Guillermo del Toro impresses again

Rating: 7/10 (10 February 2013)

The moment I saw from the opening credits that the movie was from Guillermo del Toro, I knew that I was into something good. I was not disappointed. The film is creepy and horrifying in parts. The child artists are very impressive and the murderous wraith, the 'mama' is scary enough. The film, however, belongs to Jessica Chastain, who portrays Annabel, a rocker chick, who is forced to become a nanny to two rather unwholesome, unholy kids. However, Annabel's character development is awesome. Not for a moment does she falter, even when her fiancé is confined to intensive care and the kids (and their mama) play all sorts of nasty tricks on the poor girl. The plot may be a bit thin, a bit outlandish, and may have the usual horror film clichés, but all in all, the film impresses. And that is a true compliment, because horror films seem to have run out of ideas these days.. one can almost anticipate the next move, the next scene, the next scare. Not so with this one. Go for it.