Holy Mama!

Rating: 8/10 (18 January 2013)

Holy Mama!! Guillermo del Toro has stayed true to his style with this one. It's a very creepy and dark flick which just might capture top notch this opening weekend. With a pg-13 rating, you can expect a lot of intense pop-out scenes. However, Guillermo del Toro doesn't disappoint the audience as he gives us something to look at too. That's because Mama is today's modern CGI ghost that isn't bashful to show her retched face to the characters in the film (and us).
The brief storyline is that two girls have survived out in the wild after their father murders his wife, takes the girls and crashes his car off a cliff in the middle of nowhere. After being found by the father's brother, the girls are re-acclimated to society after 5 years in the woods raised by, you guessed it, Mama.
There is a back story to mama that gets woven into the mix, which is the reason why good horror films are successful. However, the more interesting aspect of the movie for me was the brief transition from "Wild" to "Normal" life. There could have been more to this I think.
I would love to see the little sister, Lilly (Isabelle Nélisse), get an Oscar for her performance. Seriously!! It's downright eerie and just isn't something you would expect to see from a 6 year old. And she nailed it.
All in all, if you like to be scared, this will do it. If you like to be freaked, this will do it. If you like ghost movies, check this one out, but fair warning, this "Ghost" isn't like Patrick Swayze.