Mama! I don't want to die I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all!

Rating: 6/10 (15 October 2015)

Typical movies like "Mama", by which I mean PG-13 ghost movies with computerized shock-effects, definitely aren't my thing but I will admit straight away that I cherish some respect and appreciation for this particular movie. "Mama" is fundamentally a very clichéd and ordinary flick about a fiendish supernatural entity, but writer/director Andrés Muschietti single-handedly brings it to a higher level thanks to processing realistic main characters and socially relevant themes into his screenplay. I was particularly impressed by the opening sequences that so unscrupulously deal with family tragedy. A clearly desperate middle-aged father reportedly killed three people already, including his ex-wife, and drags his two young daughters to a secluded cabin in the woods where he sees no other alternative than to kill them and himself as well. We regretfully see a lot of tragic news facts like this one on TV, but for some reason they still remain taboo in movie scenarios. The supernatural aspect kicks in when the father is prevented to fulfill his vile act of desperation by a ghostly long black-haired entity. The plot then subsequently introduces two other identifiable main characters, namely the girls' uncle Lucas who's overpowered by feelings of guilt and responsibility and his rock artist girlfriend Annabel who supports her man but is actually reluctant to take the girls into custody. Annabel even becomes the lead guardian when Lucas gets severely injured in a bizarrely inflicted accident. The rest of the film is familiar ghost-movie stuff, meaning predictable plot-twists, a too large portion of sentiment and an avalanche of textbook "boo!" situations. For you see, throughout a long 5 year period, the poor little sisters survived in that little cabin in the woods because they were being looked after by the restless spirit of a mother who got murdered in that same location many years ago. When the uncle finds and "rescues" the estranged girls, the Mama-ghost turns malevolent and follows them to the civilized world. The Mama figure, with its long weaving dark hair and bizarrely produced sounds, is very reminiscent to the ghosts introduced in popular Japanese blockbusters, like "Ringu" and "Ju-On: The Grudge", and the film makes the typical mistake of showing it too much and too frequently. In this type of scary flicks, the less you see of the evil, the more menacing it is. Jessica Chastain gives a stellar performance and a handful of scenes are definitely unsettling. Andrés Muschietti initially released "Mama" as a short film, but thanks to the interest of certain influential producers like Guillermo Del Toro, it became a large-budgeted and internationally acclaimed long-feature horror hit as well. I read that his next project will be an upcoming remake of "It" What is it with promising young directors immediately blocking their creativity by making redundant remakes?!?