)

Mama isn't a bad horror film but, it just isn't a very scary one. The story is good, two little girls are taken by their off-the-edge dad (Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau) who's just shot their mother and some co-workers. They crash off the road during dad's escape attempt and wind up in a decrepit old cabin in the woods. One that possibly has an otherworldly occupant. A few years later, they are found alive, somehow having survived and these now feral children are given over to their dad's twin brother Lucas (also Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau) and his rocker wife, Annabel (Jessica Chastain). But, the girl's don't seem to have come alone and whatever has followed them isn't happy about sharing them. The problems with Mama aren't from it's story, it's that despite giving the film a nicely spooky visual style, director Andres Muschietti doesn't build much tension, suspense or scares. There are a few creepy sequences and some well executed jump scares but, the biggest problem is that "Mama" is revealed far too early and it is an obvious CGI specter that is simply not scary. Even when an accident leaves Annabel alone for a while with the girls and their adoptive spook, there is little suspense as Annabel tries to figure out why strange things are happening . It is very well done as Annabel goes from selfish bitch to someone who really cares about the girls and want's to solve the mystery of who "Mama" is but, it's never scary or carries much tension or suspense. Then, the final act switches gears and we go from a horror film to a Gothic fairy tale ending. I don't think the change in tone quite worked. Ironically I liked the last act very much but, not attached to the rest of the movie. The cast are all good here with Chastain standing out as the bass player wife and reluctant overnight mom. She comes across as a bitch early on but, believably transforms the character into a woman who comes to care about her nieces and is willing to put herself at risk to fight for them. The girls are wonderful too, Megan Charpentier as the older Victoria who starts to see "Mama" for the dangerous entity she is and Isabelle Nelisse as the younger Lilly who still is very attached to "Mama" and sees her as a friend and maternal figure. The script is good, it just seems director Muschietti didn't quite know how to give it the edge it needs and the switch in tone for the last act is a bit jarring. Overall Mama is not a bad supernatural thriller and there is a lot to like about it but, it just doesn't quite effectively give the material the strength it needed to keep us riveted or peeking through our fingers which is what a film like this is supposed to do.